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Two medal at tough Bobcat Classic
BASEHOR -- The Basehor-Linwood Bobcat Classic is always loaded, even for those schools which bring full teams. So Fort Scott High's two medals from it's contingent of just five wrestlers can be considered one of the season's bright spots.
In a tournament loaded with nine teams ranked by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association, Missouri's defending State runner-up in Class 2 and two other top-10 teams from last season and one of Colorado's top big-school programs, four of the five Tigers won at least one match.
The top Tiger finisher was Derek Bollinger, who took seventh at 132 pounds. He went 4-2 in the tournament and improved to 22-8 on the season.
Bollinger won his first two matches. He pinned Lucas Gardner of Kansas City Bishop Ward and took a 6-0 decision over Zeb Huesman of Tonganoxie. Brody Lamb of Smithville, the aforementioned Missouri Class 2 defending State runner-up team, claimed an 11-2 major decision to drop Bollinger into the consolation bracket.
Bollinger then took a 7-2 decision over Chuck Knowlton of Blue Springs, Mo. Trent Thomas of Westminister, Colo.-Mountain Range won a 6-0 decision in the quarterfinal round. Bollinger defeated Kolbe Seaton of Bonner Springs in the seventh-place match.
Zarek Fewell (17-8) finished in eighth place at 138 pounds. He opened the tournament with an 11-4 decision over Kyler McCluskey of Bishop Ward in the first round. He beat Marty Robinson of Clay Center by an 8-4 score to reach the quarterfinal round. There, top-seeded Stephen Tujague recorded a pin.
In consolation, Fewell picked up a 9-4 verdict over Garrett Martin of Tonganoxie. In the consolation quarterfinals, Thomas Lisger of Baldwin won over Fewell by pin. Fewell then went to the seventh-place match, where Jake Bollinger of Smithville won a 3-1 decision.
Charles Pytlowany (4-5) was entered at 220 pounds. He drew a first-round bye before he was pinned by Casey Jumps of Platte County, Mo., which finished fifth in Missouri Class 3 last season. Pytlowany recorded a pin over Dillon Reichert of Riley County before he was eliminated by a 4-0 decision at the hands of Paola's Dunkan Watrous.
Phillip Moran (14-9) drew a first-round bye at 126. He then faced Brendon Chrisjohn of Osawatomie, ranked No. 6 in Class 4A, who sent Moran to consolation with a pin. Moran then faced D.J. Ballard of Bonner Springs, ranked No. 2 in Class 4A, who eliminated Moran with a pin.
Chris Stell (12-13) lost his first-round match at 145 to Hunter Mullin of Clay Center, ranked No. 4 in Class 4A, by pinfall. He was eliminated on another pin by Ridge Smith of Columbus.
Fort Scott finished 32nd out of 34 teams with 18 points. Goddard, ranked No. 1 in Kansas Class 5A, won the team title with 256 points. Platte County was second with 185.5 and Lenexa St. James, No. 2 in Kansas 5A, was third with 174.5. Smithville was fourth followed by Kansas 6A No. 1 Olathe North, 6A No. 4 Junction City, 5A No. 4 Topeka-Seaman, 4A No. 3 Basehor-Linwood, Mountain Range, which was eighth in Colorado Class 5A last season, Blue Springs, sixth in Missouri Class 4 last season, and Class 4A No. 2 Baldwin. Southeast Kansas League member Pittsburg placed 15th and Columbus finished 20th. Prairie View, a team the Tigers will see in Regionals and ranked No. 8 in Class 4A, finished 13th.
The Tigers travel to Columbus tonight for a non-league triangular with former SEK schools. Iola rounds out the gathering, which begins at 5:30.