Tiger wrestlers perfect in home tournament

Fort Scott senior Drew Bryant keeps control of Blue Valley Southwest sophomore Anthony Fitchett during the final match of the day at the Fort Scott Dual Tournament Saturday afternoon. Bryant needed only 32 seconds to pin Fitchett. The Tigers won the dual, 43-27, to finish the day undefeated tourney champions. (Scott Nuzum/Tribune)

To win a dual meet, a wrestling team needs its best effort from all 14 of its athletes. To win a tournament, it might only need to enter eight or nine athletes.

To win a dual tournament, a team sometimes needs something from more than 14 wrestlers.

Fort Scott High School won its home tournament for the first time since 2005 Saturday afternoon, using 16 men. Two were placed in the lineup in the final dual to accept forfeit victories and allow teammates to move into better match-ups. Head coach David Brown explained that keeping the original lineup would have put the Tigers in some bad match-ups that Blue Valley Southwest could have won and, thus, taken the tourney title home in its first season at the event.

Fort Scott's Tyler Sharp takes the advantage over Blue Valley Southwest's Sawyer Like during a 119-pound match at the Fort Scott Invitational. Sharp won this bout by a score of 12-0. (Scott Nuzum/Tribune)

Fort Scott won all five duals with a relatively inexperienced team. Although each of the five returning wrestlers each won at least 20 varsity matches last season, the other nine in the lineup had never wrestled in a high-school match before Saturday.

"Several of those nine have wrestled an awful lot in kids club," Brown said. "And they had more experience than their age would lead one to think. Those kids came though in a big way today. We had four freshmen in our lineup coming out of the kids club who did very well."

Fort Scott and Blue Valley Southwest -- a school that opened this year -- both won their first five duals. The Timberwolves were competing in the first wrestling event in school history.

Southwest started the dual with Adam Pelfrey's pin over Cole Stewart in a battle of freshmen at 103 pounds. Then Brown began adjusting his lineup.

First, he swapped J.T. Heckman and Tyler Sharp in the lineup. Heckman moved to 112 and won by forfeit. Sharp, a State qualifier last season, moved to 119 to take on Sawyer Like and won a 12-0 decision that put the Tigers in front in the dual, 10-6.

Then Garren Lorenz was put into the lineup at 125 points to accept another forfeit. That allowed Jacob Durossette, a freshman who was a State champion in kids club wrestling last year, to face experienced Logan Bjorgo. Durossette took a 9-4 verdict. Then Caleb Gazaway went in at 135 to accept another forfeit, which extended the Tigers lead to 25-6.

That moved sophomore Victor Hughes, who had won his first four bouts, up against Matt McWhorter at 140. However, this time the Southwest wrestler won, taking a 6-3 decision.

Southwest also won the next three matches on two pins and a 10-4 decision by Hunter Like over John Metcalf. That brought the Timberwolves within 25-24.

Whether Like should have won his match may be up for debate. Metcalf claimed he was bitten by Like during that match but the official did not see what may have happened.

Christian Tavenaro, one of four Tigers who went unbeaten on the day, pinned Tyler Glysteen 51 seconds in to the 171-pound match. But Southwest's Jacob Currence took a 5-2 win over Dane Cummings at 189 to bring the T-Wolves within 31-27.

But Southwest had to forfeit the 215-pound match to Brendan Blackburn, and those 6 points clinched the dual in favor of the Tigers. Senior heavyweight Drew Bryant pinned Anthony Fitchett in just 32 seconds as he also finished the day undefeated and made the final score 43-27.

"Drew was pretty dominant at the heavyweight position today," Brown said. "I hope that continues for him though the season."

Fort Scott opened the day with a 54-30 victory over Louisburg in which every match earned the maximum 6 points. Next came a 76-6 win over Jayhawk-Linn in which all but one match earned max points. The Tigers then beat Webb City, Mo., on the strength of nine pins, 60-24. They also defeated Shawnee Mission West, 49-24.

Of Fort Scott's first 42 bouts, all but two earned 6 points for one team or the other. Fort Scott won 31 of those matches. The Tigers recorded 19 pins in those 31 wins.

Blue Valley Southwest won its first four duals by scores of 54-18 over Jayhawk-Linn, 46-36 over Webb City, 38-33 over Shawnee Mission West and 49-20 over Louisburg.

Webb City finished in third place with a 3-2 record while Shawnee Mission West was fourth at 2-3. Louisburg, the only Kansas team in this tourney that came in with a state ranking in the coaches' poll, finished 1-4 and Jayhawk-Linn rounded out the field at 0-5.

