South wrestlers come out on fire
12/2/2011
By LARRY MORITZ Salina Journal
Tanner O'Donnell and his Salina South teammates had no intention of slowly easing their way into the 2011-12 season.
The Cougars wanted to be the aggressors in Thursday night's season opener against Salina Central at the South High gym. That became apparent early on in South's 66-7 victory over a less experienced Mustang squad.
"We were excited and ready to go," O'Donnell said. "We wanted to see what we were made of right now.
"Coach (Gary) Seibel tells us to be aggressive but to be calm, cool and collected about it."
South led 66-0 after the first 12 weights were completed. That included seven pins -- all in the first two periods -- and four forfeits when Central had open weights.
"Our first meet we just want to see where the guys are at right now," Seibel said. "We wanted them to come out aggressive and check their fundamentals, then get better from here."
Central was open in three of the first five weights, so after a first-period pin for South's Tyler Irwin at 113 pounds and Javier Vieyra's second-period pin at 120, the Cougars led 30-0.
South added to that lead when three of its younger wrestlers -- sophomores John McNabb (138 pounds) and Brycin Freeland (152), and freshman Cole Hoover (145) -- added to the team's pin total.
McNabb finished his opponent with three seconds remaining in the opening period. Freeland built a 5-1 lead after one period and then closed it out in the second, while Hoover wrapped things up only 62 seconds into his match.
"We had several kids that we got to see wrestle in a live match for the first time," Seibel said. "It's a whole different atmosphere between the practice room and wrestling in a live match, but we saw some good things."
O'Donnell, a state qualifier last season as a sophomore, and junior Mike Shirk both needed less than 40 seconds to pick up their first victory of the season, with O'Donnell's win at 195 pushing the lead to 66-0.
"I just wanted to start my season off right," O'Donnell said.
An 11-3 major decision at 220 pounds for junior Kade True got Central on the board. True led 2-0 to start the final period against South freshman Alex Parker, but a quick reversal, a stalling penalty and two back points stretched that lead to seven points.
Junior Zak Will had the only come-from-behind win of the night. Will trailed South's Grant Flemming 2-1 in their 285-pound match before turning Flemming on his back with 30 seconds remaining in the final period for a 4-2 decision.
"We've got a young group of kids who are very green but are working hard," said Central coach Lucas Packett, who had three varsity wrestlers miss Thursday's opener. "Kade and Zak came through at the end for us. Those kids realize that even though we were down like we were, there are still opportunities to win matches."
Central's open weights led to forfeit wins for South's Randall Bates (106 pounds), Brandon Jost (126), Blaise Albers (132) and Brady Munsch (182). Both teams were open at 160.