Carthage High School Wrestling continued their busy schedule with duals at Bolivar and Neosho, and a varsity tournament at Platte County. While still struggling with injury, illness and the broad sweep of quarantine, the Tigers put a decisive win up against Bolivar on the Liberators home turf during senior night. Head Coach Kenny Brown was pleased with his team’s effort at the outing.
“I honestly thought that we were going to have a very close dual that would come down to one of several matches going our way or theirs. They had their best wrestler out of the dual due to an injury, but I did not expect to win by near the margin that we did.” Known for their physicality, Bolivar always puts a tough team on the mat. “My boys just went out and competed like they always do. Doesn’t matter who they are wrestling, they gave their all and tried to wrestle their own match and not let their opponent dictate how a match progressed,” Brown said.
Brown was also quick to point out how pleased he was with his wrestlers’ technique.
“There were several performances that warrant attention. At 106, we had a 1st year wrestler step into the lineup because our varsity wrestler was injured and our JV wrestler was quarantined. Alberto Sales did a great job just giving up a major decision having learned that he would be getting his varsity debut just 20 hours before. If it were not for a 4-point move as time expired, he would have just given up a decision. Considering how tight I felt the dual was going to be going in, I saw that as a win for his team. At 113, Bradyn Tate knocked off a two-time state placer. Huge match for him as a freshman not just for his confidence, but also for seeding implications for Districts. At 285, our 210 lb. Alexis Vasquez took on another heavy weight at the top of the weight class and won a 7-1 decision. Kip Castor had a 2-4 match stopped in the 2nd period because we could not get his nose to stop bleeding. It was a winnable match for him that resulted in at least a 9-point swing in the team score. Finally, in probably the biggest standout performance of the night, Kanen Vogt at 220. Kanen was winning 4-1 with one minute to go in the 3rd period against the two-time State runner-up Drayton Huchteman. They got into a scramble and Kanen was forced into the splits to avoid giving up a takedown. Unfortunately, he pulled his hamstring and was forced to forfeit the remainder of the match. Another 9-point swing of the team score.”
Unfortunately for the Tigers, the Neosho Wildcats brought their perfect dual record to an end. Determined to have a successful mat warming, Neosho officially recorded the Tigers first loss on the season.
“I know that the score of the dual illustrates a dominant win by Neosho, but it was a far closer dual than most thought. We were without our 106 due to injury and quarantine, no 113 because of a quarantine, no 132 because of an injury and a quarantine, and JV wrestlers in at 220 because of injury and 285 because of a concussion suffered on Monday at practice. That being said, we went into our toughest dual of the year down five starters, which should mean 30 points. Those are 30 points for the other team and none of what we could have possibly earned with our starters in for our side. I was pleased that Antony DeLeon and Malachi Housh were willing to step into the 220 and 285 lb. spots and do their best. The first five matches of the night were decided by a total of 6 points. That is some great competition and an exciting dual for fans to watch. Unfortunately, we only came out on top in two of those five matches. We still have some work to do before catching Neosho, but we are looking forward to seeing them again at the COC tournament in Republic on Jan. 30. I would have loved to have been able to knock them off in the dual, but even in losing, the dual helped us. The boys know how close the dual was and we saw a different crew in the practice room the next day. They came in ready to work and do what they need to in order to close the gap on Neosho,” Brown stated.
Despite the loss, the coaching staff remains optimistic about their team’s performance.
“It was just a fun dual to coach. Starting out with those five close matches really upped the atmosphere of the dual. Everyone was on the edge of their seat for most of the matches. Kip Castor being able to ride out his opponent in the 2nd period and then hold on for the 1-0 victory in the third was a big win for us. Follow that up in the next match that was actually wrestled at 138. Eli Sneed was down 4-2 with about 10 seconds to go. He gets the escape and then hits a lateral drop for the takedown with 1 second to go. Kid never quit and wrestled until the final whistle. Neosho then bumped up their second ranked 170 to wrestle Luke Gall. Gall proceeded to win by major decision 13-4 on the strength of six takedowns. Not only that, but he was willing to let him go with 20 seconds in the match, giving up the major decision. He then went out and got the last takedown to get back to the major. That took confidence knowing that he could get the takedown he needed. That confidence in his abilities will pay dividends down the road as he confronts other top-flight competition,” said Coach Brown.
Still plagued with the loss of six wrestlers at last weekend’s Platte County Invitational, Coach Brown discussed his goals for the near future.
“To get through the season healthy. It is not just the last month. We are closer to two months left with the change to the post-season this year. I am just hoping that we can avoid quarantines/isolations and injuries and allow the boys to have a shot to accomplish their goals.”
The biggest question is how the team deals with so much change and uncertainty.
