LCC wrestlers dominate Pratt

The Labette Community College wrestling team lived up to its new No. 3 national ranking Wednesday, traveling to No. 16 Pratt and delivering a convincing 38-3 victory.

"That's the kind of separation you're going to see," said Cardinal coach Joe Renfro, "between the top three or four teams and the rest."

The Cardinals definitely separated themselves from Pratt Wednesday, despite illness taking a toll on some of the wrestlers.

"We had a couple of guys with the flu," Renfro said, "but they went out and competed hard. You can't expect anything less at this level."

Renfro said Chance Rencountre, wrestling at 197 pounds, even had to come off the mat to vomit. Rencountre, ranked fifth in the country by the NJCAA, scored a 7-5 decision over Carl Wilkinson.

Renfro was pleased by the effort in the Cardinal's lone loss, a 5-4 decision by Tommy Edgmon, who is ranked eighth at 125 pounds, over Labette's Jared Denler.

"He (Edgmon) is better than us, and Jared still went out and competed hard," Renfro said.

Joe Yust's efforts also drew praise from Renfro. Renfro Yust scored a pinfall over his opponent, Jake Thomas, at 174 pounds.

"Joe had been struggling a little bit," Renfro said. "He went out and attacked and got after it with a fire in his belly."

The Cardinals depart today for the prestigious Kaufman-Brand tournament hosted by the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The tournament is the collegiate world's largest single-day wrestling meet, and it draws traditional NCAA Division I powerhouses like Iowa and Oklahoma State.

Labette County is one of only six junior colleges to enter this year.

"It's a big deal," Renfro said. "And it's long. By the end of the day, some of our guys will have wrestled nine or ten matches."

The tournament is split into two divisions, amateur and elite. The elite division is intended for wrestlers with college experience. Renfro said most of the Cardinals will compete in the elite division.

Labette 38 Pratt 3

197 Chance Rencountre LCC, Dec 7-5 Carl Wilkinson PCC
HWT Ben Hohensee LCC, MD 12-1 Matt Mock PCC
125 Tommy Edgmon PCC, Dec 5-4 Jared Denler LCC
133 Scott Berens LCC, MD 9-1 Kyle Beebe PCC
141 Derek Ward LCC, Dec 9-4 Andrew Carrillo PCC
149 Willy Pendleton LCC, Dec 4-1 Zack Hentzen PCC
157 Joseph Cornejo LCC, Fall 1:12 Scott Markey PCC
165 Mikey Morgan LCC, Fall 0:45 Kieren Schmult PCC
174 Joe Yust LCC, Fall 1:49 Jake Thomas PCC
184 Aaron Kuhlmann LCC, Dec 5-2 Michael Malay PCC

11/16/2007; 1:32:14 PM