Head Coach Kenny Brown remembers exactly where he was fifteen years ago: wrestling and beating the Neosho Wildcats on Tuesday, January 18, 2007. While that dual took place at the PE Annex across from the old Carthage High School, this historic rivalry has remained strong since before Brown even started his tenure in Carthage twenty years ago.
To say that Tuesday night’s victory over Neosho was epic would be an understatement. As the crowd cheered on the wrestling Tigers, the momentum continued to build with the weight of what a “W” on the evening meant to the team. The Tigers started off with a 6-0 lead in the team score with a forfeit at 106 pounds by the Wildcats. A major decision by Dylan Huntley over Fisher Butler at 113 pounds, then pushed the score to 10-0 in favor of Carthage. A 3-10 loss at 120 pounds by Christian Brown still kept the Tigers ahead 10-3, and was followed by a resounding pin by 126 pounder Bradyn Tate to ease the team ahead 16-3.
Senior Byron Lopez stepped in for Kip Castor, who was ill that evening, at 132 pounds and unfortunately lost by fall to Neosho’s Hayden Crane. After a 7-11 hard fought loss by Eli Sneed (only his second of the season) at 138 pounds, the Wildcats narrowed the Carthage lead to 16-12 in the team score.
But the Tigers continued to come out strong when junior Grey Petticrew, 145 pounds, went on to pin Bostyn Patterson and widen the margin to a 22-12 team score. Braxdon Tate’s match at 152 pounds then went to ultimate tiebreaker where he unfortunately lost a tough match 3-4 to Trent Neece. The Tiger Wrestlers continued to rally with a major decision win by Davion King at 160 pounds. The wildcats refused to give up, though, and picked up a major decision themselves at 170 pounds by Eli Zar over Carthage’s Gabe Lambeth. Team score was now 26-19 in favor of the Tigers.
The 182 pound match proved victorious again for the Tigers as Brett Rockers won by fall in 59 seconds over Gabriel Mabrey. Neosho, though, was not ready to throw in the towel. Freshman Landyn Collins took the loss by pin at 195 pounds and then the Tigers forfeited at 220 pounds to make the team score 32-31 in favor of the Tigers.
So it all came down to the heavyweight match, where freshman David Recinos took the mat for only the sixth time this year. The crowd was absolutely out of control as they cheered on Recinos, and everyone was on their feet. With 39 seconds left in the first period, Recinos took his opponent down, executed a beautiful half nelson and pinned Tyce Hardin to win the dual against Neosho for the first time in fifteen years. David then sprinted off the mat and jumped into Coach Brown’s arms for a bear hug as his team and the fans went crazy.
“Credit to Neosho for the team they put out year in and year out. We always know they are going to be tough and this year was no exception. Tonight was our night and I couldn’t be prouder of my guys for supporting each other and going out there and getting it done,” said Coach Brown.
Here are the Carthage Wrestling Results from our dual with Neosho on 01/18/22 at home. Carthage moves to 5-2 on the season. The varsity next wrestles in the Platte County Invitational on 01/21-22/22 starting at 4:30PM.
Carthage—38
Neosho—31
Individual Results
Weight—Name—Grade—Season Record
106—Aydan Nye—9—(5-2)
Won by forfeit
113—Dylan Huntley—10—(5-1)
Won by major decision 12-4 over Fisher Butler
120—Christian Brown—12—(11-5)
Lost by decision 3-10 to Wyatt Black
126—Bradyn Tate—10—(17-6)
Won by fall in 3:05 over Jon Chrisco
132—Byron Lopez—12—(5-6)
Lost by fall in 5:06 to Hayden Crane
138—Eli Sneed—12—(20-2)
Lost by decision 7-11 to Nate Copeland
145—Grey Petticrew—11—(14-4)
Won by fall in 3:06 over Bostyn Patterson
152—Braxdon Tate—12—(18-4)
Lost in ultimate tiebreaker 3-4 to Trent Neece
160—Davion King—11—(20-2)
Won by major decision 12-4 over Collyn Kivett
170—Gabe Lambeth—11—(7-9)
Lost by major decision 2-14 to Eli Zar
182—Brett Rockers—12—(5-2)
Won by fall in 0:59 over Gabriel Mabrey
195—Landyn Collins—9—(0-3)
Lost by fall in 1:14 to Ulysses DeLeon
220—OPEN
Forfeit to Eric Renner
285—David Recinos—9—(4-2)
Won by fall in 1:21 over Tyce Hardin
Junior Varsity Results
113—Indiana Gray—10—(3-5)
Won by decision 12-8 over Marlon Villatoro
132—Walter Reyes-Mojica—12—(6-6)
Lost by fall in 3:08 to Jack Lankford
138—Cody Reeves—12—(8-2)
Lost by fall in 4:48 to Dylan Stephens
Won by fall in 3:09 over Tanner Young
152—Trey Nye—11—(12-2)
Won by fall in 3:25 over Trey Hardin
152—Matthew Bysor—9—(2-0)
Won by major decision 11-3 over Josh Scheuerman
160—Grant Lasley—12—(8-1)
Won by fall in 2:32 over Talon Mitchell
160—Esvin Gonzalez—11—(11-2)
Won by fall in 0:27 over Talon Mitchell
170—Bryce Guzman—9—(0-2)
Lost by fall in 2:24 to Aidan Daugherty
