The McDonald County boys wrestling team got back in the win column Monday with a 57-15 victory over Cassville on Monday in Anderson.
It was the third competition in six days for the Mustangs, who will compete at Glendale and Parkview in Springdale on Thursday before participating in the Big 8 Tournament at Reeds Spring on Friday.
"I think right now we're just trying to keep our guys healthy and get a little bit better every day," said coach Josh Factor.
Highlighting the competition were a pair of wins for the Mustangs in the 132- and 152-pound weight class.
At 132, McDonald County's Blaine Ortiz defeated Cassville's Akhilleus Arguelles by pinfall in 1 minute, 27 seconds.
"We had Blaine Ortiz wrestling a pretty tough kid from Cassville," Factor said. "Blaine went out there and gave up the first takedown. We knew the kid was going to be a tough opponent. (Ortiz) came back and won by fall and set the tone for the rest of the night."
Then at 152, Levi Smith of the Mustangs defeated Cassville's Hunter Morris by fall in 3:47.
"Levi Smith in 152 followed up and got another win by fall," Factor said. "It was a very small team we went up against. It was good to get guys on the mat and get them ready for conference."
Michael Owens of McDonald County picked up a 12-9 decision win over Jaret Hinson of Cassville.
Cassville had a pair of wins as Matthew Whittenburg defeated Cross Spencer by fall in 3:06 in the 138-pound division.
Jake Anthonysz of Cassville defeated Brady Bogart at 160 by technical fall, 16-1, in 1:20 in the 160-pound class.
McDonald County also had several forfeit wins: Dominic Cervantes (126), John Clemons (145), Mark Hollis (170), Alex Bogart (182), Cole Thomas (195), Samuel Murphy (220), Jayce Hitt (285).
Cassville won the girls' match, 54-6, with six wins coming by forfeit on Monday night.
"Cassville is probably the No. 2-ranked girls' program in the state right now," Factor said. "We knew that was going to be a tough team to go up against on the girls' side (Monday) night."
At 110, Cassville's Kelsey Harris defeated Jaslyn Benhumea by fall (2:38).
Cassville's Faith James defeated Stacy Lopez-Apolinar by fall (1:49) at 141, and Haley Morse of Cassville defeated Teryn Torrez by fall (1:36) at 149.
McDonald County's Gisel Aragon picked up a forfeit win at 174.
The McDonald County girls were scheduled to compete in the Big 8 Tournament in Monett on Wednesday. Results were not available at press time.
Murphy Takes First At Branson
Samuel Murphy placed first Saturday in the Branson Boys Invitational on Saturday.
Murphy (34-1) went 4-0 in the 220-pound class. After receiving a first-round bye, he defeated Moberly's Beau Garrett by fall (2:07) in the second round before beating Union's Bradley Scott by fall (0:46) and Rolla's Gabe Sutton by technical fall. The win against Sutton was a rematch from earlier in the year at the Kinloch Classic.
In the first-place match, Murphy defeated Liberty's Trevor Bindle by fall in 1:25.
"He's starting to widen his gap on the competition and put himself in a good spot," Factor said.
McDonald County had two second-place finishes in Branson from Blaine Ortiz at 126 and Jayce Hitt at 285.
Ortiz won four matches before losing to Smithville's Kolby McClain by fall in 2:58 in the championship match.
Hitt meanwhile lost to Monett's Harrison Merriman by fall (5:48) in the championship match after winning his first four matches.
"Jayce was in the match 3-2 with the last 45 seconds," Factor said. "We coached him to take a risk and unfortunately it put him on his back and he lost by fall. I like the fact that he's going out there taking the risk and being coachable."
Also competing in Branson: Levi Smith (152, fifth place), Alex Bogart (182, eighth place), Ayden Ball (132 eighth place), Michael Owens (120, 11th place) and Cross Spencer (145, 12th place).
In junior varsity, Dominic Cervantes placed 10th, while Cole Thomas was 12th at 182.
Mustangs vs. Neosho
The Mustangs fell to Neosho, 45-18, on Jan. 13 at McDonald County High School.
The Mustangs picked up four victories.
"Every time we go against Neosho, we know it's going to be a battle," Factor said. "They've won six to seven state championships in the last seven to eight years. We just tell our guys we need to go out there and we need to believe. We need to close the gap."
Ortiz defeated Neosho's Johnny Chrisco by decision, 5-2, in the 126-pound class.
Smith defeated Trey Hardin by fall (2:27) at 152.
Murphy defeated Eric Renner of Neosho by fall in 2:58 at 220.
Hitt defeated Nico Olivares of Neosho by decision, 5-2, at 285.
In the girls' match, Neosho won, 28-12.
At 115, Jamie Peterson of Neosho defeated Jaslyn Benhumea 11-0 in the only match. McDonald County's Gisel Aragon and Stacy Lopez-Apolinar picked up forfeit wins.
KAYLNN PHILLIPS/SPECIAL TO MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Levi Smith (right) of McDonald County works against Trey Hardin of Neosho during a wrestling match held Thursday, Jan. 13, at McDonald County High School in Anderson.
KAYLYNN PHILLIPS/SPECIAL TO MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS McDonald County's Jaslyn Benhumea (front) competes against Neosho's Jamie Patterson during a match on Jan. 13.