Six Tigers earn medals at Bonner Springs

Monday, January 11, 2010

BONNER SPRINGS -- Six of the nine wrestlers Fort Scott High School head coach David Brown brought to the Dick Burns Mat Classic, hosted by Bonner Springs High School here Saturday.

Denzell Davis won the 119-pound bracket while Dane Cummings finished second at 171. Tyler Sharp, Justin Sharp and Drew Bryant each had third-place finishes and Victor Hughes was fourth.

Davis (18-3) defeated previously-undefeated Caleb Seaton in the finals at 119. Seaton, from Bonner Springs, is ranked No. 4 in Class 5A by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association. David took a 7-5 decision over Seaton.

"Denzell had a well-executed day," Brown said. "His conditioning is much improved and he was able to really control his final match against Seaton."

To get to the finals, Davis started the day by drawing a first-round bye. He then pinned Brent Barendez of Gardner-Edgerton in the quarterfinals. He took a 9-4 decision over Brandon Burget of Bellevue East (Neb.) in the semifinals.

Cummings (8-7) drew two byes to start his day as the brackets were made for 16 wrestlers but only seven competed at 171. Those byes put him directly into the semifinals, where he pinned Gilbert Ortiz of Bellevue East in just 37 seconds. In the finals, Cummings faced Brian Callahan of Bonner Springs, who took a 9-0 major decision.

"It was great to see Dane make the finals for the first time at a varsity tournament," Brown said. "He could see more opportunities to be there in the future."

Justin Sharp (19-3), the older of the brothers, finished third at 125 pounds. He was one of the few who did not draw a first-round bye but he penned Anthony Kotzias of Bishop Miege in 54 seconds. In his next match, Sharp pinned Cody Pollock of Topeka-Highland Park with 44 seconds remaining in the second period.

In the semifinals, Sharp faced T.J. Stokes of Gardner-Edgerton, who won by a 6-2 decision. In the consolation semifinals, Sharp won a 6-2 decision over Justin Nawreocki of Bellevue East. In the third-place match, he took a 7-0 decision over Michael Blanco of Olathe Northwest.

Tyler Sharp (15-7) took third at 103. He drew a first-round bye before winning a major decision, 9-0, over Bryan Ebeling of Paola in the quarters. Michael Torres of Basehor-Linwood scored a technical fall over Sharp in the semifinals on his way to winning the bracket.

Sharp pinned Grady Salzman of Eudora in the first period of the consolation semifinal before taking another major decision over Ebeling -- this time by an 11-0 score -- in the third-place match.

"Tyler and Justin fought hard in all their matches," Brown said. "It's great to have brothers on a team. They push each other to excellence in ways a coach or teammates can't."

Bryant (11-9) drew a first-round bye at heavyweight. He then took a 7-2 decision over Justin Walberg of St. Thomas Aquinas, who came into the tournament as the No. 5 heavyweight in Class 5A. Bryant lost to Austin Wolfe of Olathe Northwest by pinfall in the championship semifinal.

In consolation, Bryant pinned Dylan Litherland of Eudora in the semifinals and won a 3-2 decision over Paola's Cale Karigan in the third-place match.

"Drew has greatly improved," Brown noted. "He is showing that he can compete with about any heavyweight. He beat the No. 5-ranked heavyweight in 5A the first round but made mistakes in his semifinal match that we can fix."

Hughes (14-7) took fourth at 130 pounds. He drew a first-round bye before pinning Garett Policky of Bellevue East in the quarterfinals. Tyler Carstarphen, who is undefeated this season, pinned Hughes in the second period of the semifinals.

Hughes recorded a 7-5 decision over Olathe Northwest's Aman Singh in the consolation semifinal. Jonathan Blackwell of Bonner Springs won the third-place match with a 9-0 major decision.

"Victor is a very good wrestler," Brown said. "He is giving up 7 to 10 pounds of weight to most of his opponents and with that weight disadvantage he still wrestles with effective technique."

John Metcalf (13-7) was 1-2 on the day at 160 pounds. He drew a first-round bye then took a 4-1 decision over Tyler Pannell of Bellevue East. He was pinned in the quarterfinals to Todd Curtis of Gardner-Edgerton, who went on to win the bracket. Curtis is ranked No. 1 in Class 5A by the KWCA.

Metcalf was eliminated in the consolation semifinals by Jared Clements of Bonner Springs, who took a 6-1 decision.

Michael Durossette (7-8) was 0-2 at 135. He lost to Austin Keehn of Gardner-Edgerton in the first round, 4-2, and to Joe McSorely of Bishop Miege in consolation, 16-7.

Jacob Gillen (1-6) was 0-2 at 140. He received a first-round bye but then was pinned by Michah Flora-Swick of Gardner-Edgerton, ranked No. 3 in Class 5A, who went on to win the tournament. After drawing another bye in consolation. Gillen was pinned by Dustin Williams of Basehor-Linwood in the next round.

Gardner-Edgerton won the team title with 152 points followed by Bellevue East with 144 and St. Thomas Aquinas with 131. Fort Scott tied for fifth with Bishop Miege with 95 points.

The Tigers will be at the Basehor-Linwood Bobcat Classic Friday and Saturday, one of the largest and toughest tournaments in the state of Kansas.