The Barton wrestling team started off the 2016 calendar with a trip north to Nebraska. The Cougars took a small group to restart the season as six wrestlers made the trip to the Viking-Warrior Open Saturday.
The lone Cougar to earn a place was Kade Sander, who placed fourth at 157 pounds. Sander opened with a pair of easy wins. Sander beat two wrestlers from the host school – Midland University.
Sander won the first round match over Francisco Vazquez by a majority decision, 12-0. Sander then had an even easier time in quarterfinal action with a 16-0 technical fall win over Tyler Willis.
That moved him into the semifinals where he squared off with Zach Skates of Oklahoma City University. Skates is quickly becoming a nemesis of Sander’s.
It was the third time the two have met on the mat this season and Sander is still looking for his first win against the 3-time All-American. Sander came up just short, dropping a 6-3 decision to Skates.
Sander had very little trouble in a rematch with Vasquez in the consolation semis, winning by technical fall, 17-0. The Barton freshman came up just short in his bid for third place, losing 8-7 to Travis Holt of St. Cloud State.
The rest of the Cougars that made the trip to Fremont all exited in the second round of consolation action.
Barton will be back on the mat Saturday when the Cougars travel to Hastings College in Nebraska for more Open action.
157 - Kade Sander
Round 1 - Sander (Barton) won by major decision over Francisco Vazquez (Midland) (12-0)
Quarterfinal - Sander (Barton) won by tech fall over Tyler Willis (Midland) (16-0)
Semifinal - Zach Skates (Oklahoma City) won by decision over Sander (Barton) (6-3)
Cons. Semi - Sander (Barton) won by tech fall over Francisco Vazquez (Midland) (17-0)
3rd Place Match - Travis Holt (St Cloud State) won by decision over Sander (Barton) (8-7)
165 - Sean Taborsky
Round 1 - Cody Kingery (Nebraska-Kearney) won by decision over Taborsky (Barton) (11-5)
Cons. Round 1 - Taborsky (Barton) received a bye
Cons. Round 2 - Austin Starkey (Concordia) won by fall over Taborsky (Barton) (6:55)
174 - Christian Strother
Round 1 - Tyler McMichael (Midland) won by fall over Strother (Barton) (3:49)
Cons. Round 1 - Tucker Ksiazek (Grandview) won by fall over Strother (Barton) (4:56)
174 - Devon Baker
Round 1 - Baker (Barton) received a bye
Round 2 - Dylan Blackford (Grandview) won by fall over Baker (Barton) (1:17)
Cons. Round 2 - Tucker Ksiazek (Grandview) won by fall over Baker (Barton) (6:23)
197 - Jonathan Bowen
Round 1 - Adam Ball (Midland) won by fall over Bowen (Barton) (2:11)
Cons. Round 1 - Bowen (Barton) received a bye
Cons. Round 2 - Nick Osowski (St Cloud State) won by fall over Bowen (Barton) (2:12)
285 - Justin Scarbro
Round 1 - Aaron Rafalko (Midland) won by fall over Scarbro (Barton) (4:25)
Cons. Round 1 - Scarbro (Barton) received a bye
Cons. Round 2 - Jarrod Hinrichs (Nebraska-Kearney) won by decision over Scarbro (Barton) (10-3)