It was a match up of two Class 3 wrestling teams ranked in the top three of the MissouriWrestling.com poll.
No. 2-ranked Kearney took on No. 3 St. Michael The Archangel in the final dual of the regular season last Thursday at St. Michael The Archangel Catholic High School.
It was a close match in which the Guardians led for most of it, but Kearney made a comeback, which was finished by a tech fall from Carter Temple in the 215-pound match and a forfeit win from JD Romero at 285 as Kearney took a 39-37 victory.
Temple sealed the victory when he used multiple takedowns and near falls to earn a 20-5 tech fall victory over St. Michael junior Lance Barry.
“We are doing a better job of going out there and getting bonus points, something we did not do well at the beginning of the season,” Kearney head coach Jake Hill said. “We limited the bonus points against us and we went and got the bonus points for us. That was the difference in a dual that was decided by two points.”
Bulldog junior Phoenix Shelton (132), the brother of former three-time state champion Ryder Shelton, was one of those to pick up some key bonus points for Kearney. He picked up a milestone 100th career victory following a 10-0 major decision win over Wyatt Avila.
“He’s been Mr. Consistent for us since his freshman year,” Hill said of Shelton. “He comes in every day and works hard. He’s following in his brother’s footsteps.”
Shelton said he was really looking forward to winning No. 100, and was happy he was able to get it before the district tournament.
“Once I got to No. 95, it was a race to get to 100 from there,” Shelton said. I tried to get to my single leg that has worked well for me all season. I stayed tough on top, and that really helped.”
Kale Tucking (175) also made a major contribution to the win as he jumped out to a 10-0 lead before using a head and arm to pin Kaleb Miller in 3:53.
“I just mainly tried to work on my feet and get whatever I could on top,” Tucking said. “I know that I am not the best on top, so I finally found a combination that worked.”
Other Bulldogs to pick up wins were:
106 pounds: Tyler Bell won by fall in 3:52 over Luke Bulloc.
120: Landon Westfall pinned Lake Lenni in 33 seconds.
157: Kale Davis pinned Braden Knipp in 28 seconds.
St. Michael put up a valiant effort, but was unable to pick up the win as it was missing one of its returning state medalists – Brody Narron to injury.
Winning for the Guardians were:
113: Landon Lane took a 19-2 tech fall victory over Brayden Robinson.
126: Parker Lutz won by forfeit.
138: Prestley Hartwig won by fall over Oliver Lee in overtime.
144: Austin Stevick took a 16-3 major decision against Justin Jackson.
150: Rowdy Narron took a 11-0 major decision against Kendahl Davis.
165: Cole Sackett pinned Bently Anderson in 53 seconds.
190: Brodie Purtle won by fall against Cohen Dray in 4:02.
“You have to roll with what you got,” St. Michael head coach Matt Infranca said. “We probably should have went open at 157 and bumped Braden up and bumped Cole up to 175, but it is what it is. It was a good dual and they are a great team.
“We look forward to battling them at districts and at state.”
