Wins by Jakob Gerow and Truman Craig lifted the McDonald County to a seventh-place finish at the Monett Wrestling Tournament held Saturday at Monett High School.
Gerow and Craig were two of four Mustangs to make it to the championship match, but Oscar Ortiz and Tinker Kinser both lost and were forced to settle for second place.
Gerow won all four of his 126-pound pool matches, two by pin, one by technical fall and one by a 7-1 decision to advance to the championship match against Gunnar Bradley of Monett. Gerow took control of the match early and dominated his opponent on the way to a 10-0 win. Gerow is ranked fourth at 120 pounds by MissouriWrestling.com.
Craig's 160-pound division was set up differently. The top wrestlers in four pools advanced to an eight-man bracket. Craig recorded two first-period pins to win Pool C to advance to the bracket where he faced Devon Vickery of Logan Rogersville, the second place finisher in Pool D. Craig continued his string of first period-pins to advance to the semifinals, where he had another first period-pin to defeat Trevor Rock of Nixa.
In the championship match, Craig gave up a takedown and three back points while nearly getting pinned early in the first period, but the McDonald County senior turned the tables against Myron Reeves of Clinton (Okla.) High School late in the period and came away with his fifth first-period pin of the day to win the 160-pound title.
Ortiz went 4-0 in his 106-pound pool, two wins by pin and two by decision, to advance to the championship match against Joseph Semerad of Monett, where he lost a 6-3 decision.
Kinser's three wins in his pool in the 285-pound division included a 3-2 decision over Landon Porter, rated third in the state. The win set up a clash between the top-rated wrestler in Class 2 (Austin Kemp of Oak Grove) and Kinser, the top-rated wrestler in Class 3. The two big men spent the first 30 seconds of the match like two big bulls shoving each across the mat before Kemp struck quickly and took Kinser down to his back for a pin.
Rounding out the results for McDonald County were
• David Lazalde, 2-3, sixth, 113 pounds
• Johann Dela Cruz, 2-3, seventh, 120 pounds
• Christian Willmann, 2-3, seventh, 138 pounds
• Timber Bowers, 3-2, fifth, 170 pounds
• Kammeron Barnes, 2-3, fourth, 220 pounds.
Willard won the team title with 314 points followed by Clinton with 304 points, Oak Grove 299.5, Nixa 288, DeSoto 242.5, Monett 223, McDonald County 217, Bolivar 164.5, Logan Rogersville 143, Nevada 99, Bentonville West 50, Reeds Spring 45, Nixa JV 44, Willard JV 20, Bolivar JV 14, Oak Grove JV 12 and Clinton JV 10.
McDonald County's next match is set for Thursday, Jan 12, at Webb City in a double dual against the host Cardinals and Neosho.
Sports on 01/12/2017