By Riley Bean
rbean@ky3.com
Bolivar, MO – The Tigers came into Bolivar’s gym and picked up a couple of dual victories against Parkview and Bolivar on Tuesday evening.
Ozark benefited from being the only team in this triangular with a complete varsity roster for every weight position. Similarly, Parkview struggled to find team points seeing as they had seven open weight positions. Ozark recorded the sweep regardless, beating Bolivar 46-25 and beating Parkview 70-9.
“They’re getting better at their technique,” Ozark coach Sean Kellis said of his team. “I think we still need to fight harder through tough positions… We’re going to have some adjustments to our weights down low here in a little bit. But I’m proud of them for fighting. Our upper weights are performing like they need to perform. I’m pretty happy with it.”
A pair of brothers impressed for the Tigers on Tuesday. Nicky Gladkov (160 pounds) and Stephen Gladkov (220 pounds) both won each of their matches. Nicky defeated Bolivar’s Sean Barnard and Parkview’s Reese Hill both by fall. Stephen defeated Bolivar’s Spencer Lipe by fall and was open against Parkview.
“Nicky Gladkov, our new name for him is the Russian Hammer,” said Kellis. “I think he’s like 10-1 and his only loss is to a really good guy. He’s already beaten state places from last year, so he’s doing really well. His older brother is at 220. He weighs in at like 191. He’s just a senior that couldn’t find a spot, so he went up to 220 and we found him a spot. He’s over .500 and he’s doing well and helping us win duals.”
Brett Kissinger (152 pounds) also won both of his matches for Ozark on Tuesday. He pinned Bolivar’s Hayden Burks in the second period and beat Parkview’s Loren Hall 10-1.
“Brett, he’s a first-year varsity kid,” Kellis said. “He’s only wrestled for two or three years and he’s pinning people at the varsity level, so it’s fun to see. He works hard every day and he learns really well.”
Bolivar had five wrestlers win two matches on their home mat. Granite Cunningham (106 pounds), Luke Moffett (120 pounds), Zack Sokolik (126 pounds), Jacob Matlock (132 pounds) and Chase Hampton (145 pounds) each swept their competition in their respective weight class. In addition, Clayton Chappell (170 pounds) defeated his Ozark opponent while Parkview was open at 170.
Parkview sophomore Kenyon Keiber was a bright spot for the Vikings at 145 pounds. He defeated Ozark’s Cooper St. John with an impressive win by fall.
But even Keiber couldn’t best Bolivar’s Chase Hampton, who beat one of Parkview’s best wrestlers with a convincing 14-9 decision.
“Chase Hampton is so explosive,” said Bolivar coach Glen Johnson. “He’s a huge contributor for us in football and you just see the tackling ability and the things that he has and that he brings to the table on the wrestling mat. He’s not used to wrestling three periods because he’s typically pinning people in the first or the second. Tonight was a great opportunity for him to go three periods and feel what that’s like against a good Parkview kid.”
“I think [Keiber] got to wrestle a pretty good kid and another kid that I call a top-level wrestler,” Parkview coach Willy Ressel said of Hampton. “He got a chance to wrestle somebody that he doesn’t get to very often. That’s something that we’ve talked to him about, working high-percentage moves, working on take downs that work against state champions, because we want to be a state champion… He’s learning. He’s won some great matches and some tough battles, but it’s that next level of that top-tier wrestler that we’re working to beat… I’m very excited for his growth.”
Parkview is facing adversity with their depleted roster due to injuries and other ineligible wrestlers. Coach Ressel says he is optimistic that they’ll be able to fully round out their roster heading into the beginning of the new year.
“I told them in the locker room that we are fighting to be the toughest people at Parkview High School and the toughest team in Springfield, Missouri,” Ressel said. “I think we’re fighting for that title. We did, I saw a lot of guys fighting in some positions, getting off their back, working for the takedown and the grind. So I think that’s definitely something that we’re going to build off of.
“If every day we can get better, we will have succeeded,” Ressel continued. “I think we are doing a pretty good job of that. I can see some growth in everybody. We just need to keep that in to December and in to January and getting us ready for districts.”
As for Ozark, they’ll build upon these dual victories and go back to work to prepare for the end of the season as well.
“The main thing is going to be to crisp up our technique and get to solid position,” Kellis said. “Don’t put yourself out of position because when you put yourself out of position, you are already behind. So we’ve got to set up our shots, we gotta get to better position, and control the pace of the match. Don’t let someone else control our pace.”
