By Fred Kroner
Two St. Joseph-Ogden grapplers went 7-0 during the two-day Abe’s Rumble in the Land of Lincoln Wrestling Tournament, which ended on Thursday (Dec. 30), in Springfield.
Emmitt Holt had one pin and two two-point decisions among his victories at 113 pounds. Holden Brazelton posted three pins and one technical fall win among his triumphs.
SJ-O filled just eight of the 14 weight classes, but went 2-5 in a series of dual meets and placed 13th in the Bronze Bracket.
The Spartans lost to Murphysboro (53-21), Coal City (67-6), Canton (49-25), Dwight (36-33) and Petersburg Porta (45-24) before closing out with wins against Pontiac (35-33) and Toledo Cumberland (33-27).
Six other SJ-O wrestlers besides Holt and Brazelton earned wins.
Conrad Miller (160 and 170 pounds) was 5-2 with four pins. Miller collected two pins in less than a minute.
Hunter Ketchum (195 pounds) was 4-3 with one pin and a 3-1 overtime decision. Lexi Wirth (120 and 126 pounds) was also 4-3.
Owen Birt (220 and 285 pounds) was 3-3 with two pins, including one in 54 seconds. Matt Falls (138 pounds) was 2-5 with one pin.
Quincy Jones (220 and 285 pounds) was 1-2 with one pin.
During the tournament, SJ-O wrestlers had a cumulative 33-23 record, winning 13 matches by pin.
SJ-O (2-9) returns to action on Tuesday (Jan. 4) at Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin.
