Staff writer
The Marion High School wrestling team finished sixth Saturday at the Halstead Invitational, scoring 92 points as a team.
“We scored 92 points with three places,” coach Chad Adkins said. “That’s a lot of scoring.”
Senior Randy Regnier won the 125-pound weight class, pinning Yancey Edson of Circle.
“(Edson) is good,” Adkins said. “He’s won two tournaments this year.”
Sophomore Evan Slater won the 215-pound weight class by pinning D.J. Serviss of Stafford in the championship match.
“He’s talented,” Adkins said of Slater. “He hasn’t gotten to wrestle a lot. The two tournaments he’s wrestled in, he’s won both. He’s a kid that could medal at state; he’s good enough.”
Fellow sophomore Brody Carroll won the third-place match of the 130-pound weight class 14-4 over Stetson Deets of Central Burden. Carroll faced a tough matchup in the semifinal, meeting Adrian Lange of Lyons. Carroll battled, losing 5-3. Adkins said the difference in the match was a takedown Carroll surrendered in the last 10 seconds of the first round when the score was tied at 0.
“When you give up points at the end of a period, you’re chasing him for the rest of the match,” Adkins said.
Senior Galen Funk and sophomores Derrick Dvorak and Christian Larsen also won multiple matches at Halstead, even though they did not place in their weight classes.
Junior Cole Lewman did not wrestle in the 140-pound class because of illness. Junior Colten Johnson is out for the year after breaking his wrist in practice.
“He just fell on it the wrong way,” Adkins said. “He’s had bad luck.”
Adkins said he is proud of the young team for wrestling well with some of the team leaders unavailable.
Half the team will travel to Eureka on Saturday and the other half will compete in a junior varsity tournament in Stafford.