Tigers swept in home finale; Albright's Comets win SEK

Fort Scott's Andre Davis (left) and Chanute's Garrett Roecker grapple for control during their 189-pound match Thursday night at the FSHS gymnasium. Davis won both his matches in a Southeast Kansas League triangular that also included Columbus, taking this one with a 10-4 decision. (Tribune photo/Scott Nuzum)

Chanute head wrestling coach Andy Albright has a lot of good memories about his wrestling experiences from when he competed for Fort Scott High School.

Thursday night, he added another one at the expense of his alma mater, as his Blue Comets won the Southeast Kansas League championship by sweeping Columbus and the host Tigers in a league triangular.

"It's nice, especially to do it in front of my grandma and my parents," Albright, a 1997 FSHS graduate, said. "Yeah, it's always nice to come back and win at Fort Scott, especially when I have so many good memories here. The only time I root against them is when we're wrestling them and most of the time, I'm rooting for them. Dave (Brown) has done a good job and we'll see them at Regionals."

The Blue Comets, who were tri-champs last season with Fort Scott and Labette County, made it through the league schedule undefeated this time around, winning the SEK for the ninth time since wrestling became a league sport in 1970-71.

Chanute (7-0, 14-4) had to make up a triangular on Tuesday and beat Independence 65-9 and Parsons 73-3. Thursday's scores saw Chanute beat Columbus in the opening dual, 54-17, and Fort Scott in the finale, 57-15.

In between, Columbus defeated the Tigers, 47-33. That dual came down to the 215-pound match, where junior Aaron Judy was placed in hopes that he could put Fort Scott ahead.

Instead, Columbus' Andrew Greenwood dominated the second period after holding a slim 3-2 lead after one, then pinned Judy with 32 seconds left in the second period. That gave the Titans (3-2, 6-5) the points they needed to clinch the dual.

Blake Nelson is on his way to pinning Chanute's Dwight Tenpenny in a 171-pound bout. Nelson pinned both his opponents, improving his season record to 28-11. (Tribune photo/Scott Nuzum)

"We were really excited about the opportunity with Columbus," Fort Scott head coach David Brown said. "They had some different kids in their lineup. We had an opportunity to sneak away with a win on them. It's just unfortunate we couldn't pull it out.

Chanute and Columbus faced each other first and the Blue Comets got four pins and a minor decision to jump out to a 27-0 lead after five matches.

Chanute's lead was 54-8 before Columbus won the last two matches.

"The boys wrestled outstanding tonight," Albright said. "I think we're just trying to peak at the right time. We're trying to focus and the chemistry right now is starting to pay off. We do a lot of stuff in the summer and it's starting to pay off. The bond the team has is the big thing right now."

Next up were the Tigers (2-5, 5-7) and the Titans. After Columbus received a forfeit at 103, Fort Scott took the lead when Josh Sharp (21-13) pinned Zach Mullere at 112 and Denzell Davis (17-9) took a 13-6 win over Danette O'Hara at 119 after outscoring her 9-2 in the third period.

"Justin did a great job tonight," Brown said. "It's the second time he's faces the kid from Columbus in less than a week and it was another two-point win. But it was an important win in terms of seeding for Regionals.

Fort Scott's Denzell Davis looks to the bench for instructions after gaining control over Columbus' Danette O'Hara in a 119-pound match of a Southeast Kansas League triangular Thursday night at the FSHS gymnasium. Davis won this match by a 13-6 score and also defeated Chanute's Tim Wrestler, 6-5. (Tribune photo/Scott Nuzum)

"Denzell, another couple of really good matches. He was taken aback when he had to wrestle the young lady from Columbus. But Danette is a better-than-average wrestler. When they have girls' tournaments in the spring and summer, she's pretty dominant in her class. Denzell is also, in my opinion, a 103-pounder wrestling at 119."

Columbus won the next five matches, picking up three forfeits, to go ahead 35-9. Then the Tigers won the next four. Lee Culbertson received an injury default from Keit Ho when he suffered an ankle injury at the start of the second period of their 152-pound bout.

Blake Cowen (6-7) picked up a forfeit at 160. Then Blake Nelson (28-11) pinned Ethan King at 171 in the first period. Andre Davis (8-9) pinned Nathan Morris at 189 to bring the redclads within 35-33.

"Blake Nelson is kind of rolling," Brown said. "He's wrestling some of his best matches. At Rose Hill, he put together quite a few good matches. He wasn't successful as far as the score goes but technique and effort and speed, those things were really kicking into gear and they paid off tonight."

