The Austin wrestling team came up a few points short as they lost 36-33 to Rochester John Marshall in Ove Berven Gym Thursday.

The Rockets (7-3 overall, 4-0 Big Nine) were able to avoid some of Austin’s strong wrestlers as they forfeited to Kole Igou and Eli Kaercher. JM clinched the match when Kenny Maclin pinned Santiago Tomas-Nicolas in the 220-pound match.

“We just need to work on matt awareness and we need to wrestle for a full six minutes,” Austin head coach Jer Osgood said. “Some kids did a fantastic job on fighting for bonus points and working for a pin, but as a whole we’ve got to do better of taking care of our individual match in order to help the team.”

Austin senior Brandon Cotter did get a match in at 160 pounds, but it was over early on as he picked up a pin just 20 seconds into the second period.

“I’m looking for more of a challenge, but I’m embracing it at the same time. I don’t have too many home matches left, and I want to make them count,” Cotter said. “Tonight we didn’t wrestle as good as we can. There was a lot of giving up on our backs. We’re pleased [with the effort], but we kind of took a step back.”

Austin sophomore Corey Waller picked up his first varsity win at home when he edged out a 6-3 decision at 195. Waller was hoping for a pin that would’ve put the Packers in position to tie the match, but he wasn’t able to do it.

“The coaches and the other wrestlers have been pushing me. It’s too bad I couldn’t get that pin and I just need to improve,” Waller said. “It felt good to win my first home match.”

Aiden Wilson wrestled a solid match at 132 for Austin (4-2 overall, 1-1 Big Nine) as he slowly wore down his opponent until he closed it with a pin with 40 seconds left in the match.

“Aiden wrestled a full six minutes by just wrestling the kid and wearing him down,” Osgood said. “He dictated the match and he came up with the pin. That gave us some momentum.”

RESULTS

106: Connor Higgins (JM) 10-9 dec. over Danny Albarran (A); 113: Chris Romero (A) 6-3 dec. over Justin Higgins (JM); 120: Riley Orr (JM) pinned Juan Rodriques (A) (5:42); 126: Jesse Bruggenthies (JM) pinned Ben Nelson (A) (3:12); 132: Aiden Wilson (A) pinned Steven Bruggenthies (JM) (5:20); 138: Logan Saltou (JM) pinned Payton Miller (A) (4:33); 145: Jesse Hanson (JM) pinned Nathan Brinkman (A) (3:35); 152: Brandon Edgar (A) 4-2 dec. over Griffin Ferguson (JM); 160: Brandon Cotter (A) pinned Derek Woltman (JM) (2:20); 170: Kole Igou (A) won by forfeit; 182: Montie Ridley (JM) 3-2 dec. over Alec Estrada; 195: Corey Waller (A) 6-3 dec. over Kori McCarthy; 220: Kenny Maclin (JM) pinned Santiago Tomas-Nicolas; 285: Eli Kaercher (A) won by forfeit