Iola High’s Mustangs hosted the school’s first-ever Southeast Kansas League wrestling double-dual Thursday. They ended up with a split decision.
Iola defeated Coffeyville 29-19 winning five matches to Coffeyville’s four. Independence beat Iola 49-30 in the third dual of the night after decking Coffeyville 66-10.
The Mustangs finished their first varsity SEK season at 2-6 in dual action and were 2-9 in dual action overall. Independence ended at 5-3 in the league and Coffeyville 0-8.
Chanute won its fourth-straight SEK wrestling title but it took a tie-breaker to give it to the Blue Comets Thursday. Chanute and Columbus tied 33-33 but the tiebreaker went to the Comets. After a 40-18 win over Fort Scott, the Blue Comets went 8-0 in SEK action.
Pittsburg finished second at 7-1 and Columbus was 6-2.
“It was a nice way to end the dual season in front of the home crowd,” said Ron Schomaker, Iola High head coach.
“We wrestled much better, especially against Independence. We really challenged people that had beaten us earlier in the year.”
Iola’s Marcus Sullivan finished at 7-1 in SEK action. He scored a technical fall, a 15-point advantage, against Mateo Francisco of Coffeyville, 18-3.
Sullivan pinned Independence’s Micah Knight in the second period. The pin came at the 3:12 mark of the six-minute match.
Stephen McDonald, 189, and Chris Lynn, 285, each recorded a 5-3 SEK mark this season.
Lynn pinned Isiah Grundy of Coffeyville in 40 seconds Thursday. He ended the dual with Independence with a pin of Zack Snodgrass in 1:01.
McDonald earned six team points for Iola against Coffeyville, winning the 189 match via a forfeit. McDonald fought off being pinned by Independence’s Johnny Ainseworth but lost 15-4.
Iola’s 140-pound wrestler, Joe Myrick, won by forfeit against Coffeyville. He pinned Independence’s Cole Keller in a fast-paced opening with both wrestlers trading advantage. Myrick’s pin came in 48 seconds and bumped his SEK record to 4-2.
Zeph Larney earned team points in both competitions Thursday with forfeits at the 125-pound division. Larney went 3-3 in the SEK.
Devin Culler, Iola’s 152-pounder, lost 9-3 to Coffeyville’s Cory Turner. Independence’s Dustin Oliver notched a 7-0 decision over Culler, who was 2-5 in SEK action.
Denton Christian was pinned by Curtis Bolden of Coffeyville in 4:53 at 171. Christian was 1-2 in the SEK.
