By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
BRANSON — Braxton Strick and his Ozark teammates followed a familiar script while winning the team title at the Branson Tournament on Saturday.
Strick was the Tigers’ lone individual champion. But Ozark had two runner-up finishes, two third-place finishes, four fourth-place finishes and five fifth-place finishes.
It all added up to 210.5 points for the Tigers. Neosho was second with 180.5 points and Jefferson City Helias third with 165.5.
Ozark’s depth stood out in a similar fashion last year, when the Tigers ended Neosho’s nine-year reign as COC Tournament champions.
Strick (30-2) completed a four-year sweep of championships at the Branson Tournament. He edged Bolivar’s Riley Beckman (30-2) 4-3 in their 157-pound title tilt.
“I didn’t wrestle the best, but I got it done. That’s all that matters,” Strick said.
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Murphy takes 215 showdown against Grimm
The 215 final between McDonald County’s Sam Murphy and Branson’s Cade Grimm had an anticlimactic ending, but still rated as the match of the day.
In a battle of behemoths, Murphy prevailed in sudden victory 2-1 to hand Grimm his first loss on the season.
Murphy (26-1) picked up the winning point when a stalling call was whistled against Grimm (30-1). As Murphy started to shoot in on Grimm, Grimm was called for stalling when he stepped out of bounds.
Both wrestlers agreed it was the right call.
“My opinion on that is if you don’t want to get called for stalling, don’t back out five times,” Murphy said. “During the third period, I was waiting for (officials) to call it. Not to sound cocky because that might be how it comes off, but wrestle me in (bounds) and don’t back up. The refs are going to make you wrestle me.”
“I had gotten a warning (for stalling) earlier in the match. As soon as I went out of bounds (in sudden victory), I heard everyone cheering and I was like, ‘Was that a stall call? It’s probably over,’” Grimm said. “It is what it is. We’ll work on it in the (practice) room.”
It was Murphy’s second straight Branson Tournament championship.
Murphy is well-known in southwest Missouri wrestling circles for his proficiency in collecting takedowns seemingly at will. This was a rare instance in which he didn’t score a single takedown. He credited Grimm for his defense.
“It was a big upper-body battle. We were fighting for position,” Murphy said. “It was rough. I say we’re pretty equal (in strength). He’s big and physical.
“I always want to score,” Murphy added. “He was (blocking) everything I had to offer, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. Almost everything I threw at him he defended it, defended it and defended it. It was fun.”
This was their first meeting. Grimm wrestled at 195 last year. He’s responded to being at 215 with the best season of his career.
“I cut down from 220 (after football season) to 195 last year, but this year I decided to stay at 215,” Grimm said. “I thought about cutting. But I feel like our new weights program is really enhanced from what it was. I wanted to keep all of that new muscle I built. If I would have cut to 190, I would have lost all that muscle. I feel like I’m faster and stronger at 215.”
Both Murphy and Grimm figure they will have at least one more rematch in the post-season.
“I really like wrestling him and was looking forward to wrestling him today,” Grimm said. “I’m excited to see him again at Districts.”
Isringhausen tabbed Most Outstanding Wrestler
Branson’s Kyshin Isringhausen downed Bolivar’s Cooper Moore for the second time in as many weeks to claim the 138-pound championship.
Isringhasuen edged Moore 3-2. Last weekend, they met in the final round at the Monett Tournament and Isringhausen won in similar fashion 4-2.
“That was another banger, just like this one,” Isringhausen said. “This was probably a state final-level match.”
Isringhausen twice held up one of Moore’s legs for a sustained period of time while trying to set himself up for a takedown.
“I was trying to walk him back to the center of the mat. Typically, whenever I have his leg up, he tries to get out of bounds,” Isringhausen said. “I wanted to try to pull him back in and make sure I could take him down in-bounds. I also knew if I didn’t take my time, it was going to be hard to get the legs back in.”
This was Isringhausen’s second Branson Tournament championship. In addition, he received the tourney’s Most Outstanding Wrestler award.
With a 31-0 record, he feels the sense of urgency as a senior to track down his first state championship.
“I’m hyped and ready to get it this year,” Isringhausen said. “No more choking. I’m going to capture it this year.”
Moore is 18-2, with both of his losses, of course, coming at the hands of Isringhausen.
Neosho’s Zar claims third championship
Neosho’s Eli Zar gained a bit of redemption by cruising to a 19-0 technical fall win against Carl Junction’s Tony Stewart in the 165-pound final.
Weighing on Zar’s mind prior to their title tilt were their two meetings last year. Zar won both matches, but didn’t feel he wrestled to his standards.
“I remembered not necessarily falling short against him, but not winning the way I thought I should have,” Zar said. “They were a lot closer matches than I would have liked. It’s always good to reflect upon yourself. Today, I really opened it up. I wrestled the best I could today.”
Zar has won three Branson Tournament championships.
A defending state champ, Zar (31-2) feels he’s on track toward another gold-medal finish. His only loss to an in-state foe was a 3-1 decision against Troy-Buchanon 175-pounder Brett Smith. His other loss was against EJ Beloncik, of Chandler, Oklahoma.
“As the season goes on, you find your peak performance. I think I’m getting pretty close,” he said. “I don’t want to sound cocky or big-headed, but I think I’m the best at my weight in the state.”
Neosho’s Nico Olivares won the 285-pound championship. Olivares (19-4) downed Ozark’s Peyton Greer (26-6) by a 3-2 count in their title tilt.
Monett’s Hartline bounces back with championship
Monett’s Simon Hartline responded to his runner-up finish at the Kinloch Classic a few weeks ago by improving his endurance. He was strong to the finish Saturday while winning the 120 final with a 10-1 major decision against Jefferson City Helias’ Aleksander Careaga.
“I got winded in the third period at Kinloch,” Hartline said, recalling his 4-2 loss to Carl Junction’s Sam Melton. “That sent a shock into me. So, I’ve worked harder trying to get my conditioning up. I’ve been running a lot more and hit the weight room harder. I’ve definitely strived for better.”
Hartline (26-2) has beaten Careaga in all three of the meetings dating back to last season.
“I pinned him pretty quickly before, but he’s getting better and gave me a bit of a challenge this time,” he said.
Four Liberators make final round
In addition to Moore at 138 and Beckman at 157, Bolivar’s Trey Brewer and Blake Goodman wrestled for championships.
Goodman (32-2) prevailed at 190 by earning a 16-1 technical fall against Carl Junction’s Chance Benford (16-5).
Brewer (25-1) lost 4-2 to Helias’ Logan Montoya (25-1) in the 175 final.
Freshmen Roark and Mickem finish first
Colton Roark, of Cassville, was a winner by medical forfeit in the 144 championship match.
After Roark slammed Helias’ Jace Duemmel to the mat, Duemmel screamed in pain and the match was stopped less than a minute into the first period.
Roark, a freshman, upped his record to 31-5.
Rolla freshman Carson Mickem claimed the 106 championship with a 16-0 technical fall against Helias’ Parker Lock. Mickem improved to 19-5.
Walker nets championship for Carl Junction
Carl Junction’s Lukas Walker pinned Ozark’s Teagon Patterson in 1:22 to win the 113 championship.
Walker, a senior, improved to 27-1. Patterson, a freshman, fell to 29-3.
