Fielding just seven wrestlers for the day, the Marion wrestling team came away with three champions and two second-place finishers after competing at the Hesston Swather Invitational Saturday.
Jarrett Johnson (8-0) won the 132-pound weight class and remained unbeaten on the season. Following a first-round bye, Johnson pinned all three of his opponents: Garden Plain’s Mercedes Gassmann in the quarterfinals, Bluestem’s Jace Brewer in the semifinals, and Lyons’ Denzale Clark in the first-place match.
Bryce Shults (7-1) won at 138 pounds. He, too, had a first-round bye, then won his next three matches by fall: over Hunter Turner in the quarterfinals, over Jimmy Mauch of Smoky Valley in the semifinals, and over Nathan Delaney of Burden-Central in the finals.
“Jarrett and Bryce had a very good tournament, pinning all of their opponents on their way to first place,” coach Tyler McMichael said.
Noah Albin (8-0) also remained unbeaten on the season by winning at 152 pounds. After a first-round bye, Albin faced his teammate, Brock Mitchell, and won by fall in the quarterfinals. He won by fall in the semifinals over St. John Military’s Tyler Riley. Albin won a 4-3 decision over Hesston’s Zach Anderson in the finals.
“Noah had a tough finals match but had enough heart and conditioning to finish the match on top right at the end,” McMichael said.
Two Warriors finished second.
At 182 pounds, Charlie Nordquist (7-1) received a first-round bye, then won by 7-1 decision over Smoky Valley’s Dylan Archuleta in the quarterfinals. He won an 8-0 major decision over Hesston’s Jake Wingfield in the semifinals, then lost by major decision, 15-4, to Chaparral’s Estin Overton in the finals.
At 195 pounds, Tyler Palic (6-2) received a first-round bye. He won his next two matches by fall: over Smoky Valley’s Jon Burks in the quarterfinals and Remington’s Gavino Lopez in the semifinals. He lost by fall in the finals to Jacob Jenkins of Chaparral.
“Charlie and Tyler both had tough draws in the finals,” McMichael said. “Charlie fought hard but just couldn’t come out on top. Tyler just had an eye opening finals match that gives us things to work on going forward in this season.”
At 120 pounds, Ethan Darnall (6-4) placed fourth. Following a first-round bye, Darnall lost a 9-5 decision to Bluestem’s Hazen Benton. He won his next two matches by fall: over Garden Plain’s Cooper Leis and Nickerson’s Tre Garcia. Darnall won by injury default in the consolation semifinals, then lost by fall to Benton in the third-place match.
Mitchell (1-4) also wrestled at 152 pounds. He won his first match by fall over Wichita Independent’s Daryl Moorhead, then lost to Albin by fall. Following a bye, Mitchell lost to West Elk’s Chase VanDegrift by fall.
As a team, Marion placed second with 126 points behind Hesston (142) and ahead of Chaparral (125) in the 15-team field.
“I was extremely proud of how well the team performed,” McMichael said. “We were short manned and still came out with second place. Our guys really stepped up and brought in some team points with quite a few pins.”
Coming—The Warriors will host the Marion County Duals Friday. Matches are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
