Neosho wrestling claims COC title

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By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

JOPLIN, Mo. – Another year, another COC wrestling championship for Neosho.

Four different Wildcats earned first-place finishes and Neosho flashed across-the-board depth in a dominant effort Saturday in the Central Ozark Conference tournament at Joplin.

Neosho outscored second-place Willard by 97 points, but head coach Jeremy Phillips said he’d be lying if he said he was pleased with everything he saw.

“I was happy with the way we wrestled,” he said. “I want to win them all. That’s unrealistic but every time we step on the mat our goal is not to lose so yeah there’s some matches I want to see my kids change outcomes before the season’s over because we’ll have a shot at some of these guys again at district and maybe state even. We got some of those today as well. We’re moving in the right direction. We’ve got to stay hungry and stay healthy.”

Kolton Sanders (38-7) placed first at 132 pounds, Cayden Auch (44-2) won at 152, Drayke Perry (42-3) won at 220 and Zane Persinger (41-6) won at 285.

Winning wasn’t a new experience for Sanders, Perry and Auch. Sanders is now a two-time COC champion at 132 pounds. Auch and Perry are now three-time COC champions.

“It’s just like winning another tournament,” Auch said.

“I don’t ever like to put it in cruise control. I like to go out and push myself so I go ahead and get a few takedowns and then I’ll go and get the fall so that’s what I did. I got a few takedowns and then got the pins.”

A two-time state champion, he pinned his first three opponents on Saturday and added two technical falls.

“We train really hard,” Auch said. “We go really hard and our coach prepares us really well. Coach Phillips is an outstanding coach and he’s really the reason we’re here.”

Several others earned medals for the Wildcats. Raymond Hembree was third at 106, Landon Kivett was third at 113, Eli Zar was second at 126, Jeremiah Larson was second at 182 and Caleb Elliott took third at 195.

Phillips, who doesn’t like to single out individual performances, did note that one Neosho wrestler beat two different opponents he’d previously lost to and another won in the finals against an opponent he was 0-2 against.

“Anybody who’s winning this tournament for the third time, that’s a highlight,” he added. “Ultimately it’s not about our individuals but how the individuals perform for the team. We try to focus on that and we’re not just out there getting wins but we’re getting pins and that’s bonus points, that’s for the team.”

Willard finishes 2nd for second-straight year

For most of the medal matches Saturday Willard sat in third place on the scoreboard, behind Nixa. But by the time Jed Brandon (33-2) won the 195-pound title, the Wildcats had leapfrogged the Eagles.

Brandon’s first-place finish was the only one of the day for Willard, though Timothy Stevens placed second at 132, Ryder Heimbach placed second at 145 and Carson Gehring took third at 285.

Brandon is now a two-time COC champion after winning at 170 pounds last season. He beat Carl Junction’s Jesse Cassatt 5-3 in the finals; Cassatt is now 27-2 with both losses to Brandon.

As for Nixa, the Eagles got off to a great start in the lower weights. Zan Fugitt (38-4) won the title at 106 pounds, Peyton Moore (39-3) took first at 113 and Deagan Fugitt (29-9) placed first at 120 after winning at 113 a year ago. The Eagles had two other medalists: Gage Sporleder was third at 152 and John Gholson was second at 220.

Ozark was third in the standings and had two champions. Braxton Strick (39-6) took first at 126 and Clayton Moison was first at 138. Elijah Maskrod took third at 132, Riley Suindlie was second at 152, Kale Conway was third at 160 and Ryan Dotson was third at 170.

Carthage’s Kelten Campbell (32-4) led the Tigers with a second-place finish at 160 pounds. Tanner Russow was third at 120, Davion King was third at 138 and Anderson Ixcol was third at 145.

Republic had two winners. Jonathan O’Connell (43-0) had an impressive outing with four pins and an 18-3 technical fall while taking first at 145 pounds. Connor Sandridge (35-7) won at 160 pounds with four falls and a 4-2 decision. Wyatt George placed second at 106 pounds.

Webb City sent three wrestlers to the finals but couldn’t win a first-place match. Kyler Carter took second at 120, Brantley Carter was second at 138 and Roger Carranco was second at 170. Josh Copher placed third at 126.

The host Eagles didn’t have much to watch by the time the medal round started. Joplin did have three fifth-place finishers but Brayden Thomas was the highlight at 182 pounds where he placed third and finished with a 13-1 major decision.

Carl Junction sends two undefeated wrestlers to finals

Carl Junction entered Saturday with two undefeated wrestlers and one managed to keep his streak alive.

Jackson White improved to 37-0 while winning at 182 pounds with four falls and a 6-4 decision. At heavyweight, Micah Lieberman advanced to the finals but lost to Neosho’s Zane Persinger by fall in 2:25, snapping Lieberman’s unbeaten record. He’s now 33-1.

Lieberman, a senior, was wrestling in the COC tournament for the first time in his career.

“Just everything’s clicked this year,” he said. “With football, it’s just maturing and I’m still 17 so I still have a lot of room to improve. It’s been a learning experience along the way. I’m glad I had a little reality check right there to bring me back down to where I belong.”

Lieberman has never been to state either, and he said Saturday’s showing will give him some more motivation heading into districts.

“I’d rather lose now than in districts,” he said.

Branson’s Petruccelli gets revenge in finals

The championship bout of the day had to be the 170-pound matchup between Branson’s Max Petruccelli and Webb City’s Roger Carranco.

Carranco (28-9) won the COC championship at 160 last year and beat Petruccelli 7-2 in a pool match earlier Saturday. But it was a different match in the finals.

Petruccelli (29-8) trailed 2-1 but rallied to tie it at 3 and force a tiebreaker. He went on to win 5-4.

“It feels really good,” Petruccelli said. “I didn’t start wrestling until my freshman year. This is the first tournament I’ve ever won. I put in a lot of work. My buddy Caden Lorenz always pushes me in practice and helps me. I cut down from 182 to make 170 and it paid off.”

He said he was more aggressive the second time he faced Carranco.

“It was tough,” he said. “l was down by one and it was my turn. I was on bottom and then I flipped over, grabbed his leg and pulled it up and it was a questionable call, could have gone either way, but the refs called it in my favor.”

He was the Pirates’ lone champion on Saturday. Kyshin Isringhausen took second at 113 pounds and Christian Berumen was third at 220.

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