Knoxville Boys Wrestling Wins Season Opener; Girls Fall In Two Matches
It was mixed results for the Knoxville Wrestling Squads in the Panthers respective meets on Thursday. The boys jumped out to a big lead over Nevada and defeated the Cubs 51-30 to open up the season. The Panthers would score the first 27 points of the match before Nevada would dent the scoreboard. The remainder of the match was an even 24-all split, but the Panthers already had a huge lead and held on. Getting pin wins for Knoxville were Dawson Gullion, Gavin Alexander, Tristan Sinnard, Christian Braida, and Reagan Roberts, who only needed :18 to win his match. The girls were at West Central Valley and went 1-2. The Panthers lost 60-18 to Colfax-Mingo and 47-35 West Central Valley and defeated Wayne 54-12. The boys head to Nodaway Valley on Saturday and the girls are wrestling at Newton also on Saturday.
Knoxville Basketball Squads Host Cardinal In Home Openers
It is the first of many varsity double headers for the Knoxville Basketball Squads this season as Cardinal helps the Panthers in their home opener. For the girls it may be good to get home after two losses on the road. Knoxville has been trying to find the right combination on the court and Coach Matt Ritchhart tells KNIA/KRLS Sports that his team may be favored in some of their games this season. He adds tonight is a night to prove they can win and be competitive.
Ritchhart: “Until we go out and get a win. Same thing in football season, should we get a win, yes, but we have to prove we can win, and we’ll take this week and see how much we can improve.”
The girls have won all four games in the series with Cardinal since the Comets entered the South Central Conference with no game being closer than 28 points. The boys are opening their season and it will be first year Coach Joel Keady’s opening night game. Knoxville returns several talented players including brothers Landen and Lincoln Norris, Kaiden Smith, Drake Larson and others. The Panthers have dominated in all four matchups averaging over 85 points per game. Tonight’s action starts with the girls game at 6:00. Live coverage can be heard on kniakrls.com KNIA3 starting at 5:45.