Menu
Wrestlers roll by Columbus, Iola
Fort Scott High School's wrestling teams built up big leads and were able to make them hold up in a home triangular at the FSHS gymnasium Tuesday night.
The Tigers went out to a 41-0 lead on Columbus in the first dual as they went on to win 47-27. They led Iola 54-0 and held on for a 54-20 win.
Of the 17 wrestlers head coach Alvin Metcalf, Jr. used, nine of them were sophomores or freshmen. He used so many to get them experience and also to try and make up for some of the matches they've missed this season. The Tigers have seen two tournaments cancelled because of bad weather, including last weekend's tournament at Basehor-Linwood, which is one of the largest they attend each season.
"We're going to pick up some duals," Metcalf said. "But you can't make up a tournament...there's so many teams and there's conflict in schedules, so when they cancel it, it's done.
"We lost, theoretically, some kids could have had 8 to 10 matches, maybe more depending on how they could have done at the tournament. That's a lot of mat time. It's probably a little less than a fourth of the season that we lost. That's why it was important to try and get some kids matches."
Columbus and Iola couldn't help the Tigers as much as they needed in that regard. Columbus was open at five weights. Iola only brought five wrestlers.
"It's difficult when you wrestle teams that don't have as many kids," Metcalf said. "I had everybody weigh in. Because you can always move and bump and we did. I forced some matches and put some kids in some really tough situations. Some to see how they'd react but more than anything just to get some mat time."
The Tigers split the eight bouts that were held against Columbus. The Titans were open at 106, 113, 120 and 138 pounds. Kyle Montojo made a 4-0 lead after one period at 126 stand up for a 4-1 win over Columbus' Nate Thomas. Silas Taylor scored a technical fall over Wyatt Ewers at 132. Chris Stell needed just 1:34 to pin Tyler Stice at 145. Zarek Fewell won a hard-fought match at 152 over Kale Smith.
Columbus won five of the final six bouts. Aaron Emery won at 195 by forfeit for the Tigers. The referees went over the scorebook at the end of the 220-pound match to confirm that Columbus' Tucker Coble did indeed win over Ben Daniels, 9-8, at 220.
Because Iola had so many open spots, the only match held in the first nine weight classes was at 132 pounds, where Mannie Gonzales pinned Iola's Miguel Epting in 57 seconds.
Iola won the other four matches that were held, two by pin. Greg Lorenz pinned Epting in an exhibition match that was held after the dual was over.
Several of the Tigers' more experience wrestlers are still out with injuries, forcing Metcalf to either place an inexperience wrestler into the lineup or move wrestlers up a class.
Daniels, for example, wrestled Colton Toney in the 285-pound match of the Iola dual. He was outmatches but held his own, trailing only 1-0 before he was pinned in the third period.
"(Toney) outweighed him by probably 55 pounds," Metcalf said. " But Ben's never backed down from a challenge and I love that.
"Jayden Franklin (to 182), Kaden Primm (to 170) both bumped up weight classes. They're first-year guys and they said, 'I just want to wrestle.' That's always encouraging. Our toughness is showing and I'm encouraged by that and I think the kids can be, too."
Columbus won the middle dual with Iola, 46-10.
The Tigers will take wrestle at Paola Friday with matches scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
The home dual scheduled Thursday, Jan. 26, will be held at Memorial Hall at 6 p.m. Metcalf says it's to try to make the night a little bit more special with a spotlight on the main mat. Frontenac will be the opponent that night, which is also Senior Night.
FORT SCOTT 47, COLUMBUS 27
106: Corbin Shelden (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 6-0.
113: Cole Hall (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 12-0.
120: Daevin Caldwell (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 18-0.
126: Kyle Montojo (FS) def. Nate Thomas, 4-1. FS, 21-0.
132: Silas Taylor (FS) def. Wyatt Ewers, technical fall, 2:24. FS, 26-0.
138: Mannie Gonzales (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 32-0.
145: Chris Stell (FS) pinned Tyler Stice, 1:34. FS, 38-0.
152: Zarek Fewell (FS) def. Kale Smith, 8-6. FS, 41-0.
160: Zach Porter (Col.) pinned Logan Hall, :51. FS, 41-6.
170: Ridge Smith (Col.) pinned Kaden Primm, :19. FS, 41-12.
182: Peyton Hale (Col.) pinned Jayden Franklin, 1:27. FS, 41-18.
195: Aaron Emery (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 47-18.
220: Tucker Coble (Col.) def. Ben Daniels, 9-8. FS, 47-21.
285: Chance Meyer (Col.) won by forfeit. FS, 47-27.
FORT SCOTT 54, IOLA 20
106: Shelden (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 6-0.
113: C.Hall (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 12-0.
120: Caldwell (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 18-0.
126: Montojo (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 24-0
132: Gonzales (FS) pinned Miguel Epting, :57. FS, 30-0
138: Stell (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 36-0.
145: Antwuan Martinez (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 42-0
152: Jacob Zubieta (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 48-0
160: Kayley Reyes (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 54-0
170: Tavon Blazek (Iola) def. Primm, technical fall, 6:00. FS. 54-5.
182: Drake Sell (Iola) def. Franklin, 12-8. FS, 54-8.
195: Gary Lower (Iola) pinned Emery, 3:33. FS. 54-14.
220: Both teams open. FS, 54-14.
285: Colton Toney (Iola) pinned Daniels, 4:32. FS, 54-20.