SportsJanuary 24, 2016
Jackson wrestling falls short of fourth straight SEMO Conference Tournament title
There's a reason nobody has ever won four consecutive SEMO Conference Wrestling Tournament team titles -- it's hard. And there's a reason why Farmington is ranked among the best teams in the state -- it's good. Both hurdles turned out to be too much to overcome as Jackson failed in its bid to win a fourth straight team championship, finishing as runner-up, six and a half points back of Farmington, 363-356.5, in the SEMO Conference Wrestling Tournament Saturday at Cape Central High School...
There's a reason nobody has ever won four consecutive SEMO Conference Wrestling Tournament team titles -- it's hard. And there's a reason why Farmington is ranked among the best teams in the state -- it's good.
Both hurdles turned out to be too much to overcome as Jackson failed in its bid to win a fourth straight team championship, finishing as runner-up, six and a half points back of Farmington, 363-356.5, in the SEMO Conference Wrestling Tournament Saturday at Cape Central High School.
Hope remained for the Indians even into the day's final few matches -- they entered the final round trailing the Knights 353-346.5 and even took a half-point lead with two matches to go -- but the eventual winners just had just enough to prevent history from being made.
Host Cape Central finished ninth out of 12 teams with 86 points, while Notre Dame rounded out the pack with 40 points.
Jackson went 3-2 head-to-head against Farmington, but 1-2 in championship bouts.
"[The] only disappointment is in saying you didn't win four in a row," Jackson coach Steve Wachter said. "We told our team no one has ever one four in a row.
"I'm not disappointed in our effort -- we had great effort today. Our goal was to be courageous today. To battle and go the distance and be courageous. We did that today. But Farmington is an outstanding team. They're ranked second in the state in 3A and coach [John] Krause is a great coach and they just do a great job. I'm proud of our effort, but sometimes you battle against teams that are pretty good too."
The Indians still produced four individual conference tournament champions, led by 182-pounder Carson McCord, who clinched his third straight conference title. He was joined by teammates Jake Byrd at 126 pounds, Payne Guilliams at 138 and Zach Norrick at 195.
"I was really proud of all them," Wachter said. "Carson McCord's performance today was tremendous. That weight class has four All-State kids in it and that was really a great performance by him today. Those kids he went against are outstanding wrestlers.
"I liked the way Jake Byrd attacked his last match and you can't take nothing away from Zack Norrick and how he handled things and Payne Guilliams, all of them being champions."
McCord (30-3) was honored as the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler after not only surviving his 182-pound gauntlet, but also winning one of the most exciting final matches of the day. Facing Sikeston's Josh Stinnett (40-4), the bout was mostly a stalemate, going scoreless through the first period before Stinnett went up 1-0 on a second-period escape and McCord matched that in the third period to force overtime tied at 1-1. The opening two minutes of overtime again produced nothing, but Stinnett was able to again escape in the first 30-second extra period to go up 2-1. That held into the second 30 seconds, and McCord found himself facing a one-point deficit with just 1 second on the clock.
A whistle sent McCord to the bottom of the referee's position for a restart, and when Stinnett engaged him, the Indian wrestler exploded away for a match-tying escape that forced an ultimate tiebreaker period. McCord then hung on for dear life and rode Stinnett to the end to secure his individual championship.
"Honestly, it was just instinct that I had to get out fast. I got lucky that he didn't catch my feet," McCord said of the escape.
"I've never been more scared in my life. I love Stinnett -- he's like a brother to me -- and he's an outstanding wrestler. I'm just shocked that I won."
McCord was then able to look on as Norrick (23-6) won his overtime duel with Kennett's Britt Harris (23-1). The two wrestler's were knotted at 1 late in the third period when Norrick appeared to have won the match with a takedown at the buzzer. But the official ruled it did not occur in time, and the bout went to overtime. Norrick latched on near the edge of the circle and Harris tried to pull the pair out and force a restart, but Norrick held firm, didn't allow Harris to budge and took him to the mat for two points and a 3-1 decision.
The first Indian to celebrate was Byrd (36-2), who took down Ste. Genevieve's Wade Dickens (30-8) at 126. Byrd took a 4-0 advantage after two periods, and then extended that to 6-0 with a reversal early in the third. As the period drug on the Indian standout pulled out to a 12-2 lead before pinning Dickens at 5:50 for the title.
