Warriors send seven to Hesston invitational
Sports reporter
This early in the season, Marion-Florence Peabody-Burns Warriors wrestling coach Chad Adkins wants to be careful with his younger wrestlers. So he sent just seven Saturday to the Hesston invitational where they placed ninth out of 16 teams.
"After Christmas we'll be taking our whole varsity squad to all varsity tournaments," he said.
For now he wants the young wrestlers taking their lumps in practice, and getting ready to hit the mat in January.
As for the more experienced wrestlers, four of the seven placed at the tournament. Ben Leppke and Casey Nelson both went 2-1 and placed second in their respective weight classes.
Leppke improved to 4-2 in the 160-pound class and Nelson ran his record to 5-1 at 171.
189-pounder Adam Depler went 3-1 on the day to take third place, and Hank Collett was 2-2 at 125 pounds, taking fourth place.
"Overall we wrestled pretty well for our first tournament of the year," Adkins said. "We just need to keep working hard and continue to get better every day."
Depler now leads the team with a 6-1 record. Collett stands at 4-2.
Charlie Holub finished with a similar record to Collett, but lost early, knocking him out of the medal round. He now has a 4-3 record wrestling in the 135-pound class.
John Barr III and Gavin Moore were 0-2 at Hesston. Barr III is 3-2 heading into the break and Moore 3-3.
The tournament was the final varsity competition until Jan. 5 when the Warriors compete at the Halstead double dual.
