McDonald County junior Jakob Gerow won the 120-pound weight class and teammate senior Truman Craig won his 100th match of his high school career to lead the Mustangs to a sixth place in the team standings at the 49th Annual Kinloch Classic Wrestling Tournament held Dec. 29-30 at Parkview High School in Springfield.
Gerow, now with a 20-1 record for the season, was tested in the finals by Maren Cahill of Raymore Peculiar. Gerow defeated the senior Cahill by a 2-1 decision in the championship match after picking up an 8-3 win over Jay Strausburg of Rogersville in the semifinals and an 18-3 technical fall over Wyatt Snyder of Ozark in the quarterfinals.
Gerow advanced to the quarterfinals with a 3-0 record in his pool, which included one pin, a technical fall and a forfeit.
The only other McDonald County wrestler to make the championship match was freshman Oscar Ortiz. Ortiz, now 18-2, won a 10-2 decision in the quarterfinals and claimed a technical fall in the quarters, but was pinned in the title match by sophomore Evan Winder of Jefferson City Helias.
Ortiz won two of his pool matches by pins and the other by a technical fall.
Making it to the semifinals before losing were David Lazalde (113) and Tinker Kinser (285). Kinser won his four pool matches by pins and added another in the quarterfinals before dropping a 5-2 decision to Jace Gorn of Ozark. Kinser then was pinned in his third place match by Shane Sisco of Buffalo. The two losses were Kinser's first defeats of the season after starting the year off with 21 consecutive wins.
Of the four Mustangs making it to the semifinals, Lazalde had the tough route just to get into the championship bracket. The 113-pound McDonald County freshman won his first pool match by a 1-0 decision in overtime over Tim Wiley of Warrensburg. After winning by pin in his second pool match, Lazalde claimed a narrow 6-4 decision in his third pool match.
Lazalde, 15-6, won by pin in the quarterfinals before dropping a 18-3 technical decision to Jake Nichols of Ozark in the semifinals. Lazalde bounced back by winning his first match in the consolation bracket by a 7-2 decision before winning the third place match by pin.
After picking up four wins in his pool, three by pin and one by technical fall, Craig was one win away from his 100th victory in his career at MCHS. But it would have to wait a round after the 160-pound senior was pinned by Nick Gladkoz of Ozark in the quarterfinals. Craig, 19-4, came back to pin Connor Richey of Windsor in the consolation semifinals to reach the 100-win milestone. Craig then beat Bryce O'Connor of Rolla on a 20-4 technical fall for fifth place.
Other Mustangs making it to the championship bracket were Christian Willmann and Kammeron Barnes.
Willmann, 16-6, advanced to the championship bracket by going 4-1 in his pool, which included a 7-5 overtime win in the fifth-round match to make it to the finals. But in the quarterfinals, the 138-pound senior dropped a 6-4 decision to Lucas Campbell of Rogersville. In the consolation bracket, Willmann advanced to the fifth place match on a bye before losing by pin to settle for sixth place.
Barnes, 220-pound senior with a 4-4 record, went 2-1 in his pool to advance to the championship bracket. Barnes dropped a 3-0 decision to Julian Richardson of Republic in the quarterfinals to fall to the consolation bracket. In the semifinals, Barnes won by pin before dropping an 8-7 decision to Stephen Gladkoz of Ozark in the fifth place match.
Rounding out the McDonald County results were Johann Dela Cruz, 4-3, 13th place, 126 pounds; Jared Weaver, 4-1, 17th place, 132 pounds; Jack Bowers, 3-4, 14th place, 145 pounds; Nathaniel Johnny, 0-6, 16th placed, 152 pounds; Timber Bowers, 3-4, 13th place, 170 pounds; and Brandon Andrew, 2-5, 14th place, 182 pounds.
Buffalo edged Rolla 395-389 for the team title. Rounding out the team results were Ozark 379.5, Bentonville 340.5, Raymore Peculiar 328, McDonald County 304.5, Warrensburg 257.5, Bolivar 244, Windsor 237.5, Republic 235.5, St. Clair 231.5, St. James 223, Jefferson City Helias 219.5, Rogersville 209, Marshfield 203, Rogers Heritage 139.5, Kickapoo 127.5, Springfield Central 116.5, Glendale 111.5, Fayetteville 99, Parkview 91.5, Hollister 79.5, Bentonville JV 65.5, Hillcrest 39 and Springfield Catholic 12.5.
The Mustangs return to action on Jan. 5 in a double dual at Republic against the host Tigers and the Monett Cubs.
Sports on 01/05/2017