Washington beats Dakota in slick showdown of wrestling powers

By STAN MORRIS
Peoria Journal Star

Video Highlights by Jim Mattson

WASHINGTON — About the only thing missing from the Dubtown Throwdown was a curtain call.

Wrestling took center stage, literally, Friday night as Class 2A top-ranked Washington played host to Class 1A top-ranked Dakota in the theater at Five Points Washington.
An emcee, introductions to wrestler-selected walk-up music, spotlighted matches and even a Main Event were part of the spectacle that an estimated 1,000 enthusiastic fans took in during the first-of-its-kind event in central Illinois.

And the hometown Panthers put on a show.

Washington (21-6), ranked No. 15 in the nation by USA Today, won eight of the 11 competed matches to post a 46-9 dual victory.

“It was just a great event,” Washington coach Bryan Medlin said. “I feel really good about it. It’s something I think people are going to leave talking about wrestling and hopefully we can get a pretty good crowd here next year and be able to continue this.”

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