Wrestlers place 5th at Hoisington

All Warriors place in top 8 of brackets

The Warriors placed fifth of 11 teams with all eight wrestlers who competed placing in the top eight of their respective weight brackets Friday at a Hoisington tournament.

Scoring 85.5 points, Marion missed tying fourth place finisher Riley County by just eight points. However, Marion brought home its share of grappling glory, with three wrestlers placing in the top three of their weight brackets and five finishing in the top eight.

Coach Tyler McMichael said 138-pounder Bryce Shults continued his “dominating performances by placing first.” Shults received a bye, pinned two opponents and defeated another 18-1, and won finals 19-3 in a tech fall decision.

Marion’s 132-pounder Jarrett Johnson logged three solid pins, and a defeated one opponent 8-1 before he was pinned in the finals to take second.

At 195 pounds, Tyler Palic also took second after pinning three opponents, and defeating a fourth 6-1 in the semi-finals, only to suffer a nail-biting 3-2 lose that McMichael said happened in the 15 seconds of his championship match.

“It’s never fun to lose in the finals but everyone on our team fought very hard,” McMichael said.

Ethan Darnall placed third at 120 pounds.

“Ethan had an outstanding tournament,” McMichael said. “He is making leaps and bounds, and he wrestled extremely well.”

McMichael said Darnall was only a few seconds away from pinning his brackets tournament champion, who was Darnall’s only lose for the day.

Charlie Nordquist took fourth at 182 pounds, Jarrett McLinden was fifth at 285 pounds, Brick Mitchell came in seventh at 145 pounds, and Kolton Brewer was eighth at 160 pounds.

“I was very happy with how we did,” McMichael said. “We are continuing to grow as wrestlers and as a team.”

The Warriors wrestle again Friday at Onega.