Tigers show improvement in 55th John J. Harris Tournament

CORNING – The Red Oak wrestling team finished another grueling week with a surprising finish at the 55th Annual John J. Harris Tournament.

The Tigers finished ninth in a field of 22 teams in the biggest tournament the Tigers will participate in, barring a state tournament berth.

The Tigers started their week with two losses in a double-dual with Creston and Shenandoah at Farragut, Tuesday.

Cole Meek (145-pounds) and Seth Esaias (171-pounds) were the only Tigers to win against Creston in the 54-24 loss. Meek pinned John Young at 3:48. Esaias pinned Keaton Hulett at in 2:36.

The Tigers gave up 24 points in open weight classes while picking up only one forfeit at 103 pounds.

In the dual against Shenandoah, the Tigers led through the first seven matches getting wins from Nick Leinen (8-5 decision over Jameson Sands), Lucas Orme (pinned Philip Mann in 0:49), Ryan Perry (pinned Caleb James in 1:00), and Geoff Sellers (pinned Zac McCoy in 1:25) but slipped behind in the middle weights.

After losing four consecutive matches and forfeiting at 140-pounds, Meek helped the Tigers rally, pinning Brandon Stout in 1:46, but with 152-pound weight open, there was no chance of coming back, regardless of what Zach Lukehart and Esaias did in their matches.

Lukehart was pinned by Brady Esser in 3:37, while Esaias made his second pin of the day against Stephen Langley in 1:33.

Friday, the Tigers traveled to Corning for the beginning of a two day tournament with 21 other teams, including Atlantic, Creston, Shenandoah, Griswold, and East Mills.

The Tigers were surprised by some of their younger, lighter weights as Sellers (112-pounds) and Zach Coddington (125-pounds) helped Red Oak gain some team points.

Sellers won his first match in a 10-5 decision over Jacob Johnson of Creston. Sellers lost his second match to Joseph Heitshusen of Shenandoah in an 11-10 decision.

Sellers bounced back, picking up a pin over Jim Pierson (Tri-Center) in 1:42, before falling to Brett Marcum (Missouri Valley) 6-4.

Coddington also picked up two wins after getting pinned in the first round by Ryley Williams of Chariton. Williams finished third in the tournament.

Coddington wrestled through the consolation bracket, pinning Zac Goodrich (Creston) and Ethan White (Tri-Center) before getting pinned by Mitchell Steinkuehier (Shenandoah).

Coddington ended the tournament with a loss to Shane Swank (Mount Ayr) in his match for fifth place, finishing sixth.

Orme, finished the tournament with a fifth place finish at 215 pounds.

He won in the first round, pinning Sam Fotiadis (Clarke) with eight seconds remaining in the second period.

Orme lost in a 6-3 decision to Griswold’s Christian Van Scyoc in the second round, forcing him to fight through the consolation bracket to place.

After a bye, he pinned Dylan Showers (Chariton) in the third period, followed by a loss to Jim Swanson (Atlantic) in an 8-1 decision.

Orme was poised for a rematch against Van Scyoc for fifth place, but received a forfeit win due to a possible concussion Van Scyoc suffered in his loss to Jon Meyers (Coon Rapids).

Red Oak’s top placers, Meek and Esaias, were taking two different routes to make it to the champion’s circle.

Meek, seeded fifth in the 145-pound bracket, surprised most of the participants and coaches as he knocked off the first-seed, sixth ranked Mitchell Hackett (Winterset) in a 3-1 decision in the semi-finals.

Meek pinned Tyler Henniger (Nodoway Valley) in 0:25 and won in a 6-4 decision over fourth-seeded Derek Stork (Atlantic) in the first two rounds. His only loss came in a 10-4 loss to Connor Christensen (Central Decatur).

At 171 pounds, Esaias was second-seeded and almost expected to meet Quinn Wilson (Riverside) in the finals. Esaias, ranked fourth in the state, and Wilson, ranked first, did not disappoint as they both blew through the first three rounds of the tournament.

Quinn’s longest match of the first three rounds was a pin 20 seconds into the third period, which was 3:20 longer than his Red Oak counterpart’s longest match which was the semi-final match that Esaias pinned Keaton Hulett (Creston) in one minute.

The match for the 171-pound title was as physical as expected, but Wilson wore the Tiger down, as he beat Esaias in a 13-5 major decision.

“I just ran out of gas, I guess,” Esaias said after the match. “I think I need to start working a lot harder during drills at practice.”

With their 77 points overall, the Tigers finished ninth. Atlantic ran away with the team win, 212 points, with Creston a distant second with 164.5.

The Red Oak Express

2012 Commerce Drive
P.O. Box 377
Red Oak, IA 51566
Phone: 712-623-2566 Fax: 712-623-2568

Comment Here