King’s Fork’s wrestling team went into its first Southeastern District duals of the season on Wednesday night with a handicap too large to overcome as far as winning its matches against Western Branch and Oscar Smith.

The Bulldogs had to forfeit bouts against the Bruins and Tigers in six weight classes, giving up 36 points right off the bat.

Despite falling 72-12 to Western Branch and 60-18 to Oscar Smith, King’s Fork head coach Bret Heberling was pleased with his Bulldogs’ effort. Looking longer down the road, he’s confident in what’s being built under his watch.

“I’ve got a group of guys who don’t give up. In that aspect, I’m very happy,” Heberling said.

“We go match-by-match, even move-by-move, and we don’t look at the scoreboard. Every time, we work to get better at something,” he said.

In the bouts that were contested Wednesday, the scoreboard was in King’s Fork’s favor on occasion.

Sophomore Austin Wall led the Bulldogs with a victory via causing an injury in his Western Branch match-up, then a pin 0:21 into his Oscar Smith bout.

Wall led 2-0 after a period against his Bruin opponent when a default by injury was called between periods.

At 152 pounds KF’s Locksley Jones battled until the third period before losing by a pin with 0:46 left.

The only other Bulldog win against Western Branch was a forfeit at 170 pounds. The Bruins won five first-period pins in a 72-12 win.

Senior heavyweight Ethan Banks earned KF’s first win against Oscar Smith. Banks scored five points in the first period, including a near fall in the final seconds. The bell didn’t stop Banks in the next period as he got a pin at the 3:07 mark.

Wall’s bout at 138 pounds was the quickest of the night in any of the three duals. Wall overmatched his opponent with a cradle, controlling his torso and one leg to get the pin.

Senior Matthew Hommell put on an equally impressive display in his 170-pound match. With a variety of moves and holds, Hommell led 12-0 when the ref stopped the first-period clock with 0:01 to check for an injury. Hommell finished the match with a pin 28 seconds into the next period.

With six forfiets, three pins and two decisions, the Tigers won the match 60-18.

“We have six kids with less than two years experience who are starting for us,” Heberling said. “It’s tough to compete against Western Branch and all the other schools with kids who’ve been doing this since elementary school.”

The Bulldogs earned three narrow wins in the first week of the season, already surpassing some of the dual win totals KF had in recent seasons.

King’s Fork beat Matthews by a point during a tri-meet last Wednesday. On Saturday in the 2nd Annual Battleground Duals at KF, the Bulldogs beat Franklin by three points and Lakeland by four points.

The Bulldogs and Cavaliers dueled to the last bout, at 120 pounds, with KF’s Bailey Wall winning while wrestling with a broken thumb he suffered earlier in the day.

“It was exciting for the kids, and it’s always exciting for me to see them win, especially in that fashion, down to the last match, in front of a lot of fans,” said Heberling, in his fifth season coaching the Bulldogs.

“I had parents come up to me, who are new to wrestling, and ask me, ‘That was great. Is wrestling always like that?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, especially when we’re wrestling against guys who are our caliber,’” he said.

The Bulldogs have two competitions on their slate before going back into Southeastern duals. King’s Fork wrestles Friday and Saturday at the Craney Island Invitational at Churchland, then on Dec. 28-29 at the Cavalier Classic at W.T. Woodson in Fairfax.

The trip to Northern Virginia will be a unique chance to grow as a team on a road trip and, of course, gain more experience on the mat, said Heberling.

“The guys got what it takes here,” Heberling said pointing to his heart, “but there’s the matter of putting it together out there,” he said, pointing to the wrestling mat.