The Carthage Wrestling Tigers are off to a great start in the postseason after claiming second place in the MSHSAA Class 4 District 5 tournament held at Ozark High School. The Tigers were neck and neck with the rival host Ozark Tigers most of the day and ended up falling short by only four- and one-half points. Overall, Coach Kenny Brown was pleased with his team’s performance. “I was really pleased with them. We left a few points out there that I thought could have earned us the championship, but that is the nature of the beast. It is difficult when kids do not get to move on and have worked so hard. Especially if they are seniors knowing that their wrestling career is over. We’ve had a really supportive group that is really vested in the success of the team.”
This year represents one for the books, as it is the first time since 2004 that Missouri Wrestling has held a sectional tournament. 2005 marked the beginning of “Super Districts”, eliminating the sectional tournament, doubling the district size, and effectively shortening the season. The 2021season marks the reintroduction of sectionals, with several changes along the way. First and foremost, Covid-19 has facilitated longer wait times between districts, sectionals, and state – two weeks each. Second, both districts and sectionals previously allowed the top four wrestlers to proceed, but this year districts allowed the top four place finishers to travel to sectionals and sectionals only allows for the top three to travel to state. The reasoning behind this, again, centers around Covid-19. Coach Brown explains that each class (1, 2, 3 and 4) has only ONE day to compete at the state tournament this year, and a traditional 16-man bracket would require some wrestlers to compete more than the allowed five match limit per day, as regulated by the rules set forth by the National Federation of High Schools. So, the third and probably most drastic change for this year centers around MSHSAA State Wrestling Championships. Almost a month later than normal, this year’s tournament will take place March 9th – 13th. Never in the history of the MSHSAA Championships has the tournament taken place anywhere other than the University of Missouri – Columbia. 2021 changed all of that with the facilities at Mizzou being unable to accommodate the extra days. So, Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, MO gets to do the honors this year, with Carthage competing on the last day of the tournament, March 13th. To finish the tournament in one day and prevent more than five matches per participant with the 16-man bracket, all first-place seeds will receive a bye. In addition, attendance will be limited and based upon the number of qualifiers each school sends.
In this time of uncertainty, however, most teams are only glad to have the opportunity to finish the season. The college wrestling community was not so fortunate last year, as their championship tournaments were cancelled only days before scheduled to take place. The NCAA shortened this year’s season to begin in January, and is still progressing at this point, with the Championships for Division I set to take place in St. Louis the week after MSHSAA concludes its tournament.
Here are the MSHSAA Sectional 3 first rounds pairings for Saturday’s tournament at Ozark High School:
Weight – CHS Wrestler – Opponent/School – Record – Grade
106 – Dylan Huntley – Gabe Hawkins/Lee’s Summit – 30-14 – 9
113 – Bradyn Tate- Zach Pruitt/Lee’s Summit West – 15-19 – 9
120 – Carlos Reyes – Nathan Wishne/Lee’s Summit – 34-8 – 11
126 – Kip Castor – Andrew Smith/Lee’s Summit West – 19-17 – 12
132 – Dagan Sappington – Bryce McKeone/Lee’s Summit – 10-12 – 11
138 – Eli Sneed – Noah Miller/Lee’s Summit – 16-27 – 10
145 – Davion King – Brock Donnelly/Lee’s Summit – 21-15 – 11
152 – Braxdon Tate – Ruben Miller/Lee’s Summit West – 23-15 – 11
160 – Grey Petticrew – Patrick Martin/Ray-Pec – 16-16 – 9
182 – Luke Gall – Benjamin Stephens/Rock Bridge – 14-18 – 10
220 – Kanen Vogt – Hurley Jacobs/Capital City – 28-4 – 10
Here are the Carthage Wrestling Results from the Class 4 District 5 Wrestling Tournament on 02/13/21 in Ozark. Carthage next wrestles in the Sectional Tournament in Ozark on 02/27/21 starting at 10:00AM.
