Tigers tested against strong competition

Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Fort Scott's Jerad Heckman controls Louisburg's Austin Huber during a 132-pound match in the Tigers' opening dual of their home tournament at the FSHS gymnasium Saturday morning. Heckman won this match by a 5-0 decision and was one of four Tigers who went undefeated on the day. (Kenny Felt/Special to the Tribune)

Fourth place, obviously, wasn't where Fort Scott High School wrestling coach David Brown hoped to see his team at the end of the Fort Scott Dual Tournament at the FSHS gymnasium Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers had a chance to win the team title going into the final match. But so many teams were doing so well that in the end, when Fort Scott lost to Blue Valley Southwest in the final round, they fell to fourth in the six-team field on tie-breakers.

Finishing low is a risk Brown took partly because he wants good competition in this home tournament. Going into the fourth round of five, four teams had 2-1 records. And going into the final round, three teams were 3-1.

Fort Scott's John Hughes grapples with Paola's Connor Maynard during a 170-pound match in the third round. Hughes went on to pin Maynard for the win and was another one of the Tigers who went undefeated in the tournament. (Scott Nuzum/Tribune)

"It's nice to have some good athletes show up and have competitive teams who are going to wrestle full a lineup, or as close as they can," Brown said. "We didn't have a lot of open spots. We have only five really experienced kids. We took opportunities with some of them out there who are young and seeing if something might happen. They got some great learning today."

Paola won the team title after tying with Blue Valley Southwest at 4-1. The Panthers won the tie-breaker because they defeated the Timberwolves in the second round. Fort Scott and Louisburg were each 3-2 on the day with the Wildcats taking third on a head-to-head win in the first round.

Louisburg defeated Fort Scott in the first round, 47-33. The Tigers beat Anderson County, 45-25, in the second round, winning six of the last eight bouts. The Tigers beat Paola, 48-33, in the third round with sophomore Chance Crawford giving Fort Scott some breathing room when he pinned his opponent, Brennan Haley, in the 220-pound match.

Shawnee Mission West, despite being a Class 6A team, brought only nine wrestlers. The Tigers picked up five forfeits in the first six matches as they built a 36-0 lead and went on to win 51-30.

The Tigers picked up wins in three of the first four matches against Blue Valley Southwest with three coming on forfeits. The T-Wolves won nine of the last 11 matches, eight of those by pinfall.

Had Fort Scott been able to beat Southwest, it would have won the tournament. The T-Wolves needed to beat the Tigers and also have Shawnee Mission West, which went winless, somehow upset Paola to claim the title.

Individually, four Tigers went unbeaten on the day. Three of them went 5-0 while senior Jake Durossette, ranked No. 3 in Class 4A at 145 pounds by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association, going 3-0 in matches against Louisburg, Anderson County and Paola, which are all Class 4A schools.

"Jake wrestled the three that he really needed to in terms of Regional seeding and people we will see in 4A competition quite a bit," Brown said. "By the third match, the ankle and knees were hurting on him a little bit. After having a rough football season, it's a good way to get started. He had a really good day and he looked pretty sharp."

Durossette won all three matches by pin. His total time on the mat was 6 minutes, 14 seconds -- barely longer than a full-length regulation match.

Senior heavyweight Brendon Blackburn was 5-0, winning four by pin and one by forfeit. His total time on the mat was just 2:35. He pinned Southwest's Tevon Alleyne, who is ranked No. 6 in Class 5A by the KWCA, in just 31 seconds. Another of his matches, against Anderson County's Steven Hoffman, lasted just 16 seconds.

Jerad (J.T.) Heckman had three pins in his five wins, wrestling two matches at 132 pounds and three in his normal weight class of 126 pounds. John Hughes recorded four pins among his five wins at 170 pounds.

"John was fluid and had moments to experiment with some things on the mat," Brown said. "He did a really good job of monitoring the match and maintaining the right speed, maintaining a pace and didn't let up. I thought that was pretty good this early on."

Cole Stewart had a tough-luck day as his weight class, 113 pounds, proved to be tough. He was 3-2 but only one of his wins was on the mat. He also lost to Tyler Flood of Paola, ranked fourth in Class 4A, in overtime and suffered a technical fall in his final match.

"Cole Stewart ran into some pretty tough kids today," Brown said. "There are some good ones out there. He ran into a tough one (Marty Verhaeshe) from Blue Valley Southwest. He's going to be a pretty good kid."

Meanwhile, going 3-2 may be an indication of improvement for Jessie Hodge, the Tigers' 160-pounder. He wrestled aggressively most of the day and registered a pair of pins.

"He's invested some time and effort into it," Brown said. "He spent some time out this off-season working on this. He went to summer camps. He is an active learner at this point and it really trying to take his game to another level. It's pretty cool. He's become more than a one-trick pony and is starting to put together different phases of his match."

Sophomore Chance Crawford, at 220 pounds, was also 3-2, earning pins in his first three matches of the day.

In all, Brown used 15 wrestlers in varsity competition although 195 pounds was open in all five duals. Some schools also brought some JV wrestlers for "exhibitions" and Brown found some matchups for younger wrestlers in those matches.

"We managed, out of our 20 kids, to get everyone but one a match," Brown said. "There just wasn't another kid in his weight class available. And one was injured an unavailable to participate. We got a lot of people an opportunity to do something. "

The Tigers are idle until next weekend when they go to Eudora for a two-day traditional bracket-format tournament.

LOUISBURG 47, FORT SCOTT 33

106: David Bindi (L) pinned Krishawn Goodman, :24. L, 6-0

113: Cole Stewart (FS) won by forfeit. Tied, 6-6.

120: Dylan Meyer (L) def. Thomas Nighswonger by technical fall, 17-2. L, 11-6.