Although Shawnee Mission West only won twice, the Pioneers had a way of forcing their opponents to make the maximum effort to beat them. In each round, a match involving West took the longest because the Pioneers don't get pinned very much.

However, the Tigers won nine matches against the Pioneers. Two were by forfeit, two by decision and the remaining five by pin.

Individually, in addition to Bryant and Tavenaro, Durossette and Blackburn, another freshman, were also undefeated on the day. With the forfeits sprinkled around the lineup, three of them only wrestled four times and Tavenaro only three times. Bryant pinned all four of his opponents, each one faster than the last. Durossette had three pins and Tavenaro and Blackburn had two pins each.

"(Tavenaro), we got to see a lot of character and heart out of him," Brown noted. "Through sheer toughness and determination, he came through with a win against Shawnee Mission West."

That was a 7-5 decision over Jai Lindsey, which Tavenaro won on a late takedown. He trailed 3-2 after one period and it was tied 4-4 after two.

Sharp, Victor Hughes and Metcalf were all 4-1. Sharp's only loss came when he was pinned by Webb City's Cody Jolly with 4/10ths of a second remaining in the first period.

"Tyler Sharp, just a sophomore, took a leadership role today," Brown said. "He lost a match against Webb City against a really good kid. You can't fault the effort there. He was much more aggressive and took it to us. Tyler's going to win more matches for us with his aggressiveness and he did that today.

"John wrestled with a partial AC separation of his shoulder and still fought hard. His day was going to be a challenge from the start, physically. He did a great job."

Cummings, Stewart and Jaret Thorpe were each 3-2 on the day, each winning their first three matches. Thorpe, a junior who came out for the team for the first time this year, won his matches by pin at 145.

"It was a nice surprise watching Jason Thorpe, a kid who's never wrestled before, come out and get a few wins," Brown noted.

Race Kastl was 2-2 at 130 pounds. Heckman finished 2-3 while Hunziker, a sophomore who is out for the first time as well, was 1-4.

"We put several inexperienced kids in the lineup," Brown said. "Straton Hunziker is in a learning stage but he's the only one (at 152) that we had and the best one for that slot. He took lumps throughout the day but I think he'll grow and become pretty good out of this."

The Tigers will take part in the Eudora Tournament Friday and Saturday.

Team Standings

Scores

Round One

Fort Scott 54, Louisburg 30

Blue Valley Southwest 54, Jayhawk-Linn 18

Webb City 49, Shawnee Mission West 30

Round Two

Fort Scott 76, Jayhawk-Linn 6

Shawnee Mission West 42, Louisburg 36

Blue Valley Southwest 46, Webb City 36

Round Three

Fort Scott 60, Webb City 24

Louisburg 66, Jayhawk-Linn 18

Blue Valley Southwest 38, Shawnee Mission West 33

Round Four

Fort Scott 49, Shawnee Mission West 24

Blue Valley Southwest 49, Louisburg 20

Webb City 72, Jayhawk-Linn 12

Round Five

Fort Scott 43, Blue Valley Southwest 27

Webb City 54, Louisburg 23

Shawnee Mission West 72, Jayhawk-Linn 12

Fort Scott Duals

FORT SCOTT 54, LOUISBURG 30

103: Cole Stewart (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 6-0.

112: Tyler Sharp (FS) pinned Nathan Kueser, 1:00. FS, 12-0.

119: Austin Hood (L) pinned J.T. Heckman, 1:16. FS, 12-6.

125: Jacob Durossette (FS) pinned Austen Scott, 3:16. FS, 18-6.

130: Trevor LePlans (L) pinned Race Kastl, 2:28. FS, 18-12.

135: Victor Hughes (FS) pinned Kyle Edwards, :55. FS, 24-12.

140: Austin Caskey (L) pinned John Hughes, 4:44. FS, 24-18.

145: Jason Thorpe (FS) pinned Curtis Lemke, 1:06. FS, 30-18.

152: Derek Mathia (L) pinned Straton Hunziker, :56. FS, 30-24.

160: John Metcalf (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 36-24.

171: Christian Tavenaro (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 42-24.

189: Colton Rommel (L) pinned Dane Cummings, 1:59. FS, 42-30.

215: Brendan Blackburn (FS) won by forfiet. FS, 48-30.

285: Drew Bryant (FS) pinned Konnor Cook, 5:09. FS, 54-30.

FORT SCOTT 76, JAYHAWK-LINN 6

103: Stewart (FS) pinned Kolby Fountain, :34. FS, 6-0.

