Jim Ramirez Juco Matside by Jim Ramirez
The 5th ranked Cowley College Tigers lived up to its pre-season rankings with opening up its season by going on the road to Great Bend, Kansas and roaring past both of its KJCCC opponents, by defeating the Barton County Cougars 28 to 6, and defeating the 17th Ranked Labette County Cardinals 36 to 12.
The Cowley Tigers, well known and respected in Kansas wrestling circles as the defending Jayhawk Conference Champions from last season showed they will be a serious contender to repeat. The Tigers turned in such dominant performances that they only lost two matches in each dual. In fact, the Tigers JaCorey Miller at 149, Jake Patterson at 157, Montez Robinson at 165, Jesse Nunez at 174 and Matthew Santos at 184 each went 2 and 0 to start their season. And Ryan Smith was just as impressive with a stellar performance in the one dual he wrestled in while receiving a forfeit in the last dual. Still Cowley Coach Beau Vest noted, overall I was pleased with our performance, but we still have a lot of improvement to make if we’re going to live up to our rankings, expectations and potential.
Coach Vest mentioned, thus far this season has been crazy with just trying to address Covid KJCCC guidelines and protocols so his team can practice at full strength. So in actuality, practices have been limited without a full team working out at the same time to work on technique and conditioning. The good take away measurement from the duals Coach Vest mentioned, was that looking back at the matches, much scoring occurred in the last 30 seconds of a lot of matches which tells him the confidence level to compete at the next level is there, along with some conditioning to finish moves.
Cowley College Tigers vs. Barton County Cougars
Head Coach Beau Vest for Cowley College mentioned the final team score was a little lopsided against Barton County but was quick to point out that Barton is a lot tougher than what the final score indicated. Six matches in the dual were undecided until the last 30 seconds of the match where Cowley wrestlers were able to pull out the wins. Winning matches in the last period in the closing seconds of a match is where hopefully a team can show signs of mental toughness and competitiveness. Luckily we were able to demonstrate that tonight Coach Vest said.
Cowley’s 125 pounder Corwin Strachan, a Sophomore from Bartlesville, Oklahoma opened the dual with a hard fought 2 to 1 win over Cody Liles a Great Bend Grad. Liles is a competitor who has placed at state several times, so this was a good win for Strachan.
Next up for Cowley at 133 is a prize recruit Ryan Smith from Perry, Oklahoma who won 3 state titles and will be counted on heavily to bring bonus point wins along with capturing All-American Honors. Smith simply dominated Silas Pineda in every phase of the match and easily won a 13 to 3 victory.
At 141, Nathan Adamson a Freshman from Lawton, Oklahoma dropped a 9 to 2 decision to Drew Burgoon as Adamson could not get his offenses going that showed his underclassman inexperience with competing in his first college match.
JaCorey Miller, a 149 lb Sophomore transfer from Nashville, Tennessee opened up his season with an impressive display of moves on his feet and captured a 9 to 4 victory over Izaiah Delvalle. Coach Vest mentioned Tennessee has some good wrestling programs but wasn’t quite sure how Miller would fare at the next level. Much to his coach’s belief, Miller showed he’s ready to compete.
Jake Patterson Cowley’s 157 pounder Sophomore returner from Topeka, Kansas recovered from Tommy John Surgery and competed without any complications and defeated Dawson Chavez 6 to 4. Coach Vest said this is good news since Patterson has been away from the mat for a couple of years.
Ark City native Montez Robinson a three-time state champ at 165 used his explosive speed to record several take downs to defeat Stephen Duffy 8 to 5.
At 174 lbs Jesse Nunez a Sophomore from Garden City, Ks wrestled a hard fought match against Bryan Ford an eked out a 4 to 2 decision.
Matthew Santos, at 184 pounder and a two-time state champion and Freshman out of Lawton, Oklahoma came to Cowley College with high expectations of making a lot of noise at the collegiate level. He certainly didn’t disappoint himself or his coach, as he made quick work on the mat with a pin against Davontai Robinson.
Next up for Cowley at 197 lbs was Tyler Bingham a Tecumseh, Oklahoma Sophomore who wrestled well enough to be in the entire match, but dropped a hard fought decision of 6 to 3 to Trezen Doren.
At Heavyweight, Austin Thornton a Freshman from Dumas, Texas didn’t score much bet wrestled just enough to decision Dillon Dunn 2 to 1 in a low scoring affair.
Cowley College Tigers vs.Labette Cardinals
Reily Weir at 125 lbs started Labette off in a dominating win by scoring from every position and finally pinning Austin Kincaid in the third period to give Labette a 6 to 0 Team Lead. However, with Labette open at 133 and forfeiting to Ryan Smith allowed the Tigers to tie the team score at 6 – 6.
Nathan Adamson at 141 lbs came back after a disappointing first match loss to even his season record at 1 and 1 with a fall over Cade Wathken.
