Neosho County Community College Wrestling Release
Released by Aaron Sweazy
Assistant Wrestling Coach

Jan. 16, 2009

The Neosho wrestling team traveled out west to take on the Beavers of Pratt in a showdown of two NJCAA West/Central region foes. Both teams entered with 1 wrestler ranked a piece but both would be out of the lineup for one reason or another, making it a pretty even slate heading into the competition. The night started off with Ethan Bates of Neosho pretty strong…with a quick takedown he soon locked up a cradle and had Pratt's Joey Stephens on the verge of being pinned, however Stephens was able to break free and counter and soon had Bates on his back trying to break free, however with the ref now in position, Bates would be called pinned and the Panthers now trailed 6-0 to start the evening. Up next was Rory Kendall at 133. Kendall who wrestled 141 all first semester is no stranger to the 133 class, having wrestled it all last year and nearly qualifying for nationals. Kendall held a narrow 2-0 lead after the first period, but went to work on top and cranked on his opponent the rest of the way in amassing 8 nearfall points in picking up a decisive 14-0 win. 141 Montana Carson would have a rematch of the November 13th dual against Chris Wright. In their previous meeting Wright was able to beat Carson by fall, but the Panther wrestler was poised to not let that happen again. With two early takedowns and a stalling call against him, Carson trailed 5-1 after a period had expired. Wright continued to pummel Carson with 5 more points in the 2nd and was soon up 10-2 with riding time well in hand. Facing what appeared to be a looming major decision or possibly more, Carson buckled down and stormed back with a takedown and 3 nearfall and 2 more points late, but could only narrow the gap to 14-9, but in the process, was able to keep any bonus points off the board for the pesky hosts. Justin Ringgold trailed 2-1 going into the 3rd period but quickly made a reversal to start the 3rd and rode his opposition out the rest of the way to get the Panthers a much needed win and put them down by only a 7-9 score heading into the 157 weight.
Zac Taylor came out against Pratt's Clay Shaft only to be taken down first, that however only seemed to fuel Taylor up and he soon not only reversed Shaft but put him on his back and squeezed the wind out of him to pick up a huge fall and gain the lead for the first time that night for the Panthers. However that lead would quickly pivot back, as Neosho's Dustin Burton was tied 3-3 with Travis Budke, Burton hit a big takedown, only to then get into a scrambling situation and reversed onto his back and pinned giving Pratt the lead back at 15-13 with 4 weight classes to go. Fortunately at 174, Pratt decided not to weigh in anybody do to injuries and weight issues, which allowed Neosho to pick up another 6 and now be up 25-15 with the win being taken by Matt McNabb. 184 Neosho needing a big win bumped up Derek Heckel, who had seen quite a bit of competition at 184 early in the 1st semester. Taking on Heckel would be Ralph Major of Pratt, an opponent that Heckel demolished in a mere 45 seconds in their only previous meeting. This time with a Pratt backing Major was able to keep things close and took the action into the 2nd period trailing 3-2. Hoping to narrow Heckel's margin, Major chose down and quickly realized that if you don't move quick enough on the whistle, you will be controlled…and that is just what happened. Heckel not only controlled Major, but flipped him over and pinned him to extend the Panther lead to 25-15. Jeff Kirwan now was up against Tyler Downs. Downs hit a takedown, Kirwan escaped and the scoring halted until the 2nd and 3rd periods. Downs and Kirwan exchanged escapes over the final two periods, but that would be it with Neosho's Kirwan losing by decision 3-2. Oddly enough the loss by Kirwan was won of disappointment and relief…by Kirwan taking a narrow loss at 197, Pratt was only able to collect 3 team points, meaning that with a pinfall being 6 points and the maximum you can get for winning a match, Neosho held a 7 point advantage and was going to be the victor regardless of outcome. Ryan Cox of Pratt wanted to put on an exclamation point for the Beavers and used a double overhook with a heel trip to toss Kris Powell to his back and get the fall to end the night 25 Neosho 24 Pratt in an close see saw battle.

Coach Petterson's Comments: We were glad to get out of there with a win. Pratt was fired up and came with a plan. Our guys responded well when being dealt with some surprising defeats. That happens and we handled it which is something I am concerned about. Am I satisfied with our performance, no. But, we needed a win and the guys responded with potentially 2-3 starters out of the lineup. Heckel did a great job wrestling up a weight against what they think is their hottest guy at this point. Zac Taylor showed some of the potential and ability that we know he has. Kendall did pretty well being the first time on the mat this semester. That helped with Kendrick going down with an injury last weekend. We need to get a guy or two to be as tough as Heckel and then our team should come together. We will definitely be tested next week with Labette here on Tuesday and Hastings College at Clay Center, KS on Thursday. This is what we need in preparing to peak in February.

Neosho will next send some wrestlers to the Roger Denker Open in Warrensburg, MO for Saturday, before taking on Labette 7pm Tuesday at Neosho.

Pratt- 24 Neosho- 25

125- Joey Stephens (P) Won by Fall 2:47 over Ethan Bates (N)

133- Rory Kendall (N) Won by M.Dec. 14-0 over Brendan Harshman(P)

141- Chris Wright (P) Won by Dec. 14-9 over Montana Carson (N)

149- Justin Ringgold (N) Won by Dec. 4-2 over Mike Manion (P)

157- Zac Taylor (N) Won by Fall 1:51 over Clay Shaft (P)

165- Travis Budke (P) Won by Fall 4:14 over Dustin Burton (N)

174- Matt McNabb (N) Won by Forfeit **Pratt Open**

184- Derek Heckel (N) Won by Fall 3:22 over Ralph Major (P)

197- Tyler Downs (P) Won by Dec. 3-2 over Jeff Kirwan (N)

285- Ryan Cox (P) Won by Fall 3:57 over Kris Powell (N)