BURLINGTON — The Iola High School and Humboldt High School wrestling teams pinned their way to wins at the 30th Burlington Wrestling Invitational. Iola finished 10th. The Cubs finished ninth. Each team took an individual win. “We could have done better,” said Iola head coach Jason Bates. “We were a bit rusty coming off the break and lost some matches due to mistakes. But that’s what these matches are all about. It’s practice for the postseason.” Iola’s TJ Taylor dominated the 132-pound weight class, going 4-0 and taking the top spot. Taylor is 14-3 on the year and has won his last two tournaments. Taylor looks to be in the midst of a special season. Iola’s Trent Jones suffered his second loss of the year, going 3-1 in the 145-pound bracket. The loss for Jones is his first since the season-opening Kan/Okla Invitational, the third place finish is the lowest Jones has finished all season. Jones’ only pin of the event came in less than a minute. Wyatt Westervelt finished fifth for the Mustangs in the 195-pound bracket and went 4-1 at the invitational. Westervelt’s record improved to 9-8 on the season as he has been getting better each match. Westervelt defeated Humboldt’s Garren Goodner to take fifth after being put in the consolation bracket following an early loss. Korbin Cloud finished sixth in the 126-pound bracket. Cloud’s 3-2 record Saturday brings his record on the season to 5-13 as Cloud has been hitting his stride the last two events. In the consolation bracket semifinals, Cloud got an impressive win over Burlington’s Tristen Devening who is 14-9 on the season. Iola’s Ryan Wools got two wins via bye and one via pin on his way to a sixth place finish in the 113-pound bracket. Wools was 3-2 on the day, his sixth place finish showing constant improvement. Wools finished eighth at the Anderson County Invitational before the break. Wools is 4-6 this season. The Mustangs’ Dominic McGee finished sixth in the 285-pound bracket. McGee had an up and down day, going 3-2 at the event. McGee improves to 11-9 on the season. McGee has been a constant fifth to sixth place finisher all season, getting valuable points for the Mustangs. In the first round, McGee lost a narrow 3-1 decision to Erie High School’s Brayden Yarnell, causing him to slip to the bottom half of the bracket. Humboldt’s Andrew Watts, one of the top 10 wrestlers in the state at 285 pounds, took first in the bracket, going 4-0 to improve his record to 11-1 on the season. Watts defeated Yarnell in the finals to give him his first loss of the season. Watts has not lost since the first place match of the Kan/Okla tournament in December. Iola sent one girl, Katelyn Womelsdorf, to the event. Womelsdorf went 3-1 in the 191-pound bracket with two wins via bye. A loss in the third round of the consolation bracket relegated her to the seventh place match, which she won over Eskridge-Mission Valley’s Jenna Grame via a 10-4 decision. Humboldt’s Curt Shannon finished third in the 106-pound bracket with a 3-1 record, bringing his record on the season to 4-2. Shannon made quick work of his opponents, none of his matches lasted longer than 1:17. Cole Mathes brought home a fifth-place finish for the Cubs in the 152-pound bracket. Mathes went 4-1 with three wins coming via pin in under two minutes. Mathes is 11-2 on the season. He and Watts have constantly been in the top three for Humboldt in each tournament. Humboldt’s Dakota Slocum had a rough day in the 182-pound bracket, finishing 3-2, but all his wins came via pin. Slocum finished seventh in the bracket and is 5-3 on the season. A quarterfinal loss sent Slocum to the bottom bracket and a loss in the semifinals of the consolation bracket sent him to the seventh-place match against Fort Scott’s Mario Ayala. Bailey Croisant took eighth in the girls’ 132-pound bracket. Croisant went 2-3. In the seventh-place match, Croisant fought tooth and nail against Fort Scott’s Jaidyn Crumbie. Croisant lost the match in the third round via pin. Iola will be in action on Friday when they host Girard and Uniontown. Humboldt hosts Mound City’s Jayhawk-Linn and Parsons on the 18th.
BURLINGTON — The Iola High School and Humboldt High School wrestling teams pinned their way to wins at the 30th Burlington Wrestling Invitational. Iola finished 10th. The Cubs finished ninth. Each team took an individual win.
