Highlands’ Suber mounts major comeback in victory vs. Valley

By: Josh Rizzo
Wednesday, December 18, 2024 | 9:44 PM

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DeJamire Suber’s mind won’t go toward quitting when things get tough in future matches. The Highlands 127-pound junior wrestler showed what he is capable of when things are bleak Wednesday night.

Suber trailed by 11 points when he stuck Valley’s Xavier Ross during the third round. Highlands had a night of good performances during a 58-18 Section 9-2A win over Valley at home.

Suber said the largest deficit he had overcome to win a match before was six points.

“I never came back like this before,” said Suber, who is 3-1 this season. “Now, I realize I can not give up and win the match.”

Suber prefers to wrestle Greco Roman but works hard to adapt to being back in the folkstyle arena. He spent most of the first two rounds against Ross scrambling or on his back or stomach.

Highlands coach Grant Walters said he thought Suber’s experience helped carry him.

“DJ is a fighter,” Walters said. “He spent all offseason wrestling. He won a Greco state title last year. We’ve had some stuff in our pocket that we haven’t used yet. That was one of them.”

During the third period, the match was stopped briefly for blood time. Suber used the time to listen to what his coaches noticed during the match.

“(They told me) shoot, and his head was up,” Suber said. “Come up and get the headlock and hip toss him, it’s a pin.”

Valley coach Dane Johnson believed Ross wrestled an excellent match.

“I thought he was wrestling great until that point,” Johnson said. “He made a mistake that cost him. It happens.”

The Vikings found most of their success in the lighter weights. Raydn Thomas (121 pounds), Brandon Knuckles (133) and Jaron Reed (139) picked up wins.

Johnson also challenged freshman Antonio Perkins to bump up and wrestle against Highlands standout Kyren Veasley at 160 pounds.

Veasley won the match by a major decision 18-9.

“I thought they did a good job,” Johnson said. “Overall, I thought the lightweights did good. We challenged ourselves at 160. He’s a tough kid. It was a great experience wrestling through the whole match.”

Highlands (5-3, 2-0) was wrestling without its starters at 127, 139 and 152 pounds, Walters said. He was encouraged by the Golden Rams’ ability to finish matches.

Josh Battochi started the match with a pin in 1 minute, 59 seconds for Highlands at 215 pounds.

Highlands picked up eight pins. Caden Dadowski (285), Javeon Chambers (114), Aiden Buford (145), Bryce Black (152), Tailyon Partlow (172) and Jayden Calhoun (189) also won by fall for the Golden Rams.

Highlands started the dual with a 24-point lead after four matches.

“Scoring bonus points is what we want,” Walters said. “If we want to be a playoff contender, we must score bonus points. I’m happy with them.”

Tags: Highlands, Valley