By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
BRANSON — Neosho’s Eli Zar gained revenge on a couple of accounts on his way to the 145-pound championship at the Branson Tournament on Saturday. It was one of six individual titles for the Wildcats on their way to the team championship.
In addition to Zar, taking first for Neosho were Raymond Hembree (106), Landon Kivett (120), Cayden Auch (160), Eric Holt (170) and Jeremiah Larson (195).
Zar’s title run was unusual in that he wasn’t unbeaten on the day and finished the day by knocking Rolla’s Alexander Sederburg from the undefeated ranks. The two met in a rematch in the final round and Zar prevailed 2-0.
Sederburg was 27-0 entering the match and earlier in the day beat Zar 7-1.
It actually meant more to Zar to simply beat a Rolla wrestler for a title than Sederburg in particular.
“As soon as I stepped on the mat (for the final), coach (Jeremy) Phillips told me, ‘Redemption,’” Zar said. “That meant something to me because last year I fell short at Districts and didn’t make it to State because I lost to a Rolla kid.”
Zar felt his conditioning the second time around paid off against Sederberg.
“In the first match, I was thinking, ‘Stay close and if mistakes are made, we’ll get him at the end,’” Zar said. “My mentality going into the second match was the difference. For the second match, I had an edge knowing what he was going to do. You can tell when a kid is getting tired and I felt that out of him.”
Kivett knocked Smithville’s Kolby McClain from the undefeated ranks by pinning him in 2:22 in the 120 final. Kivett improved to 20-7 and McClain fell to 20-1.
Hembree dominated his 106 foes, recording four first-period pins to up his record to 25-5. His longest match took 0:48 to complete.
“I’ve been cutting weight so I took all my anger out during my matches,” said Hembree, who was at 115 at the beginning of the week.
Auch and Larson remained unbeaten, with Auch going to 29-0 and Larson to 27-0.
Auch went the distance to record a win by major decision 10-1 against Rolla’s Andre Ridenhour in the 160 final.
Larson pinned Monett’s Joshua Harvey in 2:26 in the 195 final.
Holt pinned Ozark’s Thomas Rushing in 4:29 in the 170 final. Holt is 26-4.
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CJ’s Cassatt Most Outstanding Wrestler
Carl Junction 182-pounder Jesse Cassatt upped his record to 24-0 by edging Rolla’s Hayden Fane in their final 6-4.
Cassatt and his Bulldogs teammates had one of the longer trips home, but coach Mike Frizzell made sure they weren’t in too big of a hurry to hit the road and encouraged them stay for the awards ceremony.
Cassatt received a pleasant surprise by receiving the Most Outstanding Wrestler award.
“Coach said something about staying around,” said Cassatt, a state champ at 195 last year. “But I didn’t have a clue (why) until just now.”
Cassatt is having the same kind of success to this point that Carl Junction grad Jackson White enjoyed at 192 last season. White, a state runner-up a year ago, is now wrestling at Northeast Oklahoma A&M.
“He’s a very big influence on me,” Cassatt said of his former practice partner. “He’ll still come in from NEO and roll around with me. It’s good to have him around.”
Tennison one of three Ozark champs
In arguably the match of the tourney, Ozark’s Hunter Tennison was a 7-4 tie-breaker victor versus Monett’s Harrison Merriman in the 285 final.
With the upper-weight matches held in Branson’s auxiliary gym, there weren’t nearly as many fans who were lucky enough to witness the Tennison-Meriman match as there were in the main gym.
Tennison, using his experience as a pitcher, wasn’t thrown off by the library-like atmosphere.
“It was real quiet,” Tennison said. “I focused more on what I was doing. I wasn’t really focusing on anything outside the match. Tunnel-vision, as pitchers say when we’re just looking at the catcher, don’t worry about anything but what you’re looking at. In wrestling, it’s just about the guy across from you.”
Tennison and Merriman were on a collision course from the start of the day. Tennison improved to 30-0, while Merriman, a state champ last year, fell to 23-1.
“I don’t look at brackets. I just wrestle whoever comes across the mat. But I did know he was there,” Tennison said. “I was eager to wrestle him. He was my main focus the whole day.”
Ozark’s Braxton Strick also stayed unbeaten. He posted four first-period pins at 138 to run his record to 30-0.
The Tigers’ Elijah Maskrod pinned Smithville’s J.T. O’Rourke in 3:40 for the 132 championship.
Maskrod, who is 28-6, won by decision in his first three matches and had pins in his final two.
Isringhausen wins in return
Branson sophomore Kyshin Isringhausen competed in his first Branson Tournament and took first. He eked out an 8-7 victory against Smithville’s Alex Hutchcraft in the 126 final to hike his record to 20-1.
Isringhausen kept tabs on last year’s tourney from his home after being struck with the flu bug.
“I was pretty much bed-ridden for two days,” he said. “I was sad I couldn’t be here.”
Isringhausen’s health has also been a hot topic at Branson this season. He tested positive for COVID-19 during the Christmas break and endured another bout of flu.
“I get sick a lot during the winter. I take a lot of vitamins,” Isringhausen said.
Isringhausen feels secure knowing he controls his own fate here on out. After having the coronavirus, he’s now immune from having it again for 90 days.
“I had a fever one night for about six hours, so I thought I might as well go take the test,” Isringhausen said. “It wasn’t too bad when I had COVID. It kind of made me tired. It stinks to have COVID, but I have immunity from being quarantined for the rest of the season. I wanted that safety for State.
“I came back at the Monett Tournament last weekend. But I wasn’t feeling very good and fell out after two matches,” he added. “Now, I’m feeling much better. I feel like I’m coming back to my normal self.”
Pulliam, Kanengieter claim titles
Rolla’s Nathan Pulliam ran his winning streak to 74 matches on his way to the 152 championship.
Pulliam, a two-time state champ with a career record of 123-1, pinned Neosho’s Trent Neece in 1:31 in the final round.
Marshfield’s Daylon Kanengieter edged Carl Junction’s Brennan Carey 7-3 in the 220 final. Kanengieter, who earlier had four first-period pins, improved to 36-2.
Smithville’s Jeremiah Brown was first at 113.