Guilliams followed shortly thereafter, earning an 8-3 decision over Farmington's Dylan Allen at 138 pounds. Guilliams (18-2) opened a 4-1 advantage after one period, and although Allen (23-10) escaped in the second to draw within two points, it was as close as things got, with Guilliams scoring four more points in the final period.
Finishing as runners-up for Jackson were Riley Mansker (106), Hunter Clardy (113), Gus Guilliams (120) and Gabe Dudley (152). Bryce Dickerson finished third in the 220-pound weight class and Micah Collier matched that at 145.
"Honestly, this is probably the best I've seen some of our kids wrestle," McCord said. "... I've never been prouder."
Dudley (24-6) had a title ripped out of his grasp after nearly pinning Farmington's William Seibert (39-5) in the second period. He did not, and instead a 5-1 advantage vanished in the blink of an eye, as a reversal by Seibert led to a near fall and suddenly the Knight took a 6-5 advantage. He added a takedown in the third to secure an 8-5 decision.
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Cape Central's top finisher was heavyweight Patrick Buck (25-11), who matched his third-place result at the Tiger Classic earlier this season with another third-place finish, defeating Ste. Genevieve's Kade Jett (22-17) with a 5-2 decision to earn the result.
Buck fell into the consolation bracket after being pinned by Farmington's Devin Savage -- the state's top-ranked heavyweight in Class 3 and eventual tournament champion -- in the second round before defeating Jackson's Owen Leible in a consolation semifinal.
In the third-place bout, Buck suffered a setback just about a minute and a half in, when a failed suplex attempt led to Jett landing directly on the Tiger wrestler's chest. After fighting off the shock, Buck continued, but fell into a 1-0 hole after the first period. Buck matched that with an escape early in the third, and Jett then suffered a physical setback of his own after colliding with the gymnasium wall. He, too, continued, and with 28 seconds remaining in the third period Buck was able to squeeze Jett around the chest and sweep out his leg for the go-ahead takedown. He added a reversal in the waning seconds and took a 5-2 decision to clinch third.
"At first I thought I had cracked my ribs, but I finished the match. I'm glad it wasn't that, but I probably would have finished the match anyway," Buck said.
"At that point [after the takedown in the third] it was just ride him out and win. I was like, 'Just stay where you are and you'll be all right.' The first thing I did was look straight up and say thank you, because I wanted to thank God for what had happened."
Notre Dame's top finisher was Bruce Ha (18-6) at 145 pounds, as the Bulldog won a highly entertaining fifth-place bout with a 13-6 decision over Cape Central's Dean Scheller.
Jackson may not have won a fourth straight tournament title, but it did put forth a performance it hopes benefits it in big events later in the season.
"The competition level here in some weight classes, especially in the finals, was outstanding," Wachter said. "Hopefully that will carry over a little for us into next week at Francis Howell, which will be unbelievably good. And also, there might be a carryover into the state championships. At least, that's what we're hoping to get from it."
Team scores -- 1. Farmington (FA) 363, 2. Jackson (JA) 356.5, 3. Sikeston (SI) 260, 4. Ste. Genevieve (SG) 249.5, 5. Poplar Bluff (PB) 241, 6. Dexter (DX) 161.5, 7. Windsor (WI) 152, 8. Kennett (KE) 92, 9. Cape Central (CC) 86, 10. New Madrid (NM) 80.5, 11. North County (NC) 69, 12. Notre Dame (ND) 40.
Championship Results
106 -- Nathan Geisner (SG) dec. Riley Mansker (J) 5-3
113 -- Bradley Harman (F) maj. dec. Hunter Clardy (J) 15-4
120 -- Wesley Dickens (SG) dec. Gus Guilliams (J) 3-2
126 -- Jake Byrd (J) pin Wade Dickens (SG) 5:50
132 -- Garrett Middleton (S) pin Ross Felker (F) 2:00
138 -- Payne Guilliams (J) dec. Dylan Allen (F) 8-3
145 -- Jacob Warren (W) dec. Cameron Haines (F) 5-4 OT
152 -- William Seibert (F) dec. Gabe Dudley (J) 8-5
160 -- Storm Massey (D) dec. Austin Brewer (SG) 8-5
170 -- Collin Huitt (F) dec. Ryan Yarnell (W) 3-2
182 -- Carson McCord (J) dec. Josh Stinnett (S) UTB 2-2
195 -- Zach Norrick (J) dec. Britt Harris (K) 3-1 OT
220 -- Mitchell Garner (S) dec. Jared Nickelson (F) 3-1 OT
HWT -- Devin Savage (F) pin Josh Lewis (PB) 4:12
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