EUREKA — Two Iola High wrestlers, juniors Bryce Misenhelter and Cody Conner took home second-place finishes on the mat Saturday, highlighting action for a short-handed Mustang squad.
Both wrestlers made it through tough semifinal matches against highly regarded opponents en route to their lofty finishes, Iola coach Brad Carson said.
“Two seconds and a fourth: not too shabby for only having five wrestlers,” Carson said, at a tournament featuring 20 schools.
Misenhelter, at 182 pounds, won his first two matches by pins, then outscored Coffeyville’s Corey Turner 8-0 in the third and final period of what had been an even match.
“The Turner kid was really, really strong, but Bryce was able to get a take down and a pair of three-point near falls in that third period,” Carson said. “Bryce is getting better all the time. He’s a lot more active on his feet.”
Misenhelter eventually lost to Fredonia’s Luke Plummer, 10-1. Plummer was the top seed in the tournament.
“The Fredonia kid was pretty tough, but Bryce was able to stay in the match all six minutes,” Carson said. “Bryce had been a little sick this week, but he fought through it.”
Conner’s path to the finals at 145 pounds included a semifinal match pin of Austin Cross of Hillsboro with 30 seconds left in the first period.
Just a freshman, Cross entered the match with a 17-2 record.
“I think wrestling a freshman helped Cody,” Carson said. “Cody didn’t know a whole lot about him, so he couldn’t psych himself out. Cody just went in and did his thing.”
Cody was pinned in short order in the final match against Austin Hughey of El Dorado, the top-ranked 195-pound wrestler in Kansas 4A.
Earning a fourth-place finish for Iola was 195-pound senior Chase Roettgen.
Roettgen defeated Manny Martinez of El Dorado in a quarterfinal match before dropping a 3-0 decision to Kaleb Gillis of Herington, the eventual tournament champion.
The defeat sent Roettgen to the consolation side, where he edged Eureka’s Grayson Price 1-0. He dropped a heart-breaking 4-2 loss to Grant Newton of Coffeyville. Roettgen missed out on two potential points on a takedown when the referee stopped the action moments before the takedown because the wrestlers fell out of bounds.
“Chase just waited a bit too long to make his move again, and time ran out,” Carson said. “Chase did well. He’s good at sticking to his fundamentals, and he doesn’t give up a lot of cheap points. He just needs to learn to go all out when the situation calls for it.”
In other action for Iola, junior Travis Rieske went 2-2 at 160 pounds. Freshman Andrew Garber went 0-2 at 170 pounds.
“Travis did some good things,” Carson said. “He listened to the coaches and did the things we were telling him to do. Andrew started slowly, but got better. He just makes mistakes as a freshman that he won’t make as he gets older.”
The Mustangs wrestled once again without the services of seniors Stephen McDonald at 220 pounds because of a shoulder injury, Trey Colborn (back) at 285 pounds; Zeph Larney (knee) or Brice Aiello (illness), both at 152 pounds.
Iola’s varsity returns to action Saturday at a tournament in Fredonia. The junior varsity wrestlers will compete Saturday at a tournament in Fort Scott.
Iola’s results:
Cody Conner (145 pounds)
Def. Dakota Cline, Eureka, Fall :58
Def. Austin Cross, Hillsboro, Fall 1:30
Loss to Austin Hughey, El Dorado, Fall :51
Travis Rieske (160 pounds)
Def. Gabe Dorsey, Chase County, Fall 1:58
Loss to Seth Biehler, Herington, Fall 1:57
Def. Blake Paulie, Erie, Dec. 14-13
Loss to Brycen Gulick, Caney Valley, Fall 2:56
Andrew Garber (170 pounds)
Loss to Nick Jacobs, West Elk, Fall 1:08
Loss to Zac Lewman, Marion, Dec. 8-7
Bryce Misenhelter (182 pounds)
Def. Wyatt Anderson, Caney Valley, Fall 3:08
Def. Ashtyn Cody, Rose Hill, Fall 1:14
Def. Corey Turner, Coffeyville, Major Dec. 10-2
Loss to Luke Plummer, Fredonia, Dec. 8-1
Chase Roettgen (195 pounds)
Def. Manny Martinez, El Dorado, Dec. 3-1
Loss to Kaleb Gillis, Herington, Dec. 3-0
Def. Grayson Pryce, Eureka, Dec. 1-0
Loss to Grant Newton, Coffeyville, Dec. 4-2
Misenhelter, Conner take second
