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Boonville junior wrestler Kyle Cook knew if he played all of his cards right, the championship was there for the taking during the Class 2 District 3 Tournament over the weekend at Clinton High School.
As the No. 1 seed entering the tournament at 38-2 overall, Cook advanced through the tournament with virtual ease by pinning St. Francis Borgia’s Gideon Semones in 1:27 in the first round, Marshall’s Berry Benedich in 54 seconds in the quarterfinals and Harrisonville’s Joe Schlechter in the semifinals in 2:27. Of course Cook also knew that Bolivar’s Gareth Behr, the No. 2 seed in the 220-pound weight class, would be a worthy opponent in the championship.
He was right. After battling back and forth with no score in the first period, Behr came back and picked up an escape and a takedown in the second period to go up 3-0. Meanwhile, in the third period, Behr scored three more points on a nearfall to make it 6-0 before giving up an escape in the closing seconds for a 6-1 victory.
While the loss dropped Cook to 41-3 on the season, head coach Christian Stock said giving up the first takedown in the second period put Kyle in a hole. “We had to be aggressive on our feet and look for a big move to make up the difference from the takedown and nearfall, and for some reason it just didn’t happen,” Stock said. “Kyle’s has had a good season but can’t be too happy with qualifying for state and must continue to wrestle well. He had a good tournament this weekend but just came up short in the finals.”
Cook, the only state qualifier for Boonville, will wrestle Thursday in the opening round of the Missouri State High School Wrestling Championships at Mizzou Arena in Columbia against Excelsior Springs’ Mark Ingraham, 13-12 overall. If Cook beats Ingraham in the opening round, he will face either Bennett Lewis of Westminster Christian Academy, 45-3, or Caravaughn Boyd of Sumner, 16-9.
In the final-team standings on Saturday, Odessa captured first in the tournament with 153.5 points. Harrisonville finished second with 144 points, followed by Bolivar in third place with 143, Seneca in fourth place with 139, Reeds Springs in fifth place with 113.5, Monett sixth with 106, Nevada seventh with 95, Logan-Rogersville eighth with 90, Pleasant Hill ninth with 82, Clinton 10th with 77, Boonville 11th with 55, Osage 12th with 42.5, Marshall 13th with 30, Buffalo 14th with 20 and St. Francis Borgia 15th with 9.
The Pirate wrestlers also had several wrestlers within one match of qualifying for state. Freshman Ben Rumbaoa, the No. 2 seed in the 138-pound weight class, drew a bye in the first round and then won by a major decision over Kyle Bennett of Nevada in the quarterfinal 19-6. Meanwhile, in the semifinals, Rumbaoa lost by a major decision against Josh Ryun of Clinton 12-2. Then, after dropping down to wrestlebacks, Rumbaoa lost his second match of the tournament against Harrisonville’s Tyler Wood by a score of 8-6 to finish the season at 23-14.
Boonville junior wrestler Kyle Cook knew if he played all of his cards right, the championship was there for the taking during the Class 2 District 3 Tournament over the weekend at Clinton High School.
As the No. 1 seed entering the tournament at 38-2 overall, Cook advanced through the tournament with virtual ease by pinning St. Francis Borgia’s Gideon Semones in 1:27 in the first round, Marshall’s Berry Benedich in 54 seconds in the quarterfinals and Harrisonville’s Joe Schlechter in the semifinals in 2:27. Of course Cook also knew that Bolivar’s Gareth Behr, the No. 2 seed in the 220-pound weight class, would be a worthy opponent in the championship.
He was right. After battling back and forth with no score in the first period, Behr came back and picked up an escape and a takedown in the second period to go up 3-0. Meanwhile, in the third period, Behr scored three more points on a nearfall to make it 6-0 before giving up an escape in the closing seconds for a 6-1 victory.
While the loss dropped Cook to 41-3 on the season, head coach Christian Stock said giving up the first takedown in the second period put Kyle in a hole. “We had to be aggressive on our feet and look for a big move to make up the difference from the takedown and nearfall, and for some reason it just didn’t happen,” Stock said. “Kyle’s has had a good season but can’t be too happy with qualifying for state and must continue to wrestle well. He had a good tournament this weekend but just came up short in the finals.”
Cook, the only state qualifier for Boonville, will wrestle Thursday in the opening round of the Missouri State High School Wrestling Championships at Mizzou Arena in Columbia against Excelsior Springs’ Mark Ingraham, 13-12 overall. If Cook beats Ingraham in the opening round, he will face either Bennett Lewis of Westminster Christian Academy, 45-3, or Caravaughn Boyd of Sumner, 16-9.
In the final-team standings on Saturday, Odessa captured first in the tournament with 153.5 points. Harrisonville finished second with 144 points, followed by Bolivar in third place with 143, Seneca in fourth place with 139, Reeds Springs in fifth place with 113.5, Monett sixth with 106, Nevada seventh with 95, Logan-Rogersville eighth with 90, Pleasant Hill ninth with 82, Clinton 10th with 77, Boonville 11th with 55, Osage 12th with 42.5, Marshall 13th with 30, Buffalo 14th with 20 and St. Francis Borgia 15th with 9.
