Michael Smith
Winnetonka got an opportunity to get a warmup dual before hosting one of Kansas City’s largest high school tournaments.
The Winnetonka Tournament starts on Friday and runs through Saturday and features the best teams in the city. To prepare for that, the Girffins hosted Raytown South Wednesday. Although they only won two out of the five contested matches, they got seven victories by forfeit to help them capture a 54-20 victory at home.
“We did pretty well. We expected that,” Winnetonka coach Timothy Lowry said. “We knew the 126 match would be tough but we felt confident outside of that.”
Senior Nguyen (113) wrestled his final dual in his home gym and bumped up a weight class and jumped out to an 8-3 lead with four takedowns before getting a pin in 1:17 against Lucas Richardson.
“It feels exactly the same,” Nguyen said of bumping up to wrestle at 113. “I wrestle with the same mindset and see how it goes.”
Jordan Colon (285) won the Griffin’s other match. He got two takedowns, including one in the second period that led to a cradle and a pin in 2:53.
“I think I did OK,” Colon said. “I just need to practice when I get shots, to move more and circle the other way instead of cracking down and moving. I was able to get a cradle as a big man. You don’t see that every day.”
