By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
After 10-straight years as district champions, Lebanon finally put an end to Neosho’s winning streak last season.
Neosho might have started a new one on Saturday in Carl Junction.
The Wildcats returned to district form and outscored the hosts by nearly 80 points in claiming the Class 3 District 6 title.
They did it with nine individual champions and lost just once in first-place matches. A dozen Wildcats placed in the top four to qualify for the sectional tournament in two weeks.
“I thought we wrestled well at the end,” head coach Jeremy Phillips said. “I thought we were very inconsistent early in the day and I think that’s something we’ve got to work on. We’ve got to be hungry from whistle to whistle. Next week is huge. If we’re going to do anything special we’ve got to have a great weekend in that sectional tournament.”
“We’ve got a tough sectional,” he said. “Let alone having a match you’re off, you can’t go into that tournament with a period that you’re off.”
Neosho’s pair of unbeaten wrestlers stayed perfect on Saturday. Top-ranked Cayden Auch (43-0) won the title at 160 pounds with falls in 1:03 and 1:10 and top-ranked Jeremiah Larson took first at 195 with falls in 54 seconds and 58 seconds.
Hayden Crane (34-9) wrestled the most thrilling match of the finals. He trailed 5-1 entering the third period against McDonald County’s Levi Smith but scored a reversal and a nearfall to take a 6-5 lead. Smith’s escape with two seconds left forced overtime, where Crane finally won by fall in 7:27.
The Wildcats’ other champions were Raymond Hembree (36-6) at 106 pounds, Landon Kivett (32-9) at 120, Eli Zar (30-6) at 145, Trent Neece (29-9) at 152, Eric Holt (36-7) at 170 and Jacob Fry (19-4) at 220.
Those nine winners combined for 13 pins – nine in the first period – as well as a technical fall and major decision.
“We finished well,” Phillips said. “We had several guys step up and wrestle in the finals and win matches like we did at 132 pounds. Several opponents we hadn’t beaten yet this year. If we’ll wrestle from start to finish like we did here at the end we’re going to be in good shape. That’s what I told them. I said we need to finish.”
Other Neosho qualifiers were Wyatt Black (fourth) at 113 pounds, Jonathan Chrisco (second) at 126 and Nathan Copeland (third) at 138.
Even with 12 wrestlers moving on, Phillips said he wanted more on Saturday.
“I expected to get all of them through,” he said. “I’m very greedy. Made a couple mistakes. I want to take all 14. Very seldom are you ever perfect but Vince Lombardi said perfection is not attainable but if you hunt down perfection you can catch excellence. I don’t know that we were excellent today but that’s got to be our mentality going into sectionals.”
“We want to take all 12 to the state tournament,” he said. “Will that be easy? Absolutely not. We’ve got to use these two weeks to get prepared and be ready.”
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Carl Junction qualifies a dozen for sectional
While the Bulldogs suffered five losses in the finals – two of them to Neosho – Carl Junction matched the Wildcats in one important category: sectional qualifiers.
All 12 of the Bulldogs who wrestled on Tuesday are moving on.
“We’re pretty happy with the numbers we’re taking,” coach Mike Frizzell said. “We took it on the chin there in the last round. Hopefully we get in there in the next couple weeks and fix a few things so we can compete at the state tournament.”
Of the six Carl Junction wrestlers who advanced to first-place bouts, only top-ranked Jesse Cassatt pulled off a win. He improved to 43-0 at 182 pounds with two falls and a 9-2 win in the finals over Webb City’s Roger Carranco. Cassatt scored seven points in the third period.
“Third win we’ve had over Roger this year,” Frizzell said. “He’s a tough kid, he keeps the matches close. Jesse’s just relentless. He’s one of those kids that’ll put the pressure on him. I don’t think there’s anybody who trains harder than he does in the state really. He uses that game plan. It worked for us last year in the state finals and hopefully it’ll carry us through this year to the finals.”
