Cox, Nelson earn medals at Basehor

BASEHOR -- Fort Scott Highwrestlers Blake Cox and Blake Nelson earned medals here this weekend at an always-tough Basehor-Linwood Bobcat Classic.

Cox finished sixth in the 140-pound bracket after going 3-3 on the day while Nelson was seventh at 171 after going 4-2.

"Both of them finished higher than they were seeded," Fort Scott head coach David Brown said. "It was a very tough tournament for such a young team."

Brown also said that Justin Sharp, wrestling at 112, and Michael Durossette, at 130, were each one win away from medaling in a tournament that attracts Kansas state wrestling powers such as Class 6A Garden City on down to Class 3-2-1A Atchison County.

Cox (14-8) started his day with a 9-6 win over Eric Grant of Olathe North. He fell into consolation when Goddard's Tyler Caldwell pinned him. Cox then won consecutive decisions of 7-1 over Derek Lutjen of Blue Valley-Stilwell and 6-4 over Chase Wells of Carbondale-Santa Fe Trail.

Michael Arrellano pinned Cox in the next round. In the fifth-place match, Eudora's Travis Clark took a 7-1 win.

Nelson (17-6) won his first three matches, pinning Eaton Saylor of Lawrence-Free State and Steven Cooksley of Topeka-Seaman, then taking a 6-3 decision over Nathan Wessel of Lansing.

Noel Richardson of Chapman and Tyler Koehn of Pittsburg pinned Nelson in consecutive bouts before he picked up a 17-3 win over Cooksley in a rematch in the seventh-place match.

Sharp (11-8) lost by decision in the first round to Basehor's Symon Seaton, 8-2. He then pinned Austin Gibson of Atchison County and shut out Steven Gutshenrittei of Glenwood, Iowa, 6-0. Sharp was eliminated when Logan Rotha of Goddard picked up a 9-2 win.

Durossette (10-6) lost his first-round match to Mitch Mosely of Paola, 8-3. But he pinned his next two opponents, Hunter Zelby of Lenexa St. James and Jordan Miller of Atchison County. He was eliminated by pinfall to David Schrunk of Shawnee Mission East.

"Michael made real progress in this tournament," Brown said. "He is wrestling and learning every time out."

Denzell Davis and Lee Culbertson also competed for the Tigers. Each went 0-2 in their brackets.

Davis (4-4) wrestled at 119 pounds and was pinned in both matches -- by Santa Fe Trail's Dillon Brown and Rossville's Sheldon Graves. Culbertson (6-6) wrestled at 152 and lost 9-7 to Evon Royal of Kansas City-Harmon and by pin to Gage Ham of Eudora.

The Tigers will wrestle at home Thursday night in a Southeast Kansas League triangular with Coffeyville and Parsons. Action begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Fort Scott High School gymnasium.