The Chanute-Fort Scott duel started with a Tiger forfeit at 103. But FSHS took the lead as Sharp won his match at 112 over Troy Clark by a 2-0 score on a second-period take down and Denzell Davis took a 6-5 win over Tim Wrestler when he was awarded a point for an illegal hold in sudden-death overtime.

"Great effort, a lot of character coming through for (Davis) in the second match with the kid from Chanute," Brown said. "(Wrestler) wasn't their normal 119-pounder. This man was pretty good and to come away with an overtime win was a big deal for us."

But as Columbus did, Chanute picked up the majority of its point from 125 to 160, winning each of those matches, three by forfeit and three by pinfall, to go up 45-6.

Nelson stopped the run by sticking Dwayne Tenpenny's shoulders to the mat in 1:31 at 171 and Andre Davis took a 10-4 win by outscoring Garret Rocker 6-0 in the third period at 189.

"Andre Davis made a big difference for us tonight in both matches," Brown said. "It's just a shame that we haven't had him out the mat every year -- as a freshman for a while and now as a senior."

Chanute took the final two matches by pin.

"We wrestled well," Brown said. "We fought hard and long. A lot of kids put in a lot of work on the mat tonight that demonstrates the potential they have."

While Sharp, Nelson and Both Davises were able to win both their matches, the rest of the team struggled. Culbertson was the only other Tiger to win on the mat, unable to post his own sweep after losing to Chanute's Justin Hansen. Culbertson held a 4-2 lead in the first period when he got caught in a reversal and couldn't escape.

"Lee had a critical error in that second match," Brown said. "He put himself into a bad position and when he tried to get out of it, he got caught on his back and he was done."

All three of these teams will be at the Columbus Class 4A Regional Tournament on Feb. 8 and 9. The rest of the field features Labette County, Andover, Andover Central, Augusta, Coffeyvile, Douglass, El Dorado, Fredonia, Independence, Parsons, Rose Hill and Towanda-Circle.

NOTES -- Despite their success as a team, Chanute had just two ranked wrestlers: Kenneth Ornelas, No. 1 at 103, and Cameron Jesseph, No. 3 at 130. Additionally, Columbus' C.J. Napier is No. 1 at 135. All three won the matches they wrestled by pin.

CHANUTE 54, COLUMBUS 17

103: Kenneth Ornelas (CH) pinned Jacob York, 1:09. CH, 6-0.

112: Troy Clark (CH) pinned Zach Mullere, 2:51. CH, 12-0.

119: Tim Wrestler (CH) dec. Dannette O'Hara, 5-1. CH, 15-0.

125: Adam Leedy (CH) pinned Kyle Johnson, 2:45. CH, 21-0.

130: Zach Jesseph (CH) pinned Nick Thomas, 3:52. CH, 27-0.

135: C.J. Napier (CO) tech. fall Cody Markham, 20-5. CH, 27-5.

140: Lukias Stacy (CH) dec. B.T. O'Hara, 5-2. CH, 30-5.

145: Damion Tinnin (CO) dec. Derek Markham, 8-4. CH, 30-8.

152: Justin Hansen (CH) pinned Keit Ho, 0:51. CH, 36-8.

160: Grant Gastineau (CH) won by forfeit. CH, 42-8.

171: Nolan Colvin (CH) pinned Ethan King, 2:17. CH, 48-8.

189: Dwayne Tenpenny (CH) pinned Nathan Morris, 2:36. CH, 54-8.

215: Andrew Greenwood (CO) pinned Kevin Richard, 2:28. CH, 54-14.

285: David Lloyd (CO) dec. Jacob Larue, 4-2. CH, 54-17.

COLUMBUS 47, FORT SCOTT 33

103: York (CO) won by forfeit. CO, 6-0.

112: Justin Sharp (FS) pinned Mullere, 1:05. Tied, 6-6.

119: Denzell Davis (FS) dec. D.O'Hara, 13-6. FS, 9-6.

125: Johnson (CO) tech. fall Michael Durossette, 17-2. CO, 11-9.

130: Thomas (CO) won by forfeit. CO, 17-9.

135: Napier (CO) pinned Johnathan Hoyle, 1:47. CO, 23-9.

140: B.T. O'Hara (CO) won by forfeit. CO, 29-9.

145: Tinnin (CO) won by forfeit. CO, 35-9.

