With three out of the five McDonald County wrestlers who qualified for the Missouri Class 3 State Wrestling Championships earning medals, along with wins by the remaining two qualifiers, the Mustangs took 16th place in the final team standings.
"It is a great feeling to have three state medalists in our program," said coach Josh Factor. "The best part about it is all three are coming back next year. It will be the first time we start a season with three returning state medalists. I believe this is a direct reflection with the work ethic our kids have in this program."
Leading the results at state was a third-place finish by freshman Oscar Ortiz at 106 pounds. Ortiz opened with a 6-2 decision over Jackson Shea of Battle High School. A win over Ben Bohr of St. Charles in the quarterfinals advanced Ortiz to semifinals and assured the freshman of a medal.
Bohr and Ortiz were tied 0-0 at the end of the first period, before Bohr scored a reversal to take a 2-1 lead into the third period. Ortiz tied the score at 2-2 with an escape before Bohr scored a takedown to take a 4-2 lead late in the period. But Ortiz managed to get a reversal to tie the score with 17 seconds left and ride his opponent the rest of the way to force overtime. In overtime, Ortiz recorded an early takedown to claim the win.
In the semifinals, Ortiz faced James Freitag of Kearney. Freitag jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and went on to claim a 12-3 decision. In the consolation semifinals, Ortiz scored a first period takedown on the way to a 3-0 win over Cameron Steinhoff of Liberty to advance to the third-place match.
"After I got beat in the semifinals, I was kind of down but I wanted to come back and win a medal," Ortiz said. "I think next year we are going to come back to state and do better. I just want to thank everyone for all the support this year."
Facing Bohr for the second time in the tournament, Ortiz made a second period escape stand up in his 1-0 victory.
"I always get excited anytime we have a state medalist, but when we know we have three more years to work with a kid like Oscar, it is pretty special," Factor said. "I couldn't be prouder of the way he performed. It's one of those things as a coach, you always want to be on top, but when you get a guy up there who has worked as hard as Oscar, it is a great feeling."
Two-time state medalist Jake Gerow probably had the toughest draw of all the Mustangs. Gerow lost a pair of one-point decisions and was forced to settle with fifth place at 120 pounds..
After opening with a 7-0 decision over Noah Patton of Pacific, Gerow faced two-time defending state champion Clayton Singh of Kearney in the quarterfinals. Singh scored an escape and a takedown in the second period on the way to a 3-2 win.
The McDonald County junior bounced back with a pin over Gavin Scott of Hannibal in his first wrestleback match and then claimed a 10-3 win over Trent Starr to advance to the consolation semifinals where he was guaranteed a medal.
Facing Dalen Moore of Carthage, Gerow gave up an escape in the second period and then could not get away from Moore in the third in a 1-0 loss.
Gerow closed out his tournament with a 6-0 decision over Zach Fennel of Rolla in the fifth-place match.
"You hate to say getting fifth is a little disappointing, but Jake had an awful tough bracket," Factor said. "He had trouble getting off bottom at districts against the Carthage kid (Dalen Moore) and did here at state, too. He lost to the Kearney kid (now a three-time state champion), but he wrestled with a lot of heart and it was a great match. Sometimes you have to learn from your losses, and hopefully this will help motivate Jake for his final year."
The fifth-place medal was Gerow's third state medal in his three years of high school wrestling at MCHS.
"It is a little disappointing," Gerow said of his fifth-place finish. "I lost my quarterfinal match and had to fight all the way back. I just have to keep working and trying to get the first state championship for McDonald County."
Taking sixth place for the Mustangs was Tinker Kinser at 285 pounds. Kinser won his opening match 9-2 before dropping a 1-0 decision to Austin Campbell of Harrisonville in the quarterfinals. After winning a pair of matches in the wrestlebacks, Kinser lost an 8-2 decision to Emanuel Childs of Raytown in the consolation semifinals and then dropped a second 1-0 decision to Campbell in the sixth-place match.
"Last year Tinker finished short of his goal of getting a medal," Factor said. "This year, I know it wasn't the place he wanted, but he came home with a sixth-place medal. You never know what you are going to face at the state tournament -- there is always a lot of good competition."
Kinser said he thought the team did really well in getting 16th place.
"It feels pretty good getting a medal, but it wasn't what I was hoping for," Kinser said. "It just means I have to work harder in the off season. It was an awesome trip for McDonald County as a whole. Kammeron Barnes and Truman Craig stepped up and won a match. Hopefully, next year we can bring some more kids."
Craig won his opening match before being eliminated with losses in his next two matches.
"Truman Craig is one of the kids your always glad to have in your program," Factor said. "He is competing to be valedictorian of his class in addition to doing a great job out on the mat. He came in and got a pin in his first round match and the kid he beat went on to get a medal. He was right there and gave it a great effort."
Barnes lost his opener, but rallied to win once in the wrestlbacks before being eliminated in his next match.
"We kind of lucked out getting Kammeron here as a move in," Factor said. "He wasn't expected to qualify to state tournament but he overachieved after coming into the districts as a sixth seed. He came away with a win at state and helped us pick up some team points."
Neosho won its fifth consecutive Class 3 state title with 150 points. Smithville was second with 118 points followed by Kearney with 115, Grain Valley 103, Platte County 92, Belton 73, Willard 68, Fort Zumwalt south 65, Rolla 56.5, Windsor 48, Carthage 45, Warrenton 45, Washington 43, Raytown South 42.5, Warrensburg 42, McDonald County 41, Carl Junction 35, Hillsboro 31, Republic 30 and Union 30 to round out the top 20. There were wrestlers form 50 schools in the Class 3 championships.
Sports on 02/23/2017