126: Zach Knox (L) pinned Phillip Moran, 4:39. L, 17-6.

132: Jerad Heckman (FS) def. Austin Huber, 5-0. L. 17-9.

138: Ben Powers (L) pined Chris Stell, 2:35. L, 23-9.

145: Jake Durossette (FS) pinned Shea Cox, 1:53. L. 23-15.

152: Jacob Bolton (L) pinned Dawson Mitchell, 2:57. L. 29-15.

160: Sean Dennis (L) pinned Jessie Hodge, 1:05. L. 35-15.

170: John Hughes (FS) pinned Jimmy Doolan, 1:16. L. 35-21.

182: Brenton Wrigley (L) pinned Harley Cooley, :20. L. 41-21.

195: Mason Koechner (L) won by forfeit. L. 47-21.

220: Chance Crawford (FS) pinned Bradley Trageser, 1:33. L. 47-27.

Hwt.: Brendon Blackburn (FS) pinned Anders Vance, 1:07. L. 44-33.

FORT SCOTT 45,

ANDERSON COUNTY 25

106: Caleb Andregg (AC) pinned Goodman, :26. AC, 6-0.

113: Stewart (FS) pinned Tyler Belshe, 1:06. Tied, 6-6.

120: Blade Marmon (AC) pinned Nighswonger, :50. AC, 12-6.

126: Heckman (FS) pinned Caleb Belse, 1:13. Tied, 12-12.

132: Shiloh Sutton (AC) def. Cole Hilker, 10-6. AC, 15-12.

138: Chris Stell (FS) pinned Matt Kirkland, 1:25. FS, 18-15.

145: Durossette (FS) pinned Storm Pracht, 3:05. FS, 24-15.

152: Ryan Alley (AC) def. Mitchell, 12-0. FS, 24-19.

160: Hodge (FS) pinned Keith Sears, 3:20. FS, 30-19.

170: Hughes (FS) def. Dallas Cox, 7-3. FS, 33-19.

182: Lee Koch (AC) won by forfeit. FS, 33-25.

195: Both teams open. FS, 33-25.

220: Crawford (FS) pinned Seth Wolken, :26. FS, 39-25.

Hwt: Blackburn (FS) pinned Stven Hoffman, :16. FS, 45-25.

FORT SCOTT 48, PAOLA 33

106: Caleb Kline (P) pinned Goodman, 1:36. P, 6-0.

113: Tyler Flood (P) def. Stewart, 6-4, OT. P. 9-0.

120: Ryan Brocker, (P) pinned Nighswonger. P, 15-0.

126: Moran (FS) won by forfeit. P, 15-6.

132: Heckman (FS) pinned Chase Holub, 4:51. P, 15-12.

138: Stell (FS) pinned Keith Puser, 2:16. FS, 18-15.

145: Durossette (FS) pinned Keaton Barnes, 1:16. FS, 24-15.

152: Connor Patton (P) pinned Mitchell, 1:28. FS, 24-21.

160: Hodge (FS) pinned Ashton Page, 1:29. FS, 30-21.

170: Hughes (FS) pinned Conner Maynard, 2:45. FS, 36-21.

182: Chase Patton (P) won by forfeit. FS, 36-27.

195: Derek Weaver (P) won by forfeit. FS, 36-33.

220: Crawford (FS) pinned Brennan Haley, 1:24. FS, 42-33.

Hwt: Blackburn (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 48-33.

FORT SCOTT 51,

SHAWNEE MISSION WEST 30

106: Goodman (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 6-0.

113: Stewart (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 12-0.

120: Nighswonger (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 18-0.

126: Heckman (FS) pinned Alex Cannon. FS, 24-0.

132: Wyatt DeHaven (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 30-0.

138: Hilker (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 36-0.

145: Aaron Taylor (SMW) pinned Stell, 1:05. FS, 36-6.

152: Drake Wenciker (SMW) pinned Mitchell, :30. FS, 36-12.

160: Hodge (FS) def. Anthony Dendure, 9-5. FS, 39-12.

170: Hughes (FS) pinned Ronnie Thompson, 3:26. FS, 45-12.

182: Jose Montoya (SMW) pinned Cooley, 1:17. FS, 45-18.

195: John Masterson (SMW) won by forfeit. FS, 45-24.

220: Adolph Matthews (SMW) pinned Crawford, 1:13. FS, 45-30.

Hwt.: Blackburn (FS) pinned Jared Green, :41. FS, 51-30.

BLUE VALLEY SOUTHWEST 53,

FORT SCOTT 27

106: Goodman (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 6-0.

113: Marty Verhaeshe (SW) won by technical fall, 15-0. FS, 6-5.

120: Nighwonger (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 12-5.

126: Heckman (FS) def. Colin McLaughlin, 9-0. FS, 15-5.

132: Jake Wilson (SW) pinned DeHaven, 1:12. FS, 15-11.

138: Sawyer Like (SW) pinned Hilker, :20. SW, 17-15.

145: Ben Harmon (SW) pinned Stell, 1:31. SW, 23-15.

152: Trevor Watson (SW) pinned Mitchell, 1:36. SW, 29-15.

160: Devin Tate (SW) pinned Hodge, 3:09. SW, 35-15.

170: Hughes (FS) pinned Luke Scott, 2:27. SW, 35-21.

182: Cole Kedney (SW) pinned Cooley, :36. SW, 41-21.

195: Griffin Berrigan (SW) won by forfeit. SW, 47-21.

220: Tevon Alleyne (SW) pinned Crawford, 2:39. SW, 53-21.

Hwt.: Blackburn (FS) pinned Austin Lawrence, :31. SW, 53-27.