Kansas Wrestling (all images via cloudtbirds.com)
Posted: Feb 02, 2021
CONCORDIA, Kan. – Rolling to four straight match victories to open the day, the number-20 ranked Cloud County Community College wrestling team picked up a 34-21 home win over number 17-ranked Labette Community College before pushing number-11 Northwest Kansas Tech to the limit in a 28-19 loss to split a home double-dual inside of Arley Bryant Gymnasium on Tuesday, February 2nd.
Cloud County now sits at 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference with all three dual victories coming over nationally-ranked opponents. Labette would drop a pair of duals on Tuesday after falling 36-9 to Northwest Tech in the opening dual of the day while the Mavericks won both of their duals that they competed in.
Against Labette:
Cloud County would open the dual with the Cardinals spotting six points on an open weight class at 125 pounds before seeing the T-Birds get a second-period fall from Toby Gavette. The Eaton, Colorado native would get a takedown and three near-falls to score a 12-0 lead after three minutes of wrestling and then take advantage of being on top position to start the second and end things just over a minute into the period to give CCCC a 12-0 lead heading into the 141-pound match. Michael Barfuss would score a takedown on Dylan Priddy before finding his way to a fall at the 2:53 mark in his match before seeing sophomore Joel Ostrom making quick work of Alex Young by earning a fall at the 1:25 mark of the first period.
Labette would then manage to get on the scoreboard with number-two ranked Cade Wathke getting a fall over Kase Givens at 157 pounds before seeing the T-Birds fire back with Cooper Mosier at 165 pounds. Mosier would control his match from start to finish, giving up three escapes and one reversal while taking down Jonathan Vincent on six different occasions and earning a four-point near fall as part of a 17-5 major decision. The Cardinals would then go on to win each of the next two matches with Dakota Garrison falling at 174 pounds by fall and Brian Paxton losing a 12-10 sudden victory overtime heartbreaker at 184 pounds after being up 9-5 going to the third period to make the score 28-13 heading into the final two matches. Zach Ferris would close things off with a first-period fall over Christian Brinkley at 197 pounds as the T-Birds would then have an open weight class at heavyweight to put the final score at 34-21.
Against NW Tech:
Action would get underway at the 165-pound weight class in the nightcap as CCCC would jump out to an early lead thanks in part to a second-period fall from Mosier over Trevion Harley. Nationally-ranked Jacobi Deal at 174 pounds and Jacari Deal at 184 pounds would then earn back-to-back falls for the Mavericks to put Northwest Kansas Tech on top 12-6 after three matches before seeing Ferris work his way to a 9-2 decision victory at 197 pounds to remain undefeated on the year and pull the T-Birds within three at 12-9. A major decision by Thomas Orr in the 285-pound match would give Cloud County the lead at 13-12 as things would flip back over to the 125-pound class where Connors would battle throughout against Skyler Hunt before giving up a late third-period takedown that would lead to a fall at the 6:13 mark.
With Northwest Kansas Tech leading 18-13, the Mavericks would add to their lead in each of the next two matches with Gavette dropping an 11-5 decision at 133 pounds and Barfuss falling to nationally ranked Chinzorig Tsermaa by a score of 22-8 as the T-Birds would be put in a position where they needed falls in each of the final two matches. Jonny Crome would deliver in the 149-pound match, turning an early takedown into a fall just 1:39 into his only match of the day to bring CCCC back within six at 25-19 with the 157-pound weight class deciding the outcome of the dual. Ostrom would be tasked with taking on nationally-ranked and returning national qualifier Chinges Tsermaa in the final match, with Tsermaa building an early 4-2 lead after one period and managing to fend off a late rally for a 6-4 decision that would give the Mavericks the dual win.
What’s Next?
Cloud County will have the rest of the week off before getting back to action next Tuesday, February 9th when they play host to number-five ranked Cowley Community College in dual action at 7 p.m. The Tigers feature nationally-ranked wrestlers in six of 10 weight classes and are 4-0 after defeating Colby 51-3 and Neosho 30-15 in double-dual action on Tuesday night.