JaCorey Miller stayed perfect on the season with his second win of the night as the 149 pounder was aggressive at the start of the match and finished with an impressive pin over Alex Young.
Next up at 158 lbs for Cowley was Jake Patterson and he too remained perfect for the season with an entertaining match that was going back-and-forth that finally resulted in a 9 to 7 decision for Patterson.
Montez Robinson at 165 used just enough savy and skill to get past Jonathan Vincent 6 to 3. When Robinson opened his offensive shots up while on his feet, it was hard to stop him from scoring. Hereto, with Robinson red-shirting from last year, he could prove to be a formidable force at nationals with placing as an All-American for the Tigers.
Jesse Nunez, the Garden City product at 174 pounds could definitely be another dark horse for the Tigers as he has all the talent to be an All-American. He too, kept his record unblemished in this young season with a 10 to 7 victory over Donnie Hurd III where he scored in all positions.
Matthew Santos the prize 184 lb recruit out of Lawton, Oklahoma once again showed he is the real deal by scoring his second fall of the night by pinning Jeremiah Voliva. Look for big things to happen cause Santos has the potential to keep learning and finding success at the next level.
At 197 lbs Tyler Bingham managed to bounce back from an earlier disappointing loss to even his season record at 1 and 1 by winning his second match against Andrew Leitold 4 to 1.
Coach Vest has the luxury of allowing two of his Heavyweights to wrestle to see how they will compete in live competition and alternated both Austin Thornton from Dumas, Texas (in the first dual) and Jamal Miller, Jr from Nashville, Tennessee (in the second dual). Jamal Miller Jr. stepped on the mat to represent Cowley in the final match of the night against Micah Lieberman but was pinned.
Results: Cowley Tigers 28 – Barton Cougars 6:
*125 pounds – Corwin Strachan (CC) won a 2-1 decision over Cody Liles (Barton).
*133 pounds – Ryan Smith (CC) won a 13-3 major decision over Silas Pineda (Barton).
*141 pounds – Drew Burgoon (Barton) won a 9-2 decision over Nathan Adamson (CC).
*149 pounds – JaCorey Miller (CC) won a 9-4 decision over Izaiah Delvalle (Barton).
*157 pounds – Jake Patterson (CC) won a 6-4 decision over Dawson Chavez (Barton).
*165 pounds – Montez Robinson (CC) won a 8-5 decision over Stephen Duffy (Barton).
*174 pounds – Jesse Nunez (CC) won a 4-2 decision over Bryan Ford (Barton).
*184 pounds – Matthew Santos (CC) won by fall over Davontai Robinson (Barton).
*197 pounds – Trezen Doren (Barton) won a 6-3 decision over Tyler Bingham (CC).
*285 pounds – Austin Thornton (CC) won a 2-1 decision over Dillon Dunn (Barton).
Results: Cowley Tigers 36 – Labette Cardinals 12:
*125 pounds – Reily Weir (Labette) won by fall over Austin Kincaid (CC).
*133 pounds – Ryan Smith (CC) won by forfeit.
*141 pounds – Nathan Adamson (CC) won by fall over Cade Wathken (Labette).
*149 pounds – Miller (CC) won by fall over Alex Young (Labette).
*157 pounds – Patterson (CC) won a 9-7 decision over Traylon Jackson (Labette).
*165 pounds – Robinson (CC) won a 6-3 decision over Jonathan Vincent (Labette).
*174 pounds – Nunez (CC) won a 10-7 decision over Donnie Hurd III (Labette).
*184 pounds – Santos (CC) won by fall over Jeremiah Voliva (Labette).
*197 pounds – Tyler Bingham (CC) won a 4-1 decision over Andrew Leitold (Labette).
*285 pounds – Micah Lieberman (Labette) won by fall over Jamal Miller Jr. (CC).
MATCH RESULTS – Barton won 34-12 over #17 Labette
125 Drew Liles (Barton CC) over Reily Weir (Labette CC) Fall 2:39
133 Silas Pineda (Barton CC) over Unknown (Unattached) Forfeit
141 Drew Burgoon (Barton CC) over #2 Cade Wathke (Labette CC) Major Decision 12-1
149 Cody Liles (Barton CC) over Alex Young (Labette CC) Dec 5-0
157 Dawson Chavez (Barton CC) over Traylon Jackson (Labette CC) Dec 7-5
165 Stephen Duffy (Barton CC) over Jonathan Vincent (Labette CC) Fall 1:48
174 Donnie Hurd III (Labette CC) over Bryan Ford (Barton CC) Dec 8-3
184 Davontai Robinson (Barton CC) over Jeremiah Voliva (Labette CC) Fall 3:31
197 #8 Andrew Leitold (Labette CC) over Trezen Doren (Barton CC) Fall 2:28
285 Micah Lieberman (Labette CC) over Dillon Dunn (Barton CC) Dec 7-3
