Pratt slips past Panthers for a 1 point win

Conference action got underway on Thursday,  when the Neosho wrestling team made the trek out to Pratt Community College for a 7pm dual.   Following a random draw for starting weight classes, the action would begin at the 174 pound weight class.  Little Rock, Arkansas sophomore Aaron Butler was tied up late in the match with Alex Feldkamp when the two wrestlers got into a scramble for position with time winding down,   as the clock went backwards and time elapsed, Butler found himself behind Feldkamp with 2 seconds on the clock to score the 6-4 decision and propel Neosho to an early lead.  Ralph Manous would follow suit with a win for Neosho by racking up several combinations of 2 point maneuvers, but when time was over he couldn’t seal the crucial bonus points for the Panthers and only won by a 7 point decision.  The momentum would shift and Pratt would claim the next two weight classes with Trey Vicknair bumping up from 184 to lose a narrow 3-2 match to national qualifier Tyler Downs of Pratt.  John Arnold gave up weight and went up against Austin Hamm and lost in the process, however Arnold was able to hit a late escape to only lose by 7 as well and narrowly avoiding bonus points from  a potential major decision.   At 125  Derek Steeley a freshman from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma would go to the mat and would find himself in a rare hole trailing 6-2 after the first period to Jesse Barber who put Steeley on his back with nearly 30 seconds or more on the clock with the Gumby-like Steeley finding a way to avoid a major setback.   Steeley chose down in the 2^nd and was being ridden tough again by Barber.  Then  Barber went for the turn and Steeley went with him, however this time as he was going to his back,  Steeley high arched his body and picked Barber’s head and simultaneously the referee slapped the mat for the defensive pin giving Neosho a 12-6 lead.  Stephen Kendrick of Skiatook, Ok would come up next at 133 and after battling for 2 periods found him-self all knotted up with Kevin Callahan of Pratt.  It was then late in the 3^rd when the conditioning of Kendrick would come into play by scoring an escape, followed by a 4 point move from feet to back to put away his opponent.   The see-saw battle would continue when Neosho would drop a crucial 11-2 major decision as well as a 10-8 decision at 141 and 149 respectively; however the Panthers still lead 15-13.    Josh Isam would give a cushion for the team to work with by picking up a 7-4 decision at 157,  meaning only a pinfall would allow Pratt to win the dual outright in the final match contested.  Neosho sent out true freshman Derrick Ageday from Hollis, NY   to take on Pratt’s lone All American from a year ago Travis Budke.   Ageday looked poised and confident, bouncing with enthusiasm around the circle and holding his own for a while, but then inexperience caught up with him, when the Pratt sophomore Budke hit his chin-whip to send Ageday to his back and shortly there after claim the pin and 6 points for the Pratt Beaver wrestling team.    Although Neosho never trailed in the dual all night,   at the end it was a  one point setback for the Panther’s who now are 1-1 on the season and 0-1 in conference.  Neosho is next at Baker Open on Sunday before hosting Labette here at 7pm on Thursday.

Neosho 18  Pratt 19

125 Steeley Neo. Won by fall over Baber Pratt
133 Kendrick Neo. Dec. Callahan Pratt 8-3
141 Willis Pratt Dec. Wolfe Neo.11-2
149 Wright Pratt Dec. Ringgold 10-8
157 Isam Neo. Dec. Wise Pratt 7-4
165 Budke Pratt Won by fall over Ageday Neo.
174 Butler Neo. dec. Feldkamp Pratt 6-4
184 Manous Neo. Dec. Griffin 13-6
197 Downs Pratt Dec. Trey Vicknair Neo. 3-2
285 Hamm Pratt Dec. Arnold Neo 12-5

Panthers open season 35-9 victory over WSU Club

The Panther wrestling team of Neosho hosted the Wichita State Shocker club team in a dual on Sunday afternoon.   The varsity squads from both teams took to the mat with the action starting off at the 125 pound weight class.  Derek Steeley a freshman out of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma was able to rack up 3 takedowns in the 1^st period before disposing of Evan Amaro at the 3:40 mark by fall.   WSU was open at 133, so the action went on to 141 where Josh Wolfe of Neosho went into the 3^rd period up 8-4 on Columbus native Nick Thomas, before rattling off 7 points late in the match and adding riding time to win 15-4.  At 149 sophomore captain Justin Ringgold of Wichita, KS  trailed 2-1 after the first period, but could only make it to a 2-2 score before giving up 2 more takedowns and suffering the first defeat of the day to the Shockers 8-3.    Josh Isam a freshman from Sapulpa would get things going again for the Panthers who were up 16-3 in the team standings by picking up a 7-4 victory,  before Hollis, NY freshman Derrick Ageday went on a rampage with  12 points alone coming off of takedowns in a 18-7 major decision.  At 174  Aaron Butler of Little Rock, AR would take on 3 time Club National Qualifier Nate Alvarez of the Shockers.  After  a scoreless first period,   Alvarez took a quick reversal to go up 2-0,  however,  Butler earned an escape and a takedown to go up 3-2 before adding on more escape and winning 4-2 .   At 184 Ralph Manous a freshman from Okmulgee, OK  showed that he had very little rust from being away from the sport for a year,  by recording a 35 second fall of the Shocker’s Jake Fox.  The dual would end with back to back matches by Inola, OK natives Kris Powell and Jon Arnold.   Powell down to 197 this year after being 285 last year struggled to get any offense going early and was trailing 7-1  after the first period to Kenny Brown who spent the last few years wrestling with the Marines.     Powell continued to struggle and Brown was on the verge of a tech fall when Powell’s shoulders went flat and WSU recorded the victory by pin.    Finally at heavyweight Jon Arnold made things a lot more exciting then it should have.  With under a minute to go in the match Arnold gave up a takedown to trail 4-3,  but  with time close to the end Arnold escaped, turned and pounced at his opponent and nabbed a 2 pt takedown to seal a 6-4 victory.   Neosho  would defeat Wichita State 35-9  in varsity action and then go on to compete in 9 exhibition matches  with freshmen Alfonso Osuna and Trey Vicknair picking up victories at 141 and 197,  as well as sophomore Powell who won by fall at 4:32 bumping back up to his old heavyweight class.  Neosho is next on the road at Pratt on Thursday before heading to the Baker Open on Sunday.

NEOSHO  35    WICHITA STATE 9

2008 Olympic Gold Medalist -HENRY CEJUDO

More information call (620) 431-2820 ext 210 or email wpetterson@neosho.edu

USA WRESTLING BRONZE CERTIFICATION CLINIC TO BE HELD AT NEOSHO 

USA Wrestling Bronze Coaches Clinic, November 15^th, 2009 at 2 pm.  At the Stultz Hall Lecture Room on the campus of Neosho County CC in Chanute, KS.

Head clinician will be Wayne Petterson, the head coach at Neosho CCC.  The clinic will a classroom session and a technique session.

Cost is $60.00 and the clinic will last about 6 hours.  Prospective coaches must have a USAW Coaches Membership card which requires a background check.  If you would like to attend the technique clinic only, that will cost $20.

To pre-register or ask questions, e-mail Coach Petterson at WPetterson@neosho.edu or Randy Hinderliter at rhinderliter@usawks.com.