McLinden leads Marion wrestlers with weight class title at Eureka

The Marion wrestling team finished fifth among 22 teams competing at the Eureka Invitational Satur­day with 103.5 points.

Burlington won the team title with 192, followed by Rose Hill (159.5), Clearwater (138) and Caney Valley (112).

“Last weekend (at Hal­stead), we had a problem with not giving every match our 100 percent effort, and it showed,” coach Tyler McMichael said. “This weekend at Eureka we did a much better job of giving everything that we had, and we showed huge improvements. We had several wrestlers who placed for the first time this year, and even one that won his first two matches on the season.

“As a team, placing fifth was a big deal. We were down Charlie (Nordquist) and Ethan (Darnall) who would have made a huge impact on the tournament.”

Jarret McLinden (20-6) led the team by winning the 285-pound weight class with a 4-0 record. McLinden pinned his first two opponents, then won a 4-2 decision in the semifinals. He pinned Clearwater’s Conner Snell in the championship.

“Jarret did a very good job,” McMichael said. “He had several wins over regional wrestlers and earned his second tournament championship of the season.”

Tyler Palic (13-3) went 2-1 at 195 pounds to place third. Following a first-round bye, Palic, who ranks second in the state, won by fall in the quarterfinals. He lost by major decision, 11-1, to Cherryvale’s Colben Dodson, who ranks fifth.

Todd Palic (9-11) went 2-2 at 170 pounds and placed fourth. After winning two matches by fall, Palic lost by technical fall in the semifinals. He lost a 5-2 decision to El Dorado’s Seth Hackler in the third-place match.

Kolton Brewer (6-13) went 4-1 at 160 pounds to place fifth. After winning his first match by 10-4 decision, Brewer lost by fall in the quarterfinals. Brewer pinned his next three opponents, including Chance Clark of Clearwater in the fifth-place match, whom he had faced in the first round.

Will Alleven (2-9) went 2-1 at 113 pounds to place fifth. Sandwiching a pair of byes, Alleven lost a quarterfinal match by fall. He pinned his last two opponents of the day, including Clearwater’s Trenton Klausmeyer in the fifth-place match.

Completing the Warrior lineup, Brock Mitchell (8-15) was 2-2 at 145 pounds; Forest Slater (2-10) was 1-2 at 106 pounds, including a loss by fall to undefeated and first-ranked Kendall Beitz of Eureka in the first round; Calib Mallory (9-11) was 1-2 at 138 pounds; Kyle Horton (9-15) was 1-2 at 152 pounds; and Luke Lanning was 1-2 at 182 pounds, including a loss by fall to St. Marys’ Matthew Cruickshank, who ranks second in the state.

“We had some big regional matchups at Eureka that will come into play in a few weeks when the seeding meeting comes around,” McMichael said. “There are still a lot of things that we need to work on moving forward to give ourselves the best chance to make it to state.”

Coming—Marion will wrestle at Hoisington Friday. Matches are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.

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