Kammeron Barnes avenged a loss in his pool match to Neosho's Christian Nutz with a 4-2 decision in the championship match to claim the 220-pound title Saturday's Branson Invitational to lead the McDonald County Mustangs to a sixth place finish in the team standings.
Barnes opened pool competition with a 14-8 decision over Marcus Tortorello of Fayetteville and followed with a 5-3 win over Alex Crowe of Bentonville in his second-round match before losing his final match in the pool to Nutz.
Advancing to the semifinals where he faced Eric Shockey of Branson, who was the winner of the other pool, Barnes recorded his only pin of the day to earn a second shot against Nutz.
McDonald County's only other wrestlers in a championship match were 106-pound freshman Oscar Ortiz and 285-pound junior Tinker Kinser.
Ortiz was leading Joseph Semerad of Monett 2-0 in his title match before Semerad got Ortiz on his back for a pin with 15 seconds left in the second round.
Ortiz advanced to the finals by winning all three of his pool matches and then claiming a 10-3 decision over Kolton Sanders of Neosho in the semifinals.
Kinser was pinned by Adrian Hitchcock of Neosho in the championship match after going 3-0 in his pool matches.
Other McDonald County results were Johann Dela Cruz, third, 120 pounds; Jakob Gerow, third, 126 pounds; Truman Craig, fourth, 160 pounds; David Lazalde, seventh, 113 pounds; and Timber Bowers, seventh, 170 pounds.
Neosho won the team title with 378.5 points, followed by Seneca with 236.5, Bentonville 232, Monett 218, Branson 208, McDonald County 161, Carl Junction 125.5, Vian, Okla. 89, Webb City 74, Neosho JV 57.5, Fayetteville 53, Reeds Spring 43, Branson JV 39, Webb City 8.5, Seneca JV 7.5 and Fayetteville JV 5.
McDonald County's next match is set for Jan. 19 when the Mustangs host Springfield Glendale and Springfield Parkview. Senior Night ceremonies will precede the matches, which begin at 5 p.m.
Webb City/Neosho
McDonald County split a double dual at Neosho with a 39-38 win over Webb City while dropping a 51-16 decision to Neosho.
Against Webb City, claiming wins for McDonald County were Ortiz, forfeit, 106; Dela Cruz, pin, 120; Gerow, pin, 126; Jared Weaver, 3-0 decision, 132; Craig, pin, 160; Bowers, forfeit, 170; and Kinser, pin, 285.
Claiming wins against Neosho were Ortiz, 11-3 decision, 106; Dela Cruz, 8-2 decision, 120; Weaver, forfeit, 132; and Barnes, 10-4 decision, 220.
Sports on 01/19/2017