Seneca wrestlers win Big 8 Tournament
Jan. 24—REEDS SPRING, Mo. — The Seneca wrestling team crowned four individual champions en route to a first-place team finish at the Big 8 Conference Tournament on Friday at Reeds Spring High School.
The Indians finished with 398 team points and were followed by runner-up Marshfield (370.5), third-place McDonald County (268), fourth-place Reeds Spring (230) and fifth-place Rogersville (184).
Nevada (164) placed sixth, while Monett (147), Cassville (128), Hollister (77) and Aurora (10) rounded out the team results.
Picking up individual titles for Seneca were Keatin Burleson, Brady Roark, Andrew Manley and Gabriel Commons.
Burleson, competing at the 113-pound weight class, went 3-0 on the day with three falls. He picked up a third-period fall over Kurt Deaver of Cassville in the finals to improve to 16-4 on the season.
Roark moved to 27-0 with two falls at 120, including a first-period fall over Trenton Sanders of Hollister in the finals.
At 130, Manley capped a 4-0 day — all falls — with a pin in the second period over Marcus Gritts of Marshfield in his championship bout. he improved to 30-2 on the year.
Commons picked up Seneca's final title at 170 with an 11-2 major decision over Evan Wilson of Reeds Spring. He also had three falls earlier in the day as he improved to 24-1.
The Indians had two other finalists in Brayden Thiel (132) and Dane Napier (182). Thiel finished 2-1 after falling 16-7 to Akhilleus Arguelles of Cassville in the finals, and Napier finished 3-1 after suffering a 9-3 setback to Dusty Stevens of Marshfield.
Caden Thompson (106), Jeremy Williams (152) and Nash Crane (195) each placed third for Seneca, while Jesse Bantock (126), Nolan Napier (145) and Nick Stephens (220) each placed fourth.
McDonald County had three individual champions in Blaine Ortiz (126), Levi Smith (152) and Samuel Murphy (220).
Ortiz, improving to 33-5 on the season, punctuated a 3-0 day with a second-period fall over Tommy Mynatt of Marshfield in the finals. Smith moved to 34-7 after picking up a 5-2 championship win over Beau Thompson of Rogersville, and Murphy moved to 36-1 with an 11-5 win in the finals over Erik Tomanek of Marshfield.
Kenneth Johnson led Nevada with a second-place finish at 195. He earned a fall over Huxley Wardlaw of McDonald County before getting pinned by Ben Wirtel of Marshfield in the finals.
Monett was competing with just five wrestlers but still claimed two individual titles. Simon Hartline (106) went 2-0 with two falls — including a first-period pin against Shane Pearson of Reeds Spring in the finals — and Harrison Merriman went 3-0 in the tourney after clinching a 6-3 decision over Eben Crain of Reeds Spring.
For Cassville, Arguelles was the team's lone champion while Deaver and Jake Anthonysz (160) both placed second.
