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By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
Lebanon owned the Ozark Conference Tournament championship for a sixth straight season Saturday, while claiming three individual titles.
The Yellowjackets’ 201 points edged runner-up Bolivar and its 193.5 total.
“It’s something we’re expected to keep doing,” 126-pound champ Davis Joiner said of keeping the Yellowjackets’ streak of tourney titles alive.
“We love winning together,” 145 champ Bo Rosen said. “We’ve got a good team and we all try our best and work hard in practice.”
Rosen rebounding well from injury
Rosen is feeling much better as a senior this season than he did at this time last year. His junior season ended at Districts last season due to a dislocated shoulder and four partially torn ligaments in the same shoulder.
“I tried to wrestle through it. At that time, I didn’t know it was that badly injured,” Rosen said. “I went to Districts, but when I got on the mat any pressure I put on (the shoulder) killed me. I couldn’t do anything with it at all.
“This year, I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life,” he added.
Rosen (29-10) broke a scoreless tie in 145 final by pinning Bolivar’s Mason McCurry in 3:05.
In the 126 final, Joiner ran his record to 31-8 after winning by technical fall 14-1 against Rolla’s Kayden Kinder. Joiner also won by technical fall, 25-11, in the quarterfinals.
“I tech’ed more kids than I probably should have and should have went more pins,” Joiner said.
Bowling repeated as a conference champ by taking the 132 title with a pin in 1:07 versus Rolla’s Hunter Huffman. Bowling was the 106 OC champ and third at State last season.
Coach Randy Roark reports Bowling (28-11) has had to make adjustments after gaining 26 pounds.
“He struggled with it a little bit,” Roark said. “It’s a little different style of wrestling (at 132) and early on I didn’t think he handled it very well. But he’s starting to figure it out and is beating some of those strong guys.”
Fane emerges as 182 champion
Rolla’s Hayden Fane topped a 182 bracket that included four wrestlers with 27 wins or more.
“It was definitely very competitive and we knew that coming in,” Fane said. “I’ve wrestled most of them for four years, so we have relationships while competing with each other.”
Fane pinned Kickapoo’s Tai Koyama at the 5:46 mark in their title tilt. For Frane (34-1), it avenged a 1-0 loss to Koyama (27-3) at the Kinloch Classic last month.
“I didn’t see that (pin) coming,” Fane said. “I was just trying to hold on and I heard coach yell, ‘Squeeze.’”
In the first period, Fane and Koyoma both tumbled out of bounds and onto two chairs along the mat. Fane came out of the scrum with a bloody nose.
“It wasn’t necessarily out of hand,” Fane said. “It was a very physical match with two guys trying to lay it all out there.”
In the semifinal round, Fane downed Lebanon’s Cade Muscia (35-5) 6-1.
“He made me work the whole time,” Fane said. “Having two matches go into the third period, I was definitely pretty winded.”
Rolla also received a first-place finish from Gabe Sutton at 220. He won by majority decision 20-6 in the final round.
Sutton (28-5) downed Glendale’s Kahman Isaia (20-10) by a 6-2 count in the semifinals.
Liberators have handful of champs
Bolivar’s Forrest McMannes (106), Cooper Moore (138), Riley Beckman (152), Tyson Moore (160) and Blake Goodman (195) all captured championships in the Liberators’ first entry in the OC Tournament.
“I didn’t know what I was missing,” McMannes said of being in a conference tourney. “I love it, it’s a great atmosphere and gets you hyped up with all the fans. It’s amazing.”
McMannes (23-9) pinned Glendale’s Bradley Hiteshew in 1:11 in their title tilt. The two are former teammates at High Performance Wrestling Academy.
“He’s a good opponent. I have tons of respect for him,” McMannes said. “I knew what he was going to go for and I scored off of it.”
Moore (28-4) and Goodman (31-5) both won by pin in the final round.
Beckman gained a 5-0 win against Parkview’s Junior Lamarre in their final. Moore (30-2) edged Rolla’s Andre Ridenhour (31-5) by a 5-3 margin in their title tilt.
Glendale’s Hiteshew posts upsets
Hiteshew made his way to the 106 final after not being seeded and knocking off the second and third seeds.
He beat Lebanon’s Micah Perryman 6-1 in the quarterfinals and downed Camdenton’s Drake Schiefelbein 6-2 in the semifinals.
“The kid from Lebanon pinned me in the last :10 of our match at a dual a couple weeks ago, so I really wanted to get revenge,” Hiteshew said. “It felt good to get that win. I knew I could get to the final if I beat him. I didn’t know if it was going to happen or not, but I’m glad it did. I’m happy with second place.”
Hiteshew (6-9), a freshman, was Glendale’s lone medalist.
Central’s Lashley claims title
A shoulder injury had limited Central’s Rylan Lashley to only two matches leading up to the OC Tournament. But he captured the 113 championship with a first-period pin versus Rolla’s Brayden Squires in their title tilt.
Lashley upped his record on the season to 3-2.
Host Hornets have one champ
Hillcrest’s Zander Rodgers captured the 170 title as a second seed with a fall against top-seeded Trey Brewer, of Bolivar.
Rodgers (19-5) also had pins in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.
