COFFEYVILLE — According to head coach Ron Schomaker, Iola Middle School’s wrestlers are starting to get it.
“We made some drastic improvements this tournament,” Schomaker said following Saturday’s competition at the Coffeyville Roosevelt Middle School tournament.
“We’re getting much better by wrestling deeper into matches. Some of our wrestlers really stepped up and had great performances.”
The Ponies wrestle next at Parsons on Nov. 30.
Brice Aiello, Andrew Garber and Trey Colborn captured first place in their respective weight brackets. Iola also had five second-place finishes.
Aiello pinned Houser of Fredonia and Smith of Independence. He posted a 9-0 win over Morton of Parsons. Aiello made it four in a row with an 11-3 decision over Collins of Pittsburg.
Garber opened with a pin of Brewer of Pittsburg then dominated Hawley of Fredonia, 19-0. He won by fall over King of Caney and took first with a injury default over Williamson of Pittsburg.
Colborn claimed first by pinning all three of his opponents — Pierpoint of Fredonia, Samuels of Eureka and White of Coffeyville.
Daniel Ware went 1-1 for second place in his weight bracket. Ware pinned Kirsch of Pittsburg then was pinned by Pryce of Eureka.
Kaleb Mock lost his first match of the day 12-4 to Hollandsworth of Caney. Then won three straight including pinning Iola teammate Jake Gumfory.
Mock beat Harvey of Fredonia 8-3 and pinned Jones of Eureka. Gumfory’s lone win of the day was a pin of Jones. Gumfory lost by fall to both Harvey and Hollandsworth.
Brett Taylor opened with back-to-back pins of Stack of Eureka and Vaughn of Coffeyville. Taylor lost 9-3 to Medlock of Independence for second place.
Tryston Ingle was 1-1 for second place. Ingle beat Johnson of Pittsburg 10-8 then was pinned by Schicke of Independence.
Trevor Cox lost 17-1 to Shay of Fredonia. He came back for back-to-back wins for second. He beat Ksyer of Coffeyville 11-4 and pinned Menzer of Cherryvale.
Stormy Reed placed third with a 2-2 mark. He lost 12-5 to Adams of Fredonia and to Owings of Eureka 9-6. In between, Reed pinned Rickman of Coffeyville and Humaciu of Cherryvale.
Gus Hopkins lost his first two matches by falls to Hoots of Cherryvale and Taylor of Pittsburg. He came back to take third by pinning Farnsworth of Independence and dominating Collins of Parsons 10-2.
