Panther’s Chad Willard Places at Kaufman-Brand Open
By Trent Schell
Sophomore grappler Chad Willard brought a medal back to the campus of Neosho County Community College this weekend. Willard placed fourth in the twenty and under division of the Kaufman-Brand Open. The tournament, which exhibits such power-house teams as Iowa, Oklahoma State, and Minnesota, was a tough proving ground for Willard. The six hundred competitors enrolled in this year’s event, made it the largest turnout ever. With thirty five competitors in the 133 pound bracket, Willard started the day with a long road to hoe.
In his first match Chad faced off against Indiana’s Noland Plum. Starting the day off right, Willard pinned Plum in the third period. Willard’s next victim was Minnesota’s Willy Holst. The final score was 10-6 in favor of Willard. In the quarter-finals, Willard disposed of Labette’s David Bossardet in a dominating fashion, beating him 11-4.
His first loss of the day came from Todd Meneely of the University of Iowa in the semifinals. Meneely, a 4x state champ from Nebraska defeated Willard 9-4. Meneely wrestled for Omaha Skutt in high school, and was wrestling in front of his hometown crowd.
Out the backdoor, Willard met Luther College’s Mike Lopez. Willard won the match 8-3. In the consolation finals, Willard wrestled Quincy Osborne of the University of Minnesota. In a close battled Willard lost 3-1, placing fourth in the tournament. When asked his thoughts on the day Chad Willard commented, “I expected to wrestle well, but I did not know how well I would do against the high level of competition. I was happy with the way things turned out.”
In related news, former Panther Patrick Williams (149) also placed in the Kaufman-Brand Open. Williams, who is know wrestling for Arizona State, competed in the highly regarded open division, was on a role before falling to Oklahoma State’s Jerrod Sanders 3-1. Sanders scored a takedown with literally one second remaining in the third period, in this nail-biter.
Up next for the Panthers will be the University of Minnesota-Morris Open in Morris, MN. On December 7th. The Panthers have traveled to the University of Northern Iowa Open in the past, but have decided to make a schedule change to see some different competition before heading into the Christmas break.