HOLTON, Kan. –
Aaron Meister called it an "eye-opener," and it couldn't have come at a better time for the Wayland Baptist men's wrestling team.
The No. 15 Pioneers' school-record nine-match winning streak was snapped here Saturday as 18
th-ranked Baker University prevailed in an afternoon dual, 28-19.
"We didn't go in with something to prove and Baker did," said Meister, who took his team back to his hometown of Holton. "This was a good reminder to stay focused for every match, every competition.
"We have our feet back on the ground."
The Pioneers (20-8) picked up four match victories:
Adelfo Valdez by major decision, 14-6, in the 125-pound class;
Andrew Porras by fall in 133s;
Mich Napier by forfeit in 184s; and
Markese Christian by decision, 11-6, in 285s.
"We wrestled a great team and they were better than us today," Meister said. "We just didn't have that fire. We didn't go out and make things happen. We kind of waited around in some matches and bad things happened.
"When you wait you don't control the outcome. We try to emphasize to these guys if they wrestle their (way), good things will happen, but if you wait you leave it in someone else's hands and a lot of times the result isn't what you want.
"We always want to win, but this isn't a setback. It's just a good reminder…an eye-opener," Meister added.
The dual against the Wildcats came less than 24 hours after Wayland rolled over Bethany, Kan., 38-3.
"It wasn't the result we wanted, but it was the experience we needed," the coach said. "Having back-to-back competitions that these guys had to make weight for before nationals was good because that's what they're going to have to do at nationals. This was a good trip to get that experience."
Wayland's next competition is the NAIA South Qualifier in Oklahoma City on Feb. 20.
"We've wrestled a pretty challenging schedule. Now we have to go to our qualifier and continue wrestling well," Meister said. "We're going to give these guys a break on Monday then make one last push."
No. 18 Baker (Kan.) 28, No. 15 Wayland Baptist 19 125:
Adelfo Valdez (WBU) over Logan McDowell (BU) (MD 14-6)
133:
Andrew Porras (WBU) over Zane Baugh (BU) (Fall 5:56)
141: Tyler Dickman (BU) over Gabe Perez (WBU) (Fall 2:18)
149: Victor Hughes (BU) over
Kane Lovvorn (WBU) (Fall 4:58)
157: Colby Crank (BU) over
Victor Thomas (WBU) (Fall 1:20)
165: Connor Middleton (BU) over
Tommy Rosen-St. John (WBU) (MD 10-2)
174: Trevor Sutton (BU) over
Romen Correa (WBU) (Dec 5-4)
184:
Mich Napier (WBU) over (BU) (For.)
197: Kyler Atwood (BU) over
David Willoughby (WBU) (SV-1 5-3)
285:
Markese Christian (WBU) over Kris Rahn (BU) (Dec 11-6)
