Josh Kinser will be making his fourth trip to the Missouri Class 3 State Wrestling Tournament after finishing third at the District 3 Wrestling tournament held Feb. 13-14 at Branson High School.
Kinser (145) will be joined at state by freshman Jakob Gerow (106) and junior Daniel DeSantiago (113), both who finished in the fourth and final qualifying spot at districts. DeSantiago is making his second consecutive trip to the state tournament.
"Overall, I feel like this was a great showing by our team for having only 10 wrestlers going into the tournament," coach Josh Factor said. "We managed to get five wrestlers to the bubble match and three to qualify for the state championships in perhaps the toughest Class 3 district in the state. Last year at this time we had two qualifiers going to state. This year we gained one and the best part about it is we will have two of them returning next year. As much as I'd like to say I'm satisfied with how we finished, the competitive side in me would have liked to have had two more qualifiers."
The two Mustang wrestlers who got close to earning a berth at state were Truman Craig and Christopher Dalton. Both made it the consolation semifinals, where the winner is guaranteed at least a fourth place qualifying finish, but both lost their match by pins.
After receiving a first round bye, Kinser (37-10) pinned Matthew Schimsa of Pacific in the quarterfinals. In the semis, Kinser was knocked to the consolation bracket when he was pinned by Tyler Harden of Carthage.
Kinser rebounded with a 4-1 decision over David Lambeth of Rolla in the consolation semifinals and then won the third place match with a pin over Tyler Park of Marshfield.
DeSantiago (34-16) opened his tournament with a pin of Levi French of Webb City. After claiming a tough 6-4 decision over Hunter Powell of Republic in the quarterfinals, DeSantiago dropped a 9-1 decision to Parker Neptune of Washington.
In the do or die consolation semifinal match, DeSantiago earned a 5-1 decision to defeat Hunter Holderfield of Branson. In the third place match, Carthage's Dakota Jones edged DeSantiago with a 6-3 decision.
Gerow (39-10 and currently ranked fifth in the state) decisioned Gage Kassing of Pacific 3-0 in the quarterfinals after receiving a first round bye. Neosho's Dalton Kivett claimed an 11-3 decision in the semifinals to force Gerow into the consolation bracket where he claimed an 11-4 decision over Alex Garrett of Willard in the consolation semifinals.
Gerow was then pinned by Cody Hey of Washington for third place.
Craig pinned Davontay Carter of Springfield Hillcrest in the opening round before being pinned by Markkel Mooe of Carthage in the quarterfinals. Craig bounced back with two wins in the consolation bracket -- 12-6 decision over Ryan Markovic of Rolla and a 13-7 decision over Kyle Hunn of Branson -- before getting pinned by Josh Luck of Washington to end his season.
Dalton opened with a 17-3 decision over James Hunt of Springfield Hillcrest, but was knocked to the consolation round when he was pinned by Brandon O'Connell of Republic in the quarterfinals. Dalton responded with a pin over Dejuan Bryant of Union and a 23-3 decision over William Brookshire of Rolla before getting pinned by Quintin Bisbey of Willard.
Other McDonald County results included Landin Foreman (120) 0-2; Alex Guadarrama (126) 0-2; Nathan Knadle (132) 0-2; Isrrael DeSantiago (152) 0-2; and Andrew Coberley (220) 1-2.
Gerow, Daniel DeSantiago and Kinser begin their quest for a state medal Feb. 19 in Columbia.
"We couldn't ask for better draws that we got at state," Factor said. "Every one of our guys has a great opportunity to be a state placer, but it all boils down to their attitude. Our guys have to be determined to win at this level because every opponent at this level is a quality wrestler and it comes down to who gets after it the most. Josh has been here three times, he's due for a medal. Daniel is no stranger either after qualifying last year as a sophomore. Jakob just needs to wrestle up to the level that he has competed at all year and should bring home a medal."
Gerow will face Michael Painter (44-3) of Clayton in his first round match. Daniel DeSantiago will see a familiar opponent in his first round match. He will face Austin Schaub (30-13) of Harrisonville, who DeSantiago has faced twice this season, with each winning once. Kinser will face Taylor Brooks (29-18) of Rockwood Summit in his opening round match.
Neosho won the team championship with 286 points. Carthage was second with 158 points followed by Willard with 132.5, Washington 113.5, Rolla 106, Pacific 83, Webb City 73.5, Republic 73, Branson 63, McDonald County 51.5, Carl Junction 44.5, Marshfield 30, Union 29.5, Glendale 29 and Hillcrest 10.
Religion on 02/19/2015