Team Scores
1–Ozark–191.5
2–Carthage–187
3–Nixa–15170
4-Waynesville–128
5–Joplin–79
6–Republic–78.5
7–Kickapoo–70
8–Central(Springfield)–32.5
Individual Results
Weight–Name–Grade–Tournament Record–Season Record–Placement
106–Dylan Huntley–9–(2-2)–(17-6)–4th
won by decision 7-3 over Eian McCracken–Ozark
lost by fall in 3:31 to Sam Melton–Joplin
won by fall in 3:45 over David Duer–Kickapoo
lost by major decision 0-8 to Lucas Gideon–Central
113–Bradyn Tate–9–(3-1)–(22-3)–3rd
won by fall in 2:45 over Alex Short–Joplin
lost by decision 1-3 to Wyatt George–Republic
won by fall in 2:54 over Jovanni Balsamo–Ozark
won by major decision 12-0 over Rylan Lashley–Central
120–Carlos Reyes–12–(3-1)–(35-6)–3rd
won by fall in 3:59 over Brian Hill–Kickapoo
lost by fall in 5:32 to Dustin Green–Waynesville
won by fall in 0:36 over Daniel Laney–Ozark
won by fall in 2:35 over Dominick Famiano–Republic
126–Kip Castor–10–(3-1)–(20-19)–3rd
won by decision 3-1 over Theo Holleman–Kickapoo
lost by fall in 1:38 to Deagan Fugitt–Nixa
won by fall in 2:34 over Jacob Simpson–Republic
won by decision 5-4 over Rocky Walker–Joplin
132–Dagan Sappington–12–(2-1)–(12-4)–2nd
won by fall in 1:39 over Cohen Bane–Central
won by fall in 3:03 over Cole Crahan–Nixa
lost by decision 0-3 to Elijah Maskrod–Ozark
138–Eli Sneed–11–(2-1)–(32-8)–2nd
won by fall in 0:50 over Reese Macios–Joplin
won by fall in 4:48 over Kaiden Cruz–Waynesville
lost by decision 1-6 to Braxton Strick–Ozark
145–Davion King–10–(3-0)–(34-5)–1st
won by fall in 2:53 over Quinton Papa–Kickapoo
won by fall in 1:35 over Kevin Cruz–Waynesville
won by fall in 1:24 over Brock Sundlie–Ozark
152–Braxdon Tate–11–(1-1)–(23-6)–2nd
won by fall in 4:37 over Martin Medrano–Waynesville
lost by decision 0-4 to Clayton Moison–Ozark
160–Grey Petticrew–10–(1-1)–(14-10)–2nd
won by fall in 1:36 over Brenden Mynatt–Joplin
lost by fall in 3:15 to Riley Newson–Ozark
170–Brett Rockers–11–(1-2)–(19-10)–DNP
lost by overtime decision 6-10 to Drew VanGilder–Joplin
won by fall in 1:27 over Porter Osborne–Nixa
lost by fall in 0:58 to Thomas Rushing–Ozark
182–Luke Gall–10–(2-0)–(29-5)–1st
won by fall in 1:36 over Dillon Smith–Waynesville
won by fall in 1:42 over Harper Kissee–Ozark
195–Obed Gonzalez–12–(1-2)–(6-24)–DNP
won by decision 6-4 over Michael Turner–Nixa
lost by fall in 5:15 to Colton Justus–Waynesville
lost by decision 1-3 to Scott Lowe–Joplin
220–Kanen Vogt–11–(3-1)–(19-7)–3rd
won by fall in 0:27 over Jon Frost–Republic
lost by fall in 2:50 to Corey Choates–Kickapoo
won by fall in 1:27 over Luke Gunn–Joplin
won by decision 5-2 over Luke Hulse–Ozark
285–Alexis Vasquez–12-(1-2)–(16-10)–DNP
won by decision 6-5 over Charles Speake–Nixa
lost by fall in 1:48 to Hunter Tennison–Ozark
lost by decision 2-3 to David Kwon–Kickapoo
