Kansas Wrestling Forums General Discussion High School Ark City vs. McPherson - Article - 2008!

Successful Debut
Ark City grapplers win dual vs. McPherson

By JOEY SPRINKLE
Traveler Sports Editor

It didn't take long for the Arkansas City High School wrestling team to get back into the swing of things.

An acute lack of depth at the heavier weights, however, had the Bulldogs fighting for their lives in Thursday night's dual against McPherson inside The Dawg Pound at ACHS.

The Bulldogs held on for a 38-36 victory in the dual, primarily on the strength of the middle weights.

"Our middle weights are where we're thick in the (practice) room, too," ACHS head coach Shawn Silvis said. "There's a lot of guys that aren't wrestling tonight that are backup guys. Our middle weights are probably our toughest weights because that's where we're so thick."

Freshman Joe Descartes clinched the victory for the Bulldogs with a 9-1 major decision in his 160-pound bout against Jordan Sponsel. The win gave Ark City a 38-12 lead with four matches to go.

The Bulldogs would need just about every one of those points, as the Bullpups gained six forfeit points at 171 before ending the varsity portion of the dual with three consecutive pins to finish on a 24-0 run.

"Just do what I know and do it best. That's what my plan was," said Descartes, who opened up a 7-0 lead and allowed Sponsel two automatic escapes for his only points of the match. "I still have plenty of time to learn and I plan to learn all I can this year."

Fellow freshman Colby Watters opened the dual needing just 1 minute, 26 seconds to pin McPherson's Seth Moyer at 112. Junior Garrett Jones nearly had Travis Barry pinned at 119, but settled for a 9-1 major decision.

The extra points in the two major decisions spelled the difference in the score.

"I didn't know what to expect from this group," Silvis said. "I didn't know how good they were, how good McPherson was. They did what we showed them. It paid off; we barely won, but we got a win so we'll take it."

The more-experienced grapplers showed their mettle, and wasted little time doing so.

Junior Kash Biddle, ranked second in the state in Class 5A, barely broke a sweat in a 39-second pin of Chris Lewis at 130. Sophomore Sterling Terry followed with a 1:15 pin of 135-pounder Zach VanDorn and senior Seth Capps capped the streak with a pin of 140-pounder Max Archer in 2:22 of their match.

Senior Michael Martin put up a gallant battle against McPherson's Tyler Davis, the No. 2-ranked grappler in the state at 145.

Martin pulled out all the stops in coming back from a 6-2 deficit, but ran out of time before he could get a match-tying takedown at the buzzer as Davis clung to a 9-7 victory.

"I got meaner," said Martin, a state-qualifier at 140 last season. "First period, I didn't work as hard. Second period it just kicks in. He kind of hit me in my eye a couple of times so I got angry and started working harder. I just have to start working hard in the first period and get warmed up before."

Trailing 8-3, Martin brought the Ark City crowd to life with a reversal with 25 seconds left in the second period.

Davis chose to remain neutral to start the third and it nearly cost him as Martin gained a takedown with 34 seconds remaining to make it 8-7. Davis allowed an automatic escape for a chance at another takedown before time ran out.

"That kid was no slouch," Silvis said of Davis. "Mike's not even ranked - nothing. He qualified last year and nobody even knows him. He was able to wear that kid out and break him down. Nearly got him."

Junior Bryce Marr got the momentum back for the Bulldogs in his 152-pound bout with Chase Fantune.

Marr held a comfortable 10-0 lead - good enough for a four-point major decision, but pinned Fantune's shoulders to the mat with 31 seconds left in the match for the six-point victory - two more key points.

"I was doing the best I could. I tried to put a half (nelson) in but I couldn't get it sunk all the way in," Marr said. "It just took me a while."

Freshman Trevor Dice dropped an 8-2 decision to Cole Luttig at 125 pounds. Zach Noah (189), Victor Ibarra (215) and heavyweight Codi Larmer all suffered losses by pin.

"I was kind of impressed - things we worked on with our sophomores, we're doing stuff we showed them last year," Silvis said. "I was beating my head up against the wall last year when they were freshmen and they just didn't get it. All of a sudden tonight - I don't know why they did it now, but hey, they're doing it."

The Bulldogs have just one day to prepare for Saturday's Arkansas City Invitational. Andale, Goddard, Maize and Wichita West are expected to be on hand, along with Oklahoma schools Stillwater and Oklahoma City-Yukon.