The Pirate wrestlers also had several wrestlers within one match of qualifying for state. Freshman Ben Rumbaoa, the No. 2 seed in the 138-pound weight class, drew a bye in the first round and then won by a major decision over Kyle Bennett of Nevada in the quarterfinal 19-6. Meanwhile, in the semifinals, Rumbaoa lost by a major decision against Josh Ryun of Clinton 12-2. Then, after dropping down to wrestlebacks, Rumbaoa lost his second match of the tournament against Harrisonville’s Tyler Wood by a score of 8-6 to finish the season at 23-14.
Boonville junior Kelsey Callaway also came within one match of qualifying for state in the 170-pound weight class. While drawing the No. 6 seed in the tournament, Callaway also drew a bye in the opening round and then won 11-9 in the quarterfinals against Zach Kearney of Reeds Springs. Meanwhile, in the semifinals, Callaway lost by fall to Gabe Suthoff of Clinton in 51 seconds. Then, with a chance to move on to state in wrestlebacks, Callaway lost by fall against Bolivar’s Haryl Starkey in 3:47 to finish the season at 24-16.
In other weight classes, sophomore Jeff Ruffalo finished 2-2 in the tournament in the 106-pound weight class. While picking up a bye in the opening round, Ruffalo lost by pin in the next round against Chase Brennan of Monett in 1:28. Then, after picking up a forfeit in first-round wrestlebacks, Ruffalo dropped his second match by pin against Zach Curran of Osage in 42 seconds.
In the 113-pound weight class, senior Kristen Stevens finished 1-2 with a bye, a loss by fall against Will Roark of Seneca in 1:42 and David Barnett of Harrisonville in 1:46.
In the 120-pound weight class, junior Tanner Hulbert finished 2-2 in the tournament. After drawing a bye in the first round, Hulbert lost by fall against Odessa’s Jack Shull in 1:45. Meanwhile, in wrestlebacks, Hulbert picked up another bye and then picked up a fall against Trevor Konsevic of Osage in 4:14. However, in the next round, Hulbert lost by a fall against Clinton’s Waylon Anderson in 2:06.
Senior wrestler Josiah Searfoss also finished 2-2 in the tournament in the 126-pound weight class. After winning by a 5-3 decision over Bryan Beckwith of Monett in the opening round, Searfoss lost to Ty Cochran of Harrisonville by pin in 3:39 in the quarterfinal round. Then, after receiving a bye in first-round wrestlebacks, Searfoss dropped his second match of the tournament against Bradley Russell of Osage in 4:05.
Boonville sophomore Rory Concannon also had a great start in the 132-pound weight class by pinning Monett’s Jaron Beason in 1:45. Meanwhile, after losing by fall against Jake Bartow of Odessa in 4:29, Concannon came back and won by a fall in wrestlebacks against Clinton’s Mason Spackler in 2:14. Then, in his second wrestlebacks match, Concannon lost by a fall against Chantry Tilden of Reeds Springs in 2:15.
In the 145-pound weight class, sophomore Dylan Snapp won by a fall against Buffalo’s Cole Villines in 2:51. Meanwhile, after losing to Odessa’s Evan Young by pin in the next round in 1:28, Snapp dropped his second match against Harrisonville’s Anthony Franco in 2:14.
As for senior Jake Nelson, he had rough start in the 152-pound weight class by losing to Seneca’s Lucky Eads by fall in 1:18. Meanwhile, in the first-round wrestlebacks, Nelson lost by a fall against Dean Lockhart of St. Francis Borgia in 24 seconds.
In the 285-pound weight class, junior Brennan Hammers received a bye in the opening round and then lost by pin against Pleasant Hill’s Tully Byrne in the quarterfinals in 42 seconds. Then, after receiving a bye in the first-round wrestlebacks, Hammers won by pin against Clinton’s Jon Hoyes in 2:12. Meanwhile, in the third-round wrestlebacks, Hammers lost by pin against Ryan Cleous of Logan-Rogersville in 3:46.
Stock said for the most part Friday went as expected. “We never know all the wrestlers from the other schools so there is unknowns when looking at the brackets and making predictions,” Stock said. “Kelsey won against the wrestler from Reed Springs and that was one of the unknowns when we were looking at the brackets. We had three in the semis and seven in the wrestlebacks. Saturday was an up and down day for us. Realistically I thought that we had a chance to squeeze two or three wrestlers through to state. Kyle was the only one we got through. I thought there were a couple of matches that we let get away from us in the or or go home round. The one good thing about all of this is that we had six wrestlers who will return next year who are competing in their first ever district tournament.”
The North Central Missouri Conference will also be represented at the state tournament. With a total of 42 wrestlers moving on, Kirksville and Moberly will each send 11 wrestlers to state. Mexico and Hannibal each have seven wrestlers who qualified while Fulton will send four and Boonville and Marshall one each.
Opening round matches at state will be held on Thursday, Feb. 16th at Mizzou Arena in Columbia starting at 10 a.m.
