Oscar Ortiz secured the number two seed at the upcoming Class 3 district wrestling tournament with a 12-5 decision over Kolton Sanders of Neosho to claim the championship of the 113-pound class at the Branson High School Wrestling Tournament held Saturday at Branson High School.
The McDonald County sophomore improved to 26-3 overall for the season with the win. Ortiz was ranked third in the state and Sanders fourth heading in the championship match.
Ortiz advanced to the semifinals with a pin and technical fall in his two pool matches. In the semifinals, Ortiz pinned Nathan Geisner of St. Genevieve late in the first period to earn his way to the championship match.
McDonald County was without its other two state qualifiers from last year. Tinker Kinser (285) is out for the season with a knee injury, while Jakob Gerow (120) missed the tournament after being sick earlier in the week.
McDonald County's injury woes continued to grow when Timber Teague (170) was hurt in his first match of the day. The senior with state aspirations missed the rest of the tournament.
Wilson Menas' and Kevin Sackryas' eighth-place finishes were the Mustangs next best finishes.
Menas went 2-3 at 182 pounds, including a 13-8 loss to Liam Neal of Bentonville, in the seventh-place match.
Sackryas went 1-3 at 152 pounds, losing to Zach Kurre of Marshfield in the seventh-place match.
Rounding out the results for McDonald County were Christian Davidson, 10th, 106; Jaw Di, 16th, 132; Brandon Andrew, 11th, 195 pounds; and McCoy Ikosia, 11th, 285 pounds.
McDonald County took 14th in the team standings with 53.5 points. Neosho won the tournament with 319 points.
McDonald County traveled to Cassville on Jan. 16 before facing Springfield Parkview and Glendale on Jan. 18 in Springfield.
Sports on 01/18/2018