ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DON RATZLAFF
John Barr led the four-man delegation from the Marion wrestling team by winning two matches at the Class 3-2-1A state tournament in Hays over the weekend.
Each of Marion’s three other wrestlers went 0-2 against stiff competition.
In his opening round at 152 pounds, Barr, a senior, defeated Casey Bratton (27-4) of Horton, 7-2, then lost to Jake Livesay (31-6) of Lincoln, 7-2, in the quarterfinals.
Barr came back in the consolation bracket to beat John Mapes (23-10) of Onaga, 11-4, before being pinned and eliminated by Travis Rempe (13-4) of Smith Center at the 4:04 mark.
Barr’s 2-2 record at Hays gave him a 30-11 mark for the season.
Cody Wildin, competing in the 119-pound class, was the first athlete to compete for Marion. The freshman was pinned by Zane Perez (28-8) of Norton 6-1,then lost to Trevor Oliver (24-7) of Osborne 15-2 to finish with a season record of 21-18.
Dillon Wildin, a freshman wrestling at 130, lost to Brandon Tyler (21-4) of St. Mary 5-2 in his opening match, then dropped a 7-4 decision to Morgan Numrich (21-14) of South Gray in the consolation bracket to finish with a 26-14 season record.
Charlie Holub lost a 5-3 decision to Daniel Uttley (24-4) of Onaga in his opening match at 140 pounds. He then lost to Clint Janzen (22-14) of Hesston in a consolation matchup Holub completed his junior year with an 18-13 record.
