PARSONS – The Barton wrestling team will be taking a good representation to the NJCAA Championships in a couple of weeks.

The Cougars qualified seven on the 10 weights and crowned a West/Central District Champion in the process.

As a team, Barton finished fourth at the event, one point shy of a third place finish.

The West/Central District featured six ranked teams among the 10 competing at the event, including the No. 2 and 3 ranked teams.

Northeastern Oklahoma, ranked No. 2 in the nation, won the meet with 186 points followed closely by No. 3 Northwest Tech with 176.5.

Barton, ranked No. 14, was edged by No. 12 Cloud for third, 125-124. Cowley, 25th in the nation, was fifth with 106.

Individually, Barton’s Gage McBride won the 174 division winning a close 11-9 decision over Cloud’s Matthew Cruickshank in the semifinals before battling Northwest Tech’s Tsogtbayar Tserendagua into sudden victory in the championship match.

McBride, ranked 5th nationally at the weight, earned a 4-2 SV-1 victory over the No. 4 ranked Tsogtbayar to earn Barton’s only individual title on the day.

McBride was the only Cougar to reach the title match but five Barton wrestlers finished third on the day.

At 133, Gage Gomez had a stacked weight that featured three of the top four ranked wrestlers in the nation. Gomez, ranked 4th, dropped his only match of the day in the semifinals to top ranked Boo Dryden of NEO. Gomez came back to take third by defeating Dillon Prutch of Labette, 8-7.

Keaton Sander had a similar day at 141. The Great Bend High product rolled into the semifinals, where he met 2nd ranked Bat-Erdene Boldmaa of Northwest Tech. Sander lost in SV-2 by a 5-3 count. Sander then took third.

Andrew DeArmond lost in the quarterfinals at 157 then came all the back through the back side of the bracket to put himself in the third place match. DeArmond won the third place contest, 4-2 over Antony Kinsey of NW Tech.

Joey Ewalt rounded out the third place finishes for Barton. Ewalt lost in the semifinals to top ranked Alex Kauffman of NEO then worked his way to third place match where he defeated Cameron Young of Cloud by a 2-0 score.

At 149 Kolby Droegemeier made it to the semifinals where he lost to 4th ranked Kendon Lee of NEO. Droegemeier won his next match to move into the third place contest but lost to 5th ranked Enkhbold Sukhbaatar of NW Tech to finish fourth.

The seventh Cougar to earn a trip to the NJCAA National meet was Gable Howerton at 165. Howerton lost in the quarterfinals to eventual runner-up Keon Muckelvene of NW Tech and also in the consolation semis before taking winning the 5th place match by injury default over Noah Aziere of Cloud.

Barton’s other three entries – Brian Gates at 125, Kendall Johnson at 197, and Jacob Robles at 285 – all finished seventh.

The NJCAA Championships will take place March 1-2 in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

NJCAA West/Central District Championships

Team Score

Northeast O=klahoma 186, Northwest Tech 176.5, Cloud County 125, Barton 124, Cowley 106, Neosho 86, Labette 65, Pratt 60.5, Colby 17, Arkansas Baptist 6

Barton results

125 – Brian Gates, 7th place

1st round – Gates received a bye

Quarters – Naifeh, NEO, won by fall over Gates, 2:00

Cons 2nd – Gates won by tech fall over Westbrook, Colby, 24-8

Cons 3rd – Hey, Neosho, won by tech fall over Gates, 20-2

7th place – Gates won by fall over Strait, Cowley, 6:13

133 – Gage Gomez, 3rd place

1st round – Gomez received a bye

Quarters – Gomez def Prutch, Labette, 10-7

Semis – Dryden, NEO, won by major dec over Gomez, 15-4

Cons semis – Gomez won by fall over Circle, Cowley, 5:34

3rd place – Gomez def Prutch, Labette, 8-7

141- Keaton Sander, 3rd place

1st round – Sander received a bye

Quarters – Sander won by fall over Hickerson, Cowley, 4:35

Semis – Boldmaa, NW Tech, def Sander, 5-3 SV-2

Cons semis – Sander def Gfeller, Cloud, 6-4

3rd – Sander def Merlo, Neosho, 5-2

149 – Kolby Droegemeier, 4th place

1st round – Droegemeier received a bye

Quarters – Droegemeier def Biddle, Cowley, 5-2

Semis – Lee, NEO, won by fall over Droegemeier, 3:35

Cons semis – Droegemeier won by major dec over Wade, Colby, 8-0

3rd place – Sukhbaatar, NW Tech, def Droegemeier, 7-2

157 – Andrew DeArmond, 3rd place 

1st round – DeArmond def Boone, Neosho, 9-8

Quarters – Patterson, Cowley, won by major dec over DeArmond, 12-2

Cons 2nd – DeArmond received a bye

Cons 3rd – DeArmond won by forfeit over Moody, Colby

Cons semis – DeArmond def Jiner, Cloud, 4-2

3rd place – DeArmond def Kinsey, NW Tech, 4-2

165 – Gable Howerton, 5th place

1st round – Howerton received a bye

Quarters – Mcukelvene, NW Tech, def Howerton, 11-8

Cons 2nd – Howerton won by forfeit over Walters, Ark Baptist

Cons 3rd – Howerton def Salgado, Neosho, 6-0

Cons semis – Lange, Cowley, def Howerton, 6-4

5th place – Howerton won by injury default over Aziere, Cloud, 1:51

174 – Gage McBride, 1st place

1st round – McBride received a bye

Quarters – McBride won by tech fall over Sharp, Labette, 20-2

Semis – McBride def Cruickshank, Cloud, 11-9

Championship – McBride def Tserendagua, NW Tech, 4-2 SV-1

184 – Joey Ewalt, 3rd place

1st round – Ewalt received a bye

Quarters – Ewalt won by fall over Pena, Labette, 6:22

Semis – Kauffman won by fall over Ewalt, 6:28

Cons Semis – Ewalt won by fall over Dent, Cowley, 5:42

3rd place – Ewalt def Young, Cloud, 2-0

197 – Kendall Johnson, 7th place

1st round – Johnson received a bye

Quarters – Hamilton, NW Tech, won by fall over Johnson, 2:06

Cons 2nd – Johnson received a bye

Cons 3rd – Soto, Neosho, won by fall over Johnson, 0:44

7th place – Johnson def Jackson, Colby, 4-3

285 – Jacob Robles, 7th place

1st round – Hernandez, Cloud, def Robles, 4-1

Cons 1st – Robles received a bye

Cons 2nd – Robels def Rodriguez, Pratt, 4-3

Cons 3rd – Qualls, Labette, def Robles, 5-2

7th place – Robles won by forfeit over Williams, Ark Baptist