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Pittsburg takes crown from Chanute
Pittsburg dominated the championship bout with Chanute Thursday night at the FSHS gymnasium and took the Southeast Kansas League Dual Tournament championship away from the Blue Comets, 53-23 in the finals at the FSHS gymnasium.
Fort Scott repeated its third-place finish of last season by beating Independence. Parsons defeated Coffeyville for fifth place and Labette County finished seventh.
This was the first year Chanute did not win this tournament, which became the way of determining the SEK champion in 2014. Overall, the Blue Comets saw a three-year championship run broken by the Purple Dragons, who won just the program's third championship and its first since winning back-to-back crowns in 2011-12.
The Tigers, meanwhile, had the disadvantage of wrestling without sophomore 138-pounder Derek Bollinger, who had the flu and was held out because, as Fort Scott head coach David Brown put it, "He has bigger fish to fry."
Still, the Tigers won three of their four duals and were competitive with Chanute in the semifinals through eight weight classes before the Comets won five of the last six.
"We had our eyes set on a higher placing but other teams wrestled well, too," Brown said. "For the most part, our kids performed at a pretty high level. We had some kids who grew tonight in their ability to wrestle."
Fort Scott defeated Parsons in the first round, 56-24. Chanute claimed the semifinal, 52-26. The Tigers then won the consolation semifinal from Coffeyville, 58-12, and the third-place match from Independence, 52-27.
Several Tigers had perfect 4-0 days, whether forfeits are included or not. They were Tyler Gorman at 103 pounds, Kyle Montojo at 120, Zarek Fewell at 145, Chris Stell at 152, and Jordan Crowder at 182. Davein Caldwell at 113, Phillip Moran at 126/132 and Charlie Pytlowany at 220 were each 3-1.
Montojo, a sophomore, set the pace for the Tigers in the dual with Parsons as his 120-pound bout with Noah Caven was the first one to take place after two forfeits in Fort Scott's favor. Montojo was up 23-12 when he got the pin just 16 seconds into the third period.
Montojo (8-12) went on to win two more by pin and picked up a forfeit from Independence.
"He leads the day off with a big win and kept on rolling," Brown said. "For a first-year wrestler, that's pretty cool."
Crowder (19-16) was one of four seniors in the lineup. He Moran, Thomas Nighswonger and Trevor Hazlip combined to go 10-6 on the night. Crowder, at 182, was 4-0 with three pins and an 11-3 decision over Chanute's Trent Crowl.
"They worked really hard to get where they are in the varsity lineup," Brown said. "It was nice to watch Phillip Moran come through and wrestle hard."
Moran (19-11) pinned two opponents and also received a forfeit. His loss came to Chanute's Nick Ornelas, ranked No. 6 at 126 pounds and a returning State medalist.
"Phillip was gung-ho to get in there and wrestle as hard as he could," Brown said. "He gained some ground tonight and wrestled well."
Fewell (34-7), ranked No. 6 by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association at 145 pounds, had two pins, a technical fall and a forfeit as his wins.
"He kept the roll going after a big weekend at Rose Hill," Brown said. "He's trying to make step-by-step gains and get on the medal stand at the State Tournament."
Stell (22-16) had three decisions and a pin. His 12-2 win over Ky Jansen of Chanute brought the Tigers within 24-22 of the Blue Comets before they went on their roll.
T.Gorman had two forfeits among his wins only because 106-pound wrestlers aren't common anymore. He had a pun over Chanute's Devan Walker in just 54 seconds and took a 10-1 major decision from Independence's Gabe Eades.
Fort Scott enjoyed big leads in the duals they won. The Tigers were up on Parsons 24-0 after four matches and 38-12 after nine. They rolled to a 54-0 lead on Coffeyville and led Independence 40-6 after eight matches.
Chanute advanced to the final by beating Labette County, 63-15, in the first round before they got by the Tigers in the semifinals. Pittsburg got there by routing Coffeyville, 54-24, in the first round and Independence, 64-18, in the semifinals.
In the final, the Purple Dragons, ranked No. 3 in Class 5A, went out to a 29-0 lead after five matches. The Comets won three of the next five bouts to get within 38-17. A key match in the dual was A.J. Lair's pin of Ornelas at 126 pounds.
The Tiger varsity squad has concluded its regular season. The junior varsity team has one tournament remaining, at Burlington on Saturday.
The varsity will next compete in the Columbus Class 4A Regional Tournament on Feb. 19 and 20.