“They have honestly been great about it. They handle the quarantines/isolations better than the coaching staff. They just kind of roll with it. They are not happy, but I do not hear too much complaining about it. However, they have definitely gotten to where they do not want to be called down to the principal’s office in the middle of the day. That usually means they are going home for up to 10 days.”
Carthage begins another busy week at Webb City, Tuesday January 26, then on to Springfield for a double dual versus Central and Waynesville. The week concludes at Republic on Saturday for the Central Ozark Conference Tournament.
Here are the Carthage Wrestling results from our dual with Bolivar on 01/14/21 in Bolivar.
Carthage—38
Bolivar—28
Individual Results
Weight—Name—Grade—Season Record
106—Alberto Sales—9—(0-1)
Lost by major decision 2-11 to Forrest McMannes
Varsity is injured and JV kid is sick
113—Bradyn Tate—9—(12-1)
Won by decision 3-2 over Canyon Cunningham—two-time state placer
120—Carlos Reyes—12—(21-2)
Won by fall in 0:59 over Thomas Pennington
126—Kip Castor—10—(9-12)
Lost by injury default to Braidyn Spiegel
We could not get his nose to stop bleeding in the 5 minutes allowed
132—OPEN
Dagan Sappington is out with an injury and our JV wrestler went home from school sick
138—Eli Sneed—11—(16-7)
Won by fall in 4:22 over Jake Banner
145—Davion King—10—(20-3)
Won by fall in 1:46 over Ryan West
152—Braxdon Tate—11—(13-1)
Won by fall in 3:33 over Evan Hendrickson
Bolivar’s returning State Champion was out with an injury
160—Grey Petticrew—10—(11-7)
Lost by decision 3-9 to Trey Brewer
170—Brett Rockers—11—(10-4)
Won by decision 7-3 over Hunter Davis
182—Luke Gall—10—(14-4)
Won by technical fall 20-5 over Andrew Bunn
195—Obed Gonzalez—12—(2-12)
Lost by decision 3-6 to Izik Simms
220—Kanen Vogt—11—(16-6)
Lost by injury default to Drayton Huchteman—2-time State runner-up
We were winning 4-1 with 1 minute left in the third period when we were injured
285—Alexis Vasquez—12—(12-6)
Won by decision 7-1 over Jack Roweton
Junior Varsity Results
113—Walter Reyes-Mojica—11—(4-4)
Won by forfeit
132—Darrin Witt—9—(3-6)
Lost by fall in 5:50 to Payson Reisner
132—Mason Rustad—10—(5-1)
Won by overtime decision 6-4 over Payson Reisner
132—Jose Gomez—10—(3-1)
Lost by fall in 3:59 to Toby Bunn
138—Emerson Perez—10—(1-3)
Won by forfeit
145—Brayden Benefiel—12—(5-0)
Won by fall in 2:24 over Payton Campbell
145—Elmer Reyes—9—(10-4)
Won by fall in 2:40 over Payton Campbell
152—Elvis Vasquez—9—(1-3)
Won by forfeit
170—Creed Lambeth—12—(7-3)
Lost by decision 1-8 to Jesse Fields
182—James Chuta—12—(9-5)
Won by fall in 1:38 over Kayden Huchteman
220—Cristian Salas—11—(12-2)
Won by decision 1-0 over Cael McCullah
220—Anthony Salas—10—(5-1)
Lost by major decision 5-15 to Cael McCullah
285—Malachi Housh—9—(7-3)
Lost by decision 2-5 to Brayden Benjamin
285—Chastin Utter—12—(1-4)
Lost by fall in 2:00 to Brayden Benjamin
Here are the Carthage Wrestling dual results with Neosho from 01/19/21. Carthage moves to 6-1 on the dual season.
