Dixon’s pin sends Loyola past Spalding

It’s long been a custom at Loyola Blakefield that when a wrestler wins their match by fall, they ring a bell that’s brought out mat side before each meet.

“It’s a pretty cool tradition,” Dons coach Steve Truitt said.

Freshman Owen Dixon hasn’t been around long enough to ring it many times, but the 132-pounder got his most memorable fall to date against Archbishop Spalding at home on Friday.

Dixon trailed Drew Baublitz by four late in the second period, and with two of the Cavaliers’ best grapplers on deck and in the hole, he may have been Loyola’s last shot to seal the victory.

Right on cue, the freshman earned a reversal late in the second period then locked up a cradle good enough to pin Baublitz in 5 minutes, 4 seconds to seal the No. 4 Dons’ eventual 45-36 win over No. 3 Spalding in Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference action.

Dixon proudly walked off the mat and rang the ball with a smile.

“He showed a lot of heart,” Truitt said. “Owen is one of the hardest working kids in the room. He’s a freshman, but he doesn’t wrestle like it. That was just a huge match for us and for him at the end of the year.”

As key as Dixon’s pin was, Ryan Eby’s fall in the previous match was equally as important. Like Dixon, Eby (126) trailed after two periods but locked up a pinning combination and stuck Spalding’s Gabe Foster in 4:59. In addition to a forfeit to Matty Walsh at 120 pounds, those 18 points ballooned Loyola’s lead from three to 21.

“Ryan is nursing a shoulder, and him getting that pin in the third period in a tight match was really huge,” Truitt said.

Cavaliers coach Mike Laidley called those two matches the turning point in what was otherwise a neck-and-neck dual meet.

“We thought we had a shot, but their kid wrestled better,” he said. “At 126, we’re winning with a couple seconds left and we get pinned. That’s a nine-point swing, so you’ve got to give it to Loyola. They came out and they wrestled better than us and they won.”