"Yukon from Oklahoma City is a tough team. They'll contend with Goddard," Silvis said. "Shoot, they've got 60 kids - they're right in the middle of Oklahoma City. They're wrestling three full squads, and two are at two different JV tournaments. They'll send their varsity here."

The tournament begins at 10 a.m., with the championship matches expected sometime in the late afternoon.

"More of the same. I can't expect everybody to win everything, so I'm just happy when I see what we're working on," Silvis said. "We don't know these kids. We're learning how to coach them, how to motivate them, all of those little things that you take for granted that we've never really had to do before."

Junior Varsity

Four ACHS junior varsity wrestlers got their first taste of action this season.

Sophomore Matt McDonald wrestled in two matches, losing by pin at 140 pounds before the varsity took the mat, then coming back to gain a pin at 145 after the varsity action.

Freshman Paul Mendez earned a pin at 112, opening the meet with a 21-second pin of Andrew Colson.

Sophomore Keaton Barclay needed just 37 seconds to pin Matt DeLair at 145.

Junior Colby Jackson was pinned in his 140-pound match.

Arkansas City 38, McPherson 36
103 - Tim Prescott (M) won forfeit.
112 - Colby Watters (AC) pin Seth Moyer (M), 1:26.
119 - Garrett Jones (AC) major dec. Travis Barry (M), 9-1.
125 - Cole Luttig (M) dec. Trevor Dice (AC), 8-2.
130 - Kash Biddle (AC) pin Chris Lewis (M), 0:39.
135 - Sterling Terry (AC) pin Zach VanDorn (M), 1:15.
140 - Seth Capps (AC) pin Max Archer (M), 2:22.
145 - Tyler Davis (M) dec. Michael Martin (AC), 9-7.
152 - Bryce Marr (AC) pin Chase Fantune (M), 4:29.
160 - Joe Descartes (AC) major dec. Jordan Sponsel (M), 9-1.
171 - Brandon Barrig (M) won forfeit.
189 - Zach Lanning (M) pin Zach Noah (AC), 0:59.
215 - Jake Puhalla (M) pin Victor Ibarra (AC), 4:19.
285 - Zach Peterson (M) pin Codi Larmer (AC), 0:37.

Junior Varsity
112 - Paul Mendez (AC) pin Andrew Colson (M), 0:21.
140 - Matt Anderson (M) pin Matt McDonald (AC), 1:08.
145 - Keaton Barclay (AC) pin Matt DeLair (M), 0:37.
140 - Matt Anderson (M) pin Colby Jackson (AC), 1:25.
145 - Matt McDonald (AC) pin Matt DeLair (M), 1:28.

MHS matmen edged, 38-36

By Staff reports
The McPherson Sentinel
Fri Dec 05, 2008, 10:38 AM CST

Arkansas City, Kan. -
McPherson High’s wrestling team waited too long to kick it into gear Thursday in its season opener.

The Bullpups trailed Arkansas City 38-12 before finishing with a flourish to lose by two, 38-36.

“We just had too much inexperience,” said MHS coach Rich Settle, whose lineup was freshman-dominated. “We basically wrestled seven freshmen. But no excuses. We didn’t have enough in the tank. Our older kids, though, took care of business.”

The Bullpups wrestled without state returnee Bart Hageman and Dylan Barrow, both out with injuries.

MHS was down big before Zach Lanning, Jake Puhalla and Zach Peterson all scored falls to make the score close.

Timothy Prescott and Brandon Barry won by forfeits, and Cole Luttig and Tyler Davis won by a decision.

MHS has a JV meet here Saturday starting at 9 a.m., with the varsity’s next action at home Thursday against Campus.

MHS Results:
103 -- Tim Prescott won by forfeit.
112 -- Seth Moyer lost by a fall.
119 -- Travis Barry lost 9-1.
125 -- Cole Luttig won 8-2.
130 -- Chris Lewis lost by a fall.
135 -- Zach VanDorn lost by a fall.
140 -- Max Archer lost by a fall.
145 -- Tyler Davis won 9-7.
152 -- Chase Fortune lost by a fall.
160 -- Jordan Sponsel lost 9-1.
171 -- Brandon Barry won by forfeit.
189 -- Zach Lanning won by a fall.
215 -- Jake Puhalla won by a fall.
HWT -- Zach Peterson won by a fall.
JV
112 -- Andrew Colson lost by a fall.
145 -- Matt Anderson won by two falls.
145 -- Matt DeLair lost by two falls.