First round
(1) Pittsburg 54, (7) Coffeyville 24
(4) Independence, bye
(3) Fort Scott 56, (6) Parsons 24
(2) Chanute 63, (5) Labette County 15
(1) Pittsburg 64, (4) Independence 18
(2) Chanute 52, (3) Fort Scott 26
(7) Coffeyville, bye
(6) Parsons 42, (5) Labette County 40
(3) Fort Scott 58, (7) Coffeyville 12
(4) Independence 42, (6) Parsons 40
(5) Labette County, bye (7th)
(6) Parsons 42, (7) Coffeyville 24 (5th)
(3) Fort Scott 52, (4) Independence 27 (3rd)
(1) Pittsburg 52, (2) Chanute 23 (1st)
2013 -- Chanute
2014 -- Chanute
2015 -- Pittsburg
106: Tyler Gorman (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 6-0.
113: Daevin Caldwell (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 12-0.
120: Kyle Montojo (FS) pinned Noah Caven, 4:16. FS, 18-0.
126: Phillip Moran (FS) pinned Gavynn Larson, :24 FS, 24-0.
132: Dalton Misener (P) pinned Alex Gorman, 4:49. FS, 24-6.
138: Seth Chaves (P) won by forfeit. FS, 24-12.
145: Zarek Fewell (FS) def. Anthony Keaton by technical fall, 4:00. FS, 29-12.
152: Chris Stell (FS) def. Tyler Metcalf, 7-2. FS, 32-12.
160: Thomas Nighswonger (FS) pinned Malik Robinson, 1:42. FS, 38-12.
171: Dylan Misener (P) pinned Trevor Hazlip, :56. FS, 38-18.
182: Jordan Crowder (FS) pinned Josh O'Hara. FS, 44-18.
195: Dylan Wright (P) won by forfeit. FS, 44-24.
220: Charles Pytlowany (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 50-24.
285: Colby Page (FS) pinned Matt Wright, 1:04. FS, 56-24.
106: T.Gorman (FS) pinned Devon Walker, :54. FS, 6-0.
113: Huntyr Schwegman (Ch) pinned Caldwell, 1:00. Tied, 6-6.
120: Montojo (FS) pinned Brent See, 1:35. FS, 12-6.
126: Nick Ornales (Ch) punned Moran, 2:18. Tied, 12-12.
132: Jake Fiscus (Ch) pinned A.Gorman, 4:35. Ch, 18-12.
138: Gage Leedy (Ch) won by forfeit. Ch, 24-12.
145: Fewell (FS) pinned Matt DeVoe, :53. Ch, 24-18.
152: Stell (FS) def. Ky Jansen, 12-2. Ch, 24-22.
160: Brady Vogel (Ch) pinned Nighswonger, :39. Ch, 30-22.
171: Qualin Powell (Ch) def. Hazlip, 22-9. Ch, 34-22.
182: Crowder (FS) def. Trent Crowl, 11-2. Ch, 34-26.
195: Dalton Lamb (Ch) won by forfeit. Ch, 40-26.
220: Gage Clark (Ch) pinned Pytlowany, 4:24. Ch, 46-26
285: Matt Friend (Ch) pinned Page, 1:36. Ch, 52-26.
106: T.Gorman (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 6-0.
113: Caldwell (FS) def. John Porter, 10-7. FS, 9-0.
120: Montojo (FS) pinned Cyrus Alobaidi, :58. FS, 15-0.
126: Moran (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 21-0.
132: A.Gorman (FS) pinned Austin Bertie, 2:59. FS, 27-0.
138: Both teams open. FS, 27-0.
145: Fewell (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 33-0.
152: Stell (FS) def. Cody Smith, 12-5. FS, 36-0.
160: Nighswonger (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 42-0.
171: Hazlip (FS) pinned Ethan Samples, :33. FS, 48-0.
182: Crowder (FS) pinned Ryan Tracy, 2:55. FS, 54-0.
195: Titus Woodward (Cof) won by forfeit. FS, 54-6.
220: Pytlowany (FS) def. Brandon Barrager, 10-2. FS, 58-6.
285: Sean McIntosh (Cof) pinned Page, 1:24. FS, 58-12.
106: T.Gorman (FS) def. Gabe Eades, 10-1. FS, 4-0
113: Caldwell (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 10-0.
120: Montojo (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 16-0.
126: Mannie Gonzales (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 22-0
132: Moran (FS) pinned Cole Swearingen, 2:25. FS, 28-0.
138: Kyler Sanders (Ind) pinned A.Gorman, 2:33, FS, 28-6 .
145: Fewell (FS) pinned Jackson Stafford, :37. FS, 34-6.
152: Stell (FS) pinned Pete Maldanado, 1:22. FS, 40-6.
160: Quentin Mason (Ind) pinned Nighswonger, :33. FS, 40-12.
171: Cal Bloomfield (Ind) def. Hazlip, 6-2. FS, 40-15
182: Crowder (FS) pinned Robert Skaggs, :49. FS, 46-15.
195: Rich Garris (Ind) won by forfeit. FS, 46-21.
220: Pytlowany (FS) pinned Cory Janasek, 1:02. FS, 52-21
285: Seth Stroble (Ind) pinned Page, :15. FS, 52-27.