The Mexico boys weren’t able to match Hannibal’s experience on Wednesday night.

The Bulldogs lost 57-12 to their North Central Missouri Conference foe in a home dual in Gooch gym, sustaining six pins and losing three close decisions. Gavin Martin at 138 pounds, and Isai Hernandez at 165 pounds gave Mexico some victories after respective decisions of 8-1 and 7-1.

Head coach Gayle Adams said Mexico is a young team as the Bulldogs had nine underclassmen — five freshmen — in the varsity lineup on Wednesday. Hannibal had the experience it was able to use to gain advantages in various matches.

“We’re looking at a young Mexico team, and Hannibal is pretty seasoned right now — there are a lot of juniors and are ranked pretty high in state,” Adams said. “We have to keep a lot of things in perspective. We’ve got one senior on the team, and we’ve got 15 freshmen on the team and a lot of sophomores. If kids keep working hard, good things are going to happen.”

One of those examples was the freshman Hernandez, who had Caine Servis in several predicaments during his match. Hernandez had his arms wrapped around Servis at one point, but wasn’t able to turn it into a pin. Still, a 7-1 decision gave him a nice victory.

“He’s a freshman, and he’s learning,” Adams said. “We’ve got to look at the positives in this dual instead of the negatives. With these young kids, we’re taking good steps with them. If they keep building and they keep learning, they’re going to be successful.”

Gavyn Martin was in complete control of his match, taking an 8-1 lead into the third period until he was down at the mat holding his leg. Martin ended up being fine after an injury timeout was taken, finishing the match with a win.

Adams said Martin will be alright as the incident scared Martin more than anything. Prior to that, Martin was all over Peyton Pritchett. Adams said having both him and his brother, Kayle Martin, in the lineup should fill the team out better as Keegan Koons and Gavyn Martin will move back to lighter weight classes and Kayle Martin will slot it in at 138.

“He tweaked it a little bit. He’ll be alright as he’s a tough kid,” Adams said. “He’s gritty. He was staying solid with his takedowns. If he stays solid the rest of the year, he’s going to finish out his senior year with a good campaign.”

Sophomore Peyton Hoover lost a 6-1 decision to Lucas Hudson at 175 pounds, freshman Tucker Hutchinson dropped a 5-1 decision to Matt Sydnor at 215 pounds, and the sophomore Van Horn lost his 144-pound match 5-2.

Van Horn is a reigning 132-pound fourth-place state medalist in Class 2, and he was matched up with Cody Culp, who was fourth in the 126-pound class in Class 3.

Mexico has a busy week ahead, starting with Friday and Saturday at a tournament in St, Charles, following with a home dual Tuesday with Moberly, a Wednesday tri meet at Southern Boone and a Thursday meet in Fulton against the Hornets and St. Charles.