152: Culbertson def. Ho by injury default, 2:07. CO, 35-15.

160: Blake Cowen (FS) won by forfeit. CO, 35-21.

171: Blake Nelson (FS) pinned King, 1:37. CO, 35-27.

189: Andre Davis (FS) pinned Morris, 3:55. CO, 35-33.

215: Greenwood (CO) pinned Aaron Judy, 3:28. CO, 41-33.

285: Lloyd (CO) pinned Drew Bryant, 3:38. CO, 47-33.

CHANUTE 57, FORT SCOTT 15

103: Ornelas (CH) won by forfeit. CH, 6-0.

112: Sharp (FS) dec Clark, 2-0. CH, 6-3.

119: D.Davis (FS) dec. Wrestler, 6-5. Tied, 6-6.

125: Leedy (CH) dec. Durossette, 12-7. CH, 9-6.

130: Jesseph (CH) won by forfeit. CH, 15-6.

135: C.Markham (CH) pinned Hoyle, 1:45. CH, 21-9.

140: Stacy (CH) won by forfeit. CH, 27-9.

145: D,Markham (CH) won by forfeit. CH, 33-9.

152: Hansen (CH) ponned Culbertson, 1:57. CH, 39-9.

160: Colvin (CH) pinned Nic Engle, 1:10. CH, 45-9.

171: Nelson (FS) pinned Tenpenny, 1:31. CH, 45-12.

189: A.Davis (FS) dec. Garrett Roecker, 10-4. CH, 45-15.

215: Richard (CH) pinned Bryant, 2:58. CH, 51-15.

285: Larue (CH) pinned Kenny Singmaster, 2:34. CH, 57-17.

ROSE HILL TOURNAMENT

Team scores

1. Derby 228, 2. Valley Center 178, 3. Arkansas City 151, 4. Andale 141 1/2, 5. Hutchinson 113,

6. Chanute 112 1/2, 7. Labette County 102 1/2, 8. Concordia 98 1/2, 9. Winfield 96 1/2, 10. Columbus 88 1/2,

11. Augusta 86, 12. Rose Hill 85, 13. McPherson 70, 14. Caney Valley 65, 15. Wellington 49,

16. Fort Scott 41, 17. Hugoton 29 1/2, 18. Lawrence 25 1/2, 19. El Dorado 23, 20. Mulvane 22,

21. Independence 6, 22. Andover 4,

Fort Scott results

103: Open.

112: Justin Sharp, 3-2, fourth place. Lost to Davis Rienhardt, Derby, pin. Pinned Paul Inthakone, Winfield. Pinned Tyler McBride, Hugoton. Dec. Troy Clark, Chanute, 4-2. Lost to Rienhardt, pin (4th).

119: Denzell Davis, 3-3, sixth place. Lost to Heath Howell, Concordia, pin. Pinned Eric Knox, Hugoton. Pinned Tyler Beck, Andover. Dec. Phillip Martin, Labette County, 5-3. Lost to Skylar McComb, Derby, tech. fall. Lost to Howell, 13-7 (6th).

125: Michael Durossette, 1-2, did not place. Pinned Leo Flores, Hugoton. Lost to Brad Harris, Valley Center, 11-4. Lost to Brent Cline, Mulvane, 19-7.

130: Open.

135: Open.

140: Open.

145: Open.

152: Lee Culbertson, 1-2, did not place. Lost to Pete Tapia, Winfield, pin. Dec. Joe Dusenbury, Andover, 15-4. Lost to Kyle McGoldrick, Valley Center, pin.

160: Blake Cowen, 0-2, did not place. Lost to Allan McMurray, McPherson, pin. Lost to Beau Volkman, Valley Center, pin.

171: Blake Nelson, 2-3, sixth place. Lost to Tyler Hasenbank, Concordia, 6-3. Pinned Brad Bohnenblust, Labette County. Dec. Brandon Craft, El Dorado, 4-3. Lost to Alex Fieldcamp, Derby, 4-1. Lost to Hasenbank, 16-5 (6th).

189: Andre Davis, 0-2, did not place. Lost to Dylan Bowman, Wellington, pin. Lost to Titus Hopper, Valley Center, pin.

215: Drew Bryant, 1-2, did not place. Lost to Juan Hollingsworth, Winfield, 7-2. Pinned Trevor Chaparro, Arkansas City. Lost to Jarrett Raney, Valley Center, pin.

285: Open.