Mustangs have 6 medalists in 11-team Wildcat Invite Jan. 17, led by Hinrichs’gold medal run
A busy week of action for the Sutton wrestling team began with their annual trip to Superior High School for action in the 11-team Wildcat Invite, Friday, Jan. 17.
Sutton finished third overall as a team with 141 total points. Pierce claimed team gold with 248.5 points, while Southern edged out the Mustangs for second, scoring 143.5 team points.
In all, the Mustangs came away with six total medals, led by Connor Hinrichs’ gold medal run in the 138-pound weight class.
Hinrichs ran his record to 26-3 with four wins, opening his day with a 14-second pin over Alexander Kelsay of Southern. In the quarterfinals, Hinrichs gained a four-minute tech fall win over Gunner Nichols of Smith Center, KS, while in the semifinals, Hinrichs earned a 10-0 major decision win over Blaze Barleen of Southern.
In the title match, Hinrichs gained a hard-fought 5-0 win over Logan Topp of Johnson County Central. Hinrichs scored 26.5 team points for the Mustangs.
A pair of runner-up finishes went to Brody Schelkopf and Griffin Bergen during the meet.
Schelkopf’s run in the 165-pound class opened with a 47-second pin over Grayhm Beck of Lawrence-Nelson, followed by a 3:44 pinfall win over Tyree Alexander of Republic County, KS.
In the title match, Schelkopf was upended 12-5 by Peyton Kruntorad of Pierce to place second and score 22 team points while running his season record to 17-9.
Bergen’s run in the 175-pound weight class opened with three straight victories. He pinned Kyler Nelson of Republic County in 53-seconds, then pinned Christian Osweiler of Superior in 57-seconds before claiming a semifinal-round win over Fackson Fischer of Pierce, by way of a 13-3 major decision.
In the finals, however, Bergen fell to JD Adam (31-1) of Meridian, falling 13-5. Bergen tallied 23 team points, while pushing his season record to an impressive 23-3.
Senior Billy Marshall scored 19.5 team points while placing third overall in the 215-pound weight class. Marshall opened with a 15-second pinfall win over Peyton Arner of Fairbury, before falling into the consolation bracket with a 5:56 pinfall loss to Dominick Kattenberg of Smith Center.
In the consolation bracket, however, Marshall rallied, beginging with a 41-second pin over teammate Cord Pope, before gaining a 2:40 tech fall win over Arner of Fairbury to place third. His 3-1 run during the meet moved Marshall’s season record to 18-6.
Airan Hernandez and Aaron Sanchez both posted fourth-place finishes in Superior.
Hernandez’ s efforts in the 144-pound class gained him 16 team points with two wins in four matches. He opened with a 1:50 pin over Conner Gerking of Johnson County Central before Cole DeBoer of Pierce gained a 4:18 tech fall win over Hernandez.
In the consolation semifinals, Hernandez pinned Matthew Collette of Republic County in just 41 seconds, before falling 11-8 in the consolation finals to Joe Kerrigan of Superior. Hernandez’s record moved to 12-9 at the end of the meet.
For Sanchez in the 285-pound weight class, he too won two of four matches, opening with a 2:17 pinfall win over GuyDale Jones of Fairbury. In the semifinals, Kharson Montgomery of Smith Center gained a 1:52 pin over Sanchez before the Mustangs’ big man bounced back with a 3:44 pinfall win over Bradley Tobias of Republic County.
In the battle for third place, Sanchez went 4-0 to Boston Krueger of Pierce. Sanchez scored 14 team points and improved to 18-9 on the year.
Falling short of medal contention for Sutton was Pope in the 215-pound class. Pope was 1-2 on the day with his win being a 1:35 pin over Jesus Hurtado of Johnson County Central.
Shawn Westmoreland was 2-2 on the day in the 138-pound weight class with wins coming over Alexander Kelsay of Southern in just 25 seconds, and over Baiden Neuhalfen of Pierce by a 12-7 score.
Javin Jordan added 13 team points to the Mustangs’ total, but fell short of medal contention while winning two of four matches. Jordan opened with a 2:25 pinfall win over Jonathan Rios of the Hastings High JV squad. Jordan then gained another win over Rios while wrapping up his day with a 2:01 pinfall win.
Brian Liberato claimed one win in four matches to score seven team points in the 190-pound weight class.
Liberato’s win was a 1:29 pinfall win over teammate Canon Peterson.
Peterson fell short of a win in Superior, as did Carson Shore in the 157-pound weight class.
TEAM SCORES- Pierce 248.5, Southern 143.5, Sutton 141, Johnson County Central 129, Smith Center, KS 121, Superior 104, Republic County, KS 101.5, Meridian 89.5, Fairbury 62, Harvard 38.5, Lawrence-Nelson 4.