Carthage—10
Neosho—57
Individual Results
Weight—Name—Grade—Season Record
106—OPEN
Forfeit to Raymond Hembree—ranked 3rd in Class 3
Carthage was open because of injury and quarantine
113—OPEN
Forfeit to Hunter Morales
Carthage was open because of quarantine
120—Carlos Reyes—12—(21-3)
Lost by decision 10-11 to Landon Kivett—ranked 5th in Class 3
126—Kip Castor—10—(10-12)
Won by decision 1-0 over Jonny Chrisco
132—OPEN
Forfeit to Josh Schuurman
Carthage was open because of illness
138—Eli Sneed—11—(17-7)
Won by decision 5-4 over Hayden Crane—ranked 3rd at 132 in Class 3
145—Davion King—10—(20-4)
Lost by decision 2-4 to Eli Zar—ranked 6th in Class 3
152—Braxdon Tate—11—(13-2)
Lost by decision 2-3 to Collyn Kivett
160—Grey Petticrew—10—(11-8)
Lost by fall in 4:58 to Trent Neece
170—Brett Rockers—11—(10-5)
Lost by fall in 2:26 to Cayden Auch—ranked 1st at 160 in Class 3
182—Luke Gall—10—(15-4)
Won by major decision 13-4 over Eric Holt—ranked 2nd at 170 in Class 3
195—Obed Gonzalez—12—(2-13)
Lost by fall in 5:15 to Jacob Fry
220—Antony DeLeon—10—(0-1)
Lost by overtime fall in 6:12 to Eric Renner
285—Malachi Housh—9—(3-2)
Lost by fall in 2:33 to Nico Olivares
Junior Varsity Results
106—Indiana Gray—9—(0-4)
Lost by fall in 1:52 to Wyatt Black
145—Elmer Reyes—9—(10-5)
Lost by fall in 2:44 to Nate Copeland
152—Trey Nye—10—(2-4)
Lost by fall in 5:58 to Gabe Mabrey
152—Esvin Gonzalez—10—(0-4)
Lost by decision 3-10 to Tristan Clanton
152—Gabe Lambeth—10—(11-1)
Won by decision 2-0 over Noah Quillman
152—Elvis Vasquez—9—(1-4)
Lost by fall in 0:58 to Tristan Clanton
152—Aldo Hernandez—9—(0-4)
Lost by fall in 0:37 to Gabe Mabrey
160—Creed Lambeth—12—(8-3)
Won by fall in 0:54 over Noah Lawson
Here are the results from the Platte County Invitational Duals on 01/23/21. Carthage finished in 5th place out of 8 teams. We were without 6 varsity wrestlers for this tournament. Oak Grove only was able to bring four wrestlers and William Chrisman was only able to bring seven wrestlers. Carthage went 3-2. Teams were divided into 2 pools of 4 and wrestled in a round robin. First and second out of each pool then wrestled the first and second out of the other pool. Same thing happened with the third and fourth from each pool. Carthage finished in 5th place. Carthage next wrestles at Webb City on 01/26/21 starting at 6:00PM.
Carthage–35
Kirksville–41
Carthage–33
Smithville–45
Carthage–39
Oak Grove–6
Carthage–40
William Chrisman–28
Carthage–42
St. James Academy–30
Individual Results will be listed in the same order as the above duals
Weight–Name–Grade–Tournament Record–Season Record
106–OPEN–several wrestlers will be out of quarantine on Monday
113–OPEN–several wrestlers will be out of quarantine on Monday
120–Carlos Reyes–12–(5-0)–(26-3)
won by forfeit–Kirksville chose to bump their 120 away from him
won by forfeit–Smithville chose to go OPEN rather than wrestle him
won by forfeit
won by forfeit
won by fall in 1:14 over Max Schemmel
126–Kip Castor–10–(3-2)–(13-14)
won by technical fall 15-0 over Lathon Wilcox
lost by fall in 0:56 to Alex Hutchcraft
won by forfeit over Oak Grove
won by forfeit over William Chrisman
lost by fall in 0:37 to Angel Miranda
132–OPEN–varsity wrestler has a bacterial infection and JV gets out of quarantine on Monday
138–Eli Sneed–11–(5-0)–(22-7)
won by fall in 5:34 over Dominic Cahalan
won by fall in 0:53 over Ty Sarrett
won by forfeit
won by forfeit
won by fall in 2:18 over Danny Feist
145–Davion King–10–(5-0)–(25-4)
won by fall in 1:31 over Prophett Krepps
won by fall in 0:36 over Nate Lawhon
won by forfeit
won by forfeit
won by fall in 1:07 over Jack Steinlage
152–Braxdon Tate–11–(4-1)–(17-3)
won by forfeit
lost by decision 5-11 to Ethan Muir
won by fall in 3:17 over Haiden Armstrong
won by forfeit
won by fall in 2:43 over Clayton Hall
160–Brett Rockers–11–(4-1)–(14-6)–normally wrestles 170, but 160 Grey Petticrew was out for a family funeral
lost by technical fall 2-17 to Jaden Ballinger
won by fall in 1:50 over Aiden Krahn
won by decision 9-6 over Alex Whitehead
won by fall in 0:56 over Jake Rue
won by fall in 1:40 over John Foley
170–OPEN
182–Luke Gall–10–(5-0)–(20-4)
won by forfeit
won by fall in 0:46 over Calvin Steffen
won by fall in 2:19 over Adrian Whitehead
won by major decision 17-5 over Mason Walters
won by fall in 1:24 over Gabriel Puchella
195—Obed Gonzalez–(2-3)–(4-16)
lost by fall in 1:22 to Jack Thomas
won by decision 7-2 over Tyler Wilson
lost by fall in 1:27 to Zander Brinegar
lost by major decision 0-8 to Andru Campos
won by forfeit
220–OPEN–out due to injury at Bolivar
285–OPEN–out due to concussion protocol