Lukas Walker (106 pounds), Max Matthews (113), Dexter Merrell (138), Cole Stewart (145) and Kameron Bennett (285) each finished second.
Other Carl Junction qualifiers were Keaton Colburn (fourth) at 120, Dylan Frazier (third) at 126, Lucas Watkins (third) at 152, Chance Benford (third) at 170, Cayden Bolinger (fourth) at 195 and Brennan Carey (third) at 220.
“Our 120 and 126 came up big today finishing fourth and third, that was a big surprise for us,” Frizzell said. “We were just pleased with them and the way they came through today, putting up some team points and helping us.”
“Brennan Carey has come in here as a freshman wrestling 220, that’s a tough weight class for a freshman to take on,” he said. “He’s going to improve, get bigger and stronger. Hopefully we can figure out a way to get him into the state tournament this year.”
Willard shrugs off slow start
The Tigers didn’t wrestle their best on Saturday, according to head coach Justin Wisdom.
They still finished with two champions and 10 qualifiers.
“Started off pretty slow and just kind of got behind as far as the team and never could make our way back,” he said. “But we don’t have to wrestle our best today. We’ve got to wrestle better in two weeks for sure and then when it comes to March 12, that’s when we need to be wrestling our best. There’s ups and downs just like anything. That’s going to happen in postseason tournaments. Today just wasn’t 100 percent our day.”
Christian Finley improved to 45-3 at 126 pounds while taking first place. He pinned all three of his opponents, including Neosho’s Chrisco in the finals.
Oscar Martinez followed with another first-place performance at 138 pounds, improving to 35-12 with a major decision and win by injury default over Carl Junction’s Merrell.
Timothy Stevens (152), Ryder Heimbach (160) and Calvin Stanford (170) each earned second place. Stevens suffered just his fifth loss of the year in the process.
Noah Agcaoili was third at 106, Andrew Keithley was third at 145, Rylan Dixon took fourth at 182, Jonas Keohane was third at 195 and Derek Hicks was fourth at 220.
“Rylan Dixon did a really nice job,” Wisdom said. “He was unseeded and ended up pinning the Neosho kid in the wrestle back to get through to sectionals. Jonas Keohane is just a solid kid who did what he needed to do to win. Oscar Martinez avenged a loss from earlier in the finals to become district champion. Christian Finley did what he’s supposed to do. It was pretty easy for him today all the way through the tournament.”
Other sectional qualifiers
Hillcrest will send Gavyn Walker (113), Trey Pilkinton (120), Aleczander Rodgers (182) and Jacob Gott (285) on to the sectional round. Walker, Pilkinton and Rodgers finished in third place, while Gott placed fifth.
Parkview will send five wrestlers to the next round. Skyler Caudle was fourth at 126 pounds, Levi Noguera was third at 132, Junior Lamarre was fourth at 145, Joseph Woods, Jr. was fourth at 152 and Nicholas Litchy took third at 285.
Blaine Ortiz and Jayce Hitt provided the big highlights for McDonald County. Ortiz (28-2) was the champion at 113 pounds, pinning Carl Junction’s Matthews in 2:26 in the first-place match. Hitt (17-7) won the heavyweight title with a fall over Carl Junction’s Bennett in 2:57.
Victor Lopez-Sebastian (fourth at 106), Levi Smith (second at 132), Cross Spencer (fourth at 138), Alexis Molina-Cruz (fourth at 160) and Sam Murphy (33-5) are also moving on for the Mustangs.
For Webb City, Colton Taylor (120), Roger Carranco (182) and Jacob Ott (195) each earned second-place finishes. Dominic Boles was fourth at 132, Brayden Hollingsworth was third at 160 and Jackson Ward was fourth at 170.
Team standings
Neosho 231
Carl Junction 155
Willard 131
McDonald County 89
Webb City 60
Hillcrest 45
Parkview 45
