Jakob Gerow finished second at Saturday's Branson Invitational to lead the McDonald County wrestling team to a 12th place finish in the team standings out of 21 teams that participated.
Gerow received a pair of byes and pinned Briar Crain of Reeds Spring to advance to the semifinals of the 113-pound class where he claimed a 5-4 decision over Skyler Reid of Lee's Summit. In the championship match, Gerow was on the losing end of a one-point decision, falling 4-3 to Joel Barrientos of Monett.
Other top finishes for the Mustangs was a third place by Bronnie Kinser and a fourth by Daniel De Santiago.
Kinser also had a couple of byes in his pool before he pinned Damian Chapa of Branson to earn a place in the semifinals. The McDonald County heavyweight and Shawn Watson of Lee's Summit battled on even terms through three periods and two overtimes before Watson claimed a 3-2 decision in the ultimate tiebreaker.
Kinser came back to pin Jordan White of Neosho in the third place match.
De Santiago pinned Angel Rabadan of Monett and won a 6-0 decision over Trenton Young of Neosho to advance to the semifinals at 120 pounds where he lost a 6-0 decision to Kimble Jennings of Springdale Har-Ber. De Santiago was pinned by Wesley Dickens of St. Genevieve for third place.
Other McDonald results with their records on the day are as follows: Truman Craig, fifth, 3-1; Nathan Knadle, eighth, 1-4; Johann De La Cruz, ninth, 1-2; Christian Willman, 11th, 2-3; Rylan Hobbs, 11th, 1-3; Jesus Ocampo, 12th, 0-3; Timber Bowers, 13th, 0-3; and Dylan Akins, 16th, 0-3.
Neosho won the team title with 365.5 points followed by Seneca with 212, Lee's Summit 207, Monett 198.5, Springdale Har-Ber 178.5, Oak Park 159, Sedalia 158.5, St. Genevieve 141.5, Union 123.5, Branson 111.5, Webb City 111.5, McDonald County 108, Carl Junction 57.5, Bolivar 55.5, Glendale 51, Reeds Spring 45.5, Neosho JV 41, Seneca JV 21.5, Lee's Summit JV 16, Branson JV 9 and Reeds Spring 4.
McDonald County's next match is set for Jan. 21 at Springfield Parkview.
Webb City/Neosho
McDonald County split duals with Webb City and Neosho on Jan. 14 at MCHS.
Against Webb City, the Mustangs claimed a 42-30 win. Winning for the Mustangs were De La Cruz, forfeit; Gerow, pin; De Santiago, pin, Knadle, pin; Craig, pin; Kenneth Read, forfeit; and Kinser, pin.
Neosho defeated the Mustangs 59-12. Winning for the Mustangs were De La Cruz, pin, Gerow, 6-2 decision; and Kinser, 4-3 decision.
Neosho added a 79-3 defeat over Webb City.
Sports on 01/21/2016