Menu
Freshmen trio headed to State
LOUISBURG --Three Fort Scott High School freshmen will take part in this weekend's Class 4A State Tournament after placing in the top four at the Louisburg Class 4A Regional Tournament here over the weekend.
Derek Bollinger finished in second place in the 132-pound bracket while Alex Gorman was fourth at 120 and Zarek Fewell was fourth at 138.
As a team, the Tigers finished eighth in the 16-team field with 68 points. Southeast Kansas League champion Chanute, the top-ranked team in Class 4A according to the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association poll, won the team title with 217 points followed by third-ranked Prairie View with 128. Chanute, last year's State runner-up, qualified 11 wrestlers to State.
Bollinger (33-12) pinned Frontenac's Noah Cleffman in the first round on Friday. He also pinned Anderson County's Caleb Belshe in the quarterfinal round later that day.
Bollinger took a 5-2 decision over Drew Nutt of Ottawa in the semifinals. In Saturday evening's final, Spring Hill's Brandon Dofat (38-1), ranked No. 3 at 132 by the KWCA, won a 6-2 decision.
Gorman (16-12) drew a first-round bye. He pinned Osawatomie's James Clement in the quarterfinals. Case Pemberton of Prairie View, ranked No. 3, pinned Gorman in the semifinals. Pemberton went on to win the 120-pound class.
Gorman pinned Paola's Caleb Cline in the consolation semifinal. Sam Wehlage of Chanute claimed the third-place match by a 12-5 decision.
Fewell (28-16) also drew a bye in the first round at 138. He won in overtime over Columbus' Zach Porter in the quarters, 4-2. Chase Cole of Chanute, ranked No. 1 in the weight class by the KWCA, pinned Fewell in the semifinal. Cole went on to finish second.
Fewell pinned Spring Hill's Cody Slyter in the consolation semifinal. Ryan Adams of Louisburg, a 35-match winner this season, pinned Fewell in the third-place match.
Eight other Tigers competed in the Regional. Their results were as follows:
* Mannie Gonzales was 1-2 at 113 pounds. He was pinned in the first round by Maeson Kehl of Prairie View. He drew a bye in consolation before taking a 12-5 decision over Spring Hill's Trey McCormick. Nate Thomas of Columbus eliminated Gonzales by pin.
* Phillip Moran was 2-2 at 126. He drew a first-round bye then lost to Prairie View's Tanner Snow, 14-4. In the second round of consolation, Moran pinned Parsons' Seth Chavez. Next, he won by technical fal over Anderson County's Cole Denny. Nick Ornelas took a 12-1 major decision from Moran in the consolation semifinal.
* Thomas Nighswonger took a 2-0 decision over Ottawa's Chandler Bloomer at 145 pounds. In the semifinals, Adam Cole, ranked No. 1 at this weight, pinned Nighswonger. Cole went on to win the weight class. Nighswonger was pinned in consolation by Dalton Duke of Anderson County.
* Chris Stell pinned Louisburg's Zach Jones in the first round at 152. Daniel Dees of Osawatomie, ranked No. 6, pinned Stell in the quarters. Dees went on to finish second. Stell picked up a technical fall over Anderson County's Matt Kirkland and beat Ottawa's Jayden Creach by a 6-2 decision. Keaton Barnes of Paola eliminated Stell with a 4-2 decision.
* Ben Daniels drew a first-round by before being pinned by Trey Isenhower of Prairie View, ranked No. 3 at 170 pounds. Ryan Tracy of Coffeyville pinned Daniels in consolation.
* Hector Torres lost a 6-2 decision to fourth-ranked Grant Newton of Coffeyville in the first round at 182. He drew a bye in consolation, then was eliminated on a 16-3 major decision by Derek Weaver of Paola
* Charles Pytlowany defeated RayQuon Stowers of Spring Hill in an "ultimate tie-breaker" in the first round of 220 pounds, getting credit for a 3-2 win. He was pinned by Frontenac's Kyle Loy, who went on to finish second, in the quarterfinals. In consolation, Pytlowany took a 5-0 decision over Jackson Stringer of Coffeyville. He was eliminated on a 6-2 decision by Columbus' Austin Napier.
Bollinger, Gorman and Fewell will be in Salina this weekend for the Class 4A State Tournament. Action at the Bicentennial Center begins at 10 a.m. Friday morning.