Twenty wrestling teams descended on De Soto Friday and Saturday for the 39th annual Bob Georger Classic.
When the dust settled Saturday night, three Dragons – sophomore Logan Zimmermann (160 pounds), senior Michael Manning (170) and freshman Landon Porter (heavyweight) – won their weight classes and De Soto torched the field with a first-place finish of 212 points. St. Clair came in second with 170 points. De Soto had amassed 187 points before the finals started.
“As a team we prepared very well,” De Soto head coach John Brown said. “The competition was tougher this year. Compared to last year, there was phenomenal wrestling overall.”
De Soto senior Ethan Ladyman was one of five Dragons to reach the finals. Ladyman won by fall in his first two matches before facing Lexington senior Alex Hollingsworth in the final at 132 pounds. Hollingsworth improved to 31-0 with a 10-4 decision. Ladyman was wrestling on top when the match ended.
“When you face someone who’s undefeated, you know in the back of your mind he’s good,” Ladyman said. “There’s no better feeling in the world than to beat someone who’s undefeated.
“He seemed stronger and every time I tried to work something he seemed to have better technique and more speed than me. I ended up on top. I flipped him for the point but there wasn’t much time.”
None of Zimmermann’s four matches reached the second period. He improved to 35-5 after pinning St. Clair senior Codie Stroup at 1:25 in the final. Stroup was winning 2-1 at the time. Zimmermann will cut down to 152 for districts.
“Late in the match, I caught him on bottom and I knew I could get points,” Zimmermann said.
Manning won his first two matches by fall before taking a 3-2 decision over Fort Zumwalt North junior Nate O’Neal in the semifinals. In the final, Manning won another 3-2 decision against St. Clair sophomore Aaron Herman. The match went to a fourth overtime before Manning won with an escape point.
“I keep pushing,” Manning said of his strategy in overtime. “I know once I get someone into overtime, I will win because I’m in better shape and more mentally prepared.”
Porter exudes confidence, even when wrestling against seniors, like he did against Park Hills Central’s Matthew Dean in the final. Porter pinned Dean at 2:31. It was the final match of the night and Porter recognized the Dragons’ cheering fans with a two-handed salute.
“(Porter) has been on the mat for awhile and knows what he’s doing,” Brown said. “He still makes a mistake once in awhile, but he figures it out quickly.”
Hillsboro had two champions – junior Nick Short (113) and undefeated junior Dylan Owens (120) – and took home the third-place trophy with 166 points.
“I wrestled hard today and will see some tougher competition for districts,” Short said. “I will practice with heavier opponents to wrestle guys stronger than me.”
Short pinned De Soto junior Michael Whitt in 3:56 in the semifinals before facing Parkway West junior Josh McCallister in the final, which Short captured in a 14-0 major decision. Whitt ended up third after winning a 10-8 decision.
“I was trying to get the tech fall but I couldn’t hold for that second count,” Short said.
Owens was a pinning machine during the tournament and ran his record to 38-0. His third pin in three matches came in the final against Liberty junior Hunter Chaney.
“We got into a scramble and (Chaney) was about to get a reversal and I knew I didn’t want to give up any points,” Owens said. “I hooked his leg and pushed him back down, and I caught his arm and cradled him up.”
Junior Paul Stewart reached the final at 220 for the Hawks but dropped a 5-3 decision to St. Clair junior Josh Richards. Stewart led the match 3-0 in the first period.
Windsor came in sixth with 145.5 points and had three wrestlers finish first – freshman Grant Pauli (138), junior Jacob Warren (152) and junior Ryan Yarnell (195).
Pauli won a 9-0 major decision against Sumner junior Keith Clay, who was 33-4 entering the match. Pauli was awarded two points in the third period when Clay was called for stalling.
“I wasn’t expecting to come here and win,” Pauli said. “I just came here to wrestle. Winning (the championship) boosts my confidence ten-fold.
“(Clay) was a tough opponent. I warmed up properly. I got out there with the mindset of being in control. He was strong and kept everything closed up.”
Warren improved to 36-2 after he pinned Fort Zumwalt East senior Nathan Vortherms in the championship match. Warren won his first two matches of the tournament easily, but that wasn’t the case against Hillsboro junior Joe Garner in the semifinals, where Warren won a 3-1 decision.
“I’ve been wrestling (Vortherms) during the offseason,” Warren said. “Normally, I wrestle how I like to and don’t let my opponent get in my head. (Vortherms) is a nice kid and we wrestled our best and I came out the winner.”
Yarnell (36-1) moved up to 195 pounds and won a 16-0 technical fall over De Soto senior Johnny Williamson. Yarnell will drop to 182 for districts.
“Johnny had a really good tournament,” Brown said. “He wrestled some tough kids. Yarnell’s one of the best wrestlers in the state right now. Johnny wrestled him tough, and that’s all we asked him to do.”
The other medal winners from the county included Hillsboro freshman James Short (fourth, 106), De Soto freshman Ken Coats (fifth, 106), Windsor senior Christian Homeier (fifth, 120), De Soto senior Zach Nash (fourth, 126); Hillsboro junior Jordon Sanders (sixth, 132); Hillsboro senior Tanner Weberling (fifth, 145), Windsor senior Jeremy Sandknop (sixth, 145), Hillsboro junior Joe Garner (fourth, 152), Windsor junior Connor Richey (third, 160), De Soto junior Logan Smith (third, 182), Hillsboro junior Zach Bodway (fourth, 182), Windsor senior Andrew Marler (third, 220), De Soto senior Trevor Struemph (fourth, 220) and Hillsboro sophomore Joe Becker (third, 285).