BURLINGTON — The Iola Mustangs finished seventh out of 24 teams at the 34th annual Burlington Invitational Saturday.
Lifted by silver medal performances by sophomore Kevon Loving, 144 lbs., and junior Kale Pratt, 165 lbs., the Mustangs posted a top-10 finish despite not filling several weight classes.
“We performed well up and down the lineup,” Coach John Taylor said. “Kevon and Kale are my two leaders. They showed it today, but they both realize they didn’t wrestle their best match in their last match.”
Coming off a calf injury, Pratt (8-1) made his presence known in his return after opening the tournament with pins of Caney Valley senior Brody Brown (2-11), then Hiawatha freshman Corbin Arbuckle before breaking into the finals with a 6-2 decision over Burlington senior Kyzer Lehmann (13-2).
Pratt fell to undefeated Central Heights junior Gage Peine (11-0) by second-period pin.
Pratt said he feels the match may go differently if they see each other later this season.
“It felt good to be back, but it wasn’t the result I wanted,” Pratt said. “It was an alright start. I’ll be back on top of the podium soon. It motivates me a lot. I know I could have beat that kid, but I’ll meet him later this year.”
Another Iola wrestler making a name for himself is Loving, who raced through the bracket with a first-period pin of Burlington senior Owen McCarty (3-8), then a technical fall of Fredonia junior Anthony Beard (3-3), a 18-2 technical fall of Cherryvale senior Koean Clotfelter to break into the finals. Loving fell to CHHS junior Royce Ulrich by second period pin.
Loving said having Pratt back in practice is inspiring.
“Seeing how good Kale is in practice makes me want to get that much better. It helps to see someone in practice wanting to get to state.”
Humboldt’s junior Broc Ivy, 157 lbs., posted a third-place finish after fighting his way up the consolation bracket. He opened with a first-period pin of Eudora freshman Aiden Osborne (6-13), then defeated Neoshesha junior Dejay Schlegel (6-4) by second-period pin before falling to Waterer by 16-1 technical fall. Ivy defeated Fredonia senior Noah Howard (14-5) to wrestle for third, where he defeated Burlington senior Bowen McIntosh by first-period pin.
Iola senior Trapper Boren, 126 lbs., took fifth after opening with a loss by first-period pin to McPherson sophomore Jacob Magnall (7-6), then rebounded with a first-period pin of Neodesha freshman Jax Ramey (11-8), then a third-period pin of Turner freshman Kevin Billups (5-13) by 20-3 tech-fall, then fell to Magnall by 12-1 decision to land in the fifth-place match. There, he defeated Wellsville junior Tyson Benjamin (7-9) by first-period pin.
Alston “Ollie” Nelson took sixth place at 215 lbs. He lost to Rock Creek senior Karsen Toburen first-period pin, rebounded a pin of Wellsville junior Jayce Hunt (2-7) by first-period pin, and fell to CVHS junior Raydn Martin (15-4) by first-period pin for fifth place. There, he fell to Toburen again but this time by second-period pin.
Other resultss: At 138 lbs., IHS junior Ruger Borgen lost to Uniontown freshman Kyson Stock (6-5) by 17-4 decision, then defeated CVHS sophomore Zayden Clark (8-12) by second-period pin before falling to Fredonia sophomore Kristopher May (10-6) by third-period pin.
Beau Erickson, IHS 150 lbs. junior (8-5), fell to CVHS senior Noah Henderson (13-5) by first-period pin, then Rock Creek freshman Christopher Heideman (7-13) by first-period pin.
Humboldt junior Emmitt Carson opened with a loss by first-period pin of Beebee High School’s Colton Collins (8-7), then fell to SLHS sophomore Chase Cormier (9-6) by second-period pin. At 157 lbs.,
