Beavers place two in strong competition
By Cody Hooten
The Pratt Community College wrestling team traveled to Greeley, Colo., on Sunday to compete in the Old Chicago Northern Colorado Open. Once again, the Beavers found themselves in a large tournament in which the smallest weight class featured 28 competitors from four-year schools and top junior colleges in the area.
Two PCC wrestlers made it through the gauntlet to place in the tournament.
Colby Crawford, sophomore from Pawhuska, Okla., continued his solid start to the season placing third in the 141 pound division, losing a questionable match to Joey Deaguero of Adams State University. Crawford posted a 5-1 record at the event.
“Colby had a great tournament. I personally feel he should have been in the finals but the ref had some tough calls and all of them went for the Adams State kid,” Head Coach Chas Thompson said.
Also placing for the Beavers was Jason Nichols in the 157 pound weight class. The freshman from Garden City grappled to a fourth place finish. Nichols was 4-1 in the tournament before he was forced to forfeit due to a knee injury.
“Jason wrestled well also. He got a little banged up in his quarterfinal match and wrestled up until his third and fourth place match. Rather than risk an injury we sat Jason out to give him a little rest,” Thompson added.
Two PCC wrestlers made some noise in the 133 pound weight class. Joe Olson, freshman from WaKeeney, went 3-2 and James Fox, freshman from Douglass, won two matches before he was eliminated. Heavyweight Carl Wilkinson also won two matches in the tournament.
“Overall we could have wrestled better. We lost a lot of one point matches. Now what we need to do is take what we’ve learned from these losses and work on them in the room,” Thompson concluded.
The Beavers will get the opportunity to learn from these losses on Sunday, Nov. 26, when they travel to Norman, Okla., for the Oklahoma Open.
Results
Colby Crawford 3rd Place
Dec. Jess Heiner 12-2
Dec. Rocco Depaolo 5-2
Dec. Tate Lowe 6-4
Lost to Joey Deaguero 15-13
Dec. Byron Kuylen 3-1
Jason Nichols 4th Place
Dec. Derek Fritz 11-2
Dec. Noomis Jones 5-0
Dec. Nick Ross 9-3
Lost to Luke Salazar 9-2
Dec. Jeb Clark 9-1
Forfeit to Danny Grater