112: Sharp (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 12-0.

119: Heckman (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 18-0.

125: Durossette (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 24-0.

130: Kastl (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 30-0.

135: V.Hughes (FS) pinned Zach Wills, :28. FS, 36-0.

140: J.Hughes (FS) pinned Austin Billingsley. FS, 42-0.

145: Thorpe (FS) pinned Mason Craig, 1:43. FS, 48-0.

152: Colby Northcutt (JL) pinned Hunziker, 3:29. FS, 48-6.

160: Metcalf (FS) def. Jarod Avery, 10-3. FS, 51-6.

171: Tavenaro (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 57-6.

189: Cummings (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 63-6.

215: Blackburn (FS) pinned Adam Higginbotham, :45. FS, 70-6.

285: Bryant (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 76-6.

FORT SCOTT 60, WEBB CITY 24

103: Stewart (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 6-0.

112: Cody Jolly (WC) pinned Sharp, 1:59. Tied, 6-6.

119: Braden Goff (WC) pinned Heckman. WC, 12-6.

125: Durossette (FS) pinned Noah Hembree, :48. Tied, 12-12.

130: Kastl (FS) pinned Landon Baker, 2:26. FS, 18-12.

135: V.Hughes (FS) pinned Tim Bowers, 1:48. FS, 24-12.

140: Sam Navarro (WC) pinned J.Hughes, :24. FS, 24-18.

145: Thorpe (FS) pinned Taylor Coleman, :26. FS, 30-18.

152: Tyler Spencer (WC) pinned Hunziker, 1:18. FS, 30-24.

160: Metcalf (FS) pinned Alex Harmell, 1:54. FS, 36-24.

171: Tavenaro (FS) pinned Brandon Shultz, :21. FS, 42-0.

189: Cummings (FS) pinned Nick Lovejoy, 3:50. FS, 48-24.

215: Blackburn (FS) pinned Tony Carranco, 3:03. FS, 54-24.

285: Bryant (FS) pinned Aaron Gossard, 1:15. FS, 60-24.

FORT SCOTT 49,

SHAWNEE MISSION WEST 24

103: Garrison Coker (SMW) def. Stewart, 13-7. SMW, 3-0.

112: Sharp (FS) pinned Brandon Le, 2:50. FS, 6-3.

119: Canaan Coker (SMW) def. Heckman, 2-0. Tied, 6-6.

125: Durossette (FS) pinned J Geracie, :46. FS, 12-6.

130: Brandon Mengel (SMW) pinned Kastl, 3:28. Tied, 12-12.

135: V.Hughes (FS) pinned Grant Gotchalk, 4:53. FS, 18-12.

140: David Clum (SMW) pinned J.Hughes, :34. Tied, 18-18.

145: Joey Stinson (SMW) pinned Thorpe, 3:21. SMW, 24-18.

152: Hunziker (FS) won by forfeit. Tied, 24-24.

160: Metcalf (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 30-24.

171: Tavenaro (FS) def. Jai Lindsey, 7-5. FS, 33-24.

189: Cummings (FS) pinned Ben Epstein, 2:58. FS, 39-24.

215: Blackburn (FS) def. Sean Dilly, 12-3. FS, 43-24.

285: Bryant (FS) pinned Connor Lynn, :54. FS, 49-24.

FORT SCOTT 43,

BLUE VALLEY SOUTHWEST 27

103: Adam Pelfrey (SW) pinned Stewart, 2:45. SW, 6-0.

112: Heckman (FS) won by forfeit. Tied, 6-6.

119: Sharp (FS) def. Sawyer Like, 12-0. FS, 10-6.

125: Garren Lorenz (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 16-6.

130: Durossette (FS) def. Logan Bjorgo, 9-4. FS, 19-6.

135: Caleb Gazaway (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 25-6.

140: Matt McWhorter (SW) def. V.Hughes, 6-3. FS, 25-9.

145: Lukas Bjorgo (SW) pinned Thorpe, 1:17. FS, 25-15.

152: Brannon Poston (SW) pinned Hunziker, 1:27. FS, 25-21.

160: Hunter Like (SW) def. Metcalf, 10-4. FS, 25-24.

171: Tavenaro (FS) pinned Tyler Gleysteen, :51. FS, 31-24.

189: Jacob Currence (SW) def. Cummings, 5-2. FS, 31-27.

215: Blackburn (FS) won by forfeit. FS, 37-27

285: Bryant (FS) pinned Anthony Fitchett, :32. FS, 43-27.