Turnabout is fair play, as far as the Granite Falls Tigers are concerned.

“We’ve beaten the Tigers the last three years, but now their guys are older, have more experience, and it shows,” said Falcon wrestling coach Jim Thompson.

Of the total 14 standard weight classes, South Whidbey was only able to field 10 grapplers Thursday in the first at-home match of the season. A team automatically forfeits six points whenever they can’t fill one of the weight classes, so Thompson knew from the start it would be a long night.

“I knew we were going to get spanked,” Thompson said. “We’ve been beating up on these guys for years. Now it’s their turn.”

Overall, as expected, South Whidbey got clobbered, 66-9. A pin and forfeit are worth six points, a victory on points worth three.

Trevor Romero and Van Morgen were the evening’s only two winners for South Whidbey.

Romero (189-pound weight class) pinned Tiger James Pointer with 1 minute,

44 seconds remaining in the first round. A match is three rounds, two minutes each.

“He’s a good, experienced guy and it was a tough round, but I had a good takedown right at the start,” Romero said. “I was able to get a couple of good tilts, then reversed him for the pin.”

A takedown happens when either wrestler, starting from the neutral position, gains control of his opponent on the mat. This is accomplished by attacking an opponent’s legs or upper body. A “tilt” occurs whenever a wrestler can catch his opponent off guard, knocking him to the mat.

Thompson was pleased with Romero’s win.

“He looked good, had a positive mental attitude and came through,” he said. “Trevor has improved markedly this season.”

Morgen (135 pounds) copped the night other victory, but he had to work for it, beating Brandon Jameson 12-4 after three full rounds. This wasn’t Morgen’s first time on the mat with the Granite Falls grappler.

“I’ve wrestled him five times since middle school and this was the first time I’ve beaten him,” Morgen said.

Morgen added that his preparation for the match was simple, but effective.

“I needed to be aggressive all the way through, take the first shot and listen to the coach’s advice,” he said.

Thompson said Morgen’s win was ugly.

“He needs to wrestle more from the hips back and we’ll be working on that,” he said.

Colton Vaughn (119) faced a real challenge, escaping his opponent time and again by moving to a neutral position until late in the second round.

One thing Thompson plans to stress is the hard, ripped and muscled appearance of the 24 Granite Falls wrestlers.

“They’ve been hitting the weight room, something most of my kids don’t do,” Thompson explained. “You can have all the technique in the world, but if you’re out-muscled, it’ll be hard to win. I think better physical training may have made the difference to some of my guys.”

At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28, the Falcons welcome Cedarcrest to Erikson Gym for a rain-delayed match.

“They are always tough, but we might have a few surprises for them,” Thompson noted.

Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or sports@southwhidbeyrecord.ccom.