Tigers earn three medals

BONNER SPRINGS -- Three Fort Scott High wrestlers earned medals here Saturday at the 13-team Dick Burns Invitational hosted by Bonner Springs High School.

Denzell Davis and Justin Sharp both finished second in their weight classes while Lee Culbertson took third.

Davis wrestled at 119 pounds in a seven-man bracket. He drew the first-round bye, then defeated Lukas Bjongo of Blue Valley-Stilwell, 11-4. Lukas Burget of Bellevue East (Neb.) beat Davis in the finals, 7-2.

"He had a good kid from Nebraska in the finals," Fort Scott head coach David Brown said. "Burget took advantage of Denzell's weaknesses and built a win from that."

Sharp wrestled at 125 pounds and started with a pin of Dylan Swoyer of Shawnee Mission Northwest. He beat Jackson Wiley of Eudora, 5-0, in the semifinals before losing to Symon Seaton of Basehor-Linwood, 6-3, in the finals.

"Justin has lost to Seaton several times in his career but has gained ground each match," Brown said. "I hope he can continue to improve because I think victory is in his reach."

Culbertson -- wrestling in a larger bracket -- had pins in his first two matches as he stuck Tyler Hendrickson of Blue Valley and Alex Meyer of Blue Valley West. He lost to Joe Johnson of Basehor-Linwood, 4-0, to fall into consolation. There, he pinned Brian Callahan of Bonner Springs and decisioned Aaron Bialek of Bishop Miege, 11-4.

"Lee wrestled with improved technique and was a better wrestler when he was aggressive," Brown said.

Fort Scott had five others in the field who did not place. Michael Durossette was 3-2 at 130 pounds; Luis Martinez 2-2 at 135; Alec Ramirez 1-2 at 145, Kyle Slattery 2-2 at 171 and Kenneth Singmaster 1-2 at 189.

In team standings, the Tigers finished in 10th place with 86 points. Bellevue East, a top program in Nebraska, was the team champion with 243 points followed by Blue Valley-Stilwell with 160 and Eudora with 157.

The Tigers will wrestle at the Basehor-Linwood Bobcat Classic this weekend. Action begins Friday at noon and continues through Saturday. League rivals Columbus and Pittsburg, Class 6A Garden City and Junction City and Iowa power Glenwood are among the 32 teams that will be attending.