FORTVILLE -- After defeating Greenfield-Central last week and Eastern Hancock earlier in the season, New Palestine wrestlers were looking to make it a clean sweep in county duals Wednesday night.
On the road at Mt. Vernon, they did just that.
Five wins by forfeit helped propel the Dragons to a 62-15 win over the Marauders.
"It's always good to get the edge on the county teams," New Palestine head coach Andrew Frey said.
With some varsity starters missing at various weight classes, it was a next man up mentality for Frey's squad.
The Dragons lineup had different wrestlers than they did a week ago against the Cougars at 120, 132, 157, 175, 190 and 285 pounds.
"Coming into tonight, we didn't have our full lineup. A big thing in our room was next man up. We had guys step in to be that next man up today," Frey said. "That was the theme going into today and this weekend, just for these guys to take advantage of their time on varsity. They did that tonight, so I'm proud of the guys for that."
Of the six, four picked up wins.
At 285 pounds Mason Good won by forfeit. Ryker Yonts at 157, Cooper Trimpe at 175, and Eli Oberle at 190 each won matches.
For Oberle and Trimpe, the wins were the first of their varsity careers.
In the 175-pound match, Trimpe took control in the second period to open up a 10-3 lead and held on down the stretch for a 10-5 decision over Mt. Vernon's Jack VanVickle.
"Cooper is a senior who has seen his way into the lineup quite a few times, but tonight was his varsity win, so that was huge. You never know how many opportunities you'll have at varsity," Frey said. "The guy that he was behind may be back later in the year, so just really proud of him for going out there and taking advantage of the opportunity. Him getting the win just shows how hard he's been working."
Trimpe's win put the Dragons ahead 20-4 and was followed by Oberle's win at 190 pounds.
Ahead 7-2 in the second period, Oberle ended things early with a pin of Mt. Vernon's Preston Shannon.
"Eli is another one that I believe got his first varsity win," Frey said. "He might be the guy in that weight the whole year, or at least the foreseeable future. He went out there and took the opportunity to get the fall."
Following the two wins, the Dragons took five of the next six matchups by forfeit.
The lone Marauders win over the stretch came from junior Ty Barnhart at 120 pounds. He pinned one of the new Dragons in the lineup - Trenton Place - in the first period.
He was one of three Marauders to grab a win.
In the second match of the night, Robert Dodson defeated Ryder Gardner by major decision at 150 pounds.
At 132 pounds, junior Eli Broady quickly pulled away from a 4-4 tie to win by technical fall 19-4 in the second period over New Pal's Braeden Linter.
Linter, a sophomore, was another newcomer to the varsity lineup, and a late first-period takedown had him tied entering the second period against the Marauders state qualifier.
"It was a good first period and he was able to get a takedown on him. He just had good effort," Frey said. "Sometimes kids can go out there and be like a deer in headlights going up against a state qualifier, but I don't think Braeden did that."
New Palestine got wins by pin at 138 pounds from Gunner Butt, 144 pounds from Bryce Doss and 157 pounds from Yonts. Gabe Flick won by technical fall at 165 pounds.
"The one thing that I'm really proud of is that we're continuing to improve. We look a heck of a lot better as a team than we did week one against Warren," Frey said. "We have five really good 5A and 6A teams on Saturday and then after that, we go to Mater Dei and wrestle some of the best kids in the state and in the country. We've got the guys that can handle it, and we just hope we can get some of these guys back that should be in the lineup."
The Dragons travel to Mishawaka Penn for the Henry Wilk Invite on Saturday, while the Marauders travel to Columbus East for the East 8-Way.