SJO wrestling finishes seventh at Unity Invitational
By Fred Kroner
Senior Emmitt Holt and junior Holden Brazelton won their individual weight classes on Saturday (Dec. 16) for St. Joseph-Ogden, which finished seventh in the 14-school Unity Wrestling Invitational in Tolono.
Holt was 2-0 at the 106-pound weight class, posting one pin in 40 seconds.
Brazelton was 3-0 at 132 pounds with two pins, including one in the finals in 1:11. For the season, Brazelton has a 14-0 overall record.
Four other SJ-O grapplers secured top-five finishes.
Both Coy Hayes (157 pounds) and Quincy Jones (215 pounds) captured third place. Hayes was 2-1 for the day and also had one with technical fall victory. Jones was also 2-1 and registered two pins, one of which came in 2:30.
Camden Getty (120 pounds) wound up in fourth place and Jackson Walsh (113 pounds) finished fifth.
Getty had a 1-2 record at the tournament with a pin in 3:41. Walsh compiled a 2-1 record with two pins, the quickest of which came in 2:42.
Other Spartans with pins were Nathan Daly (2-2 at 150 pounds), James Barron (1-2 at 165 pounds) and Khaden Hallowell (1-2 at 190 pounds).
Daly’s pin was recorded in 1:55. Barron’s pin came in 2:57 and Hallowell produced a fall in 1:10.
Also reaching the win column at the tournament were Eli Birt (1-2 at 126 pounds) and Landen Butts (2-2 at 138 pounds).
Stanford Olympia won team honors with 199 ½ points. Runner-up Tolono Unity had 190 ½ points and was followed by Benton (188). Seventh-place SJ-O ended with 119 pounds.
Spartans wrestlers had a cumulative 19-21 record for the event with 11 pins and one technical fall victory.
On Thursday (Dec. 14), St. Joseph-Ogden wrestlers won six matches – four by forfeit – but the Spartans dropped a 45-34 decision at Westville.
The Spartans received pins from Getty (120 pounds in 2:52), Birt (126 pounds in 3:20) and Barron (175 in 3:44). Logan Xiao (150 pounds) earned a 10-2 win by major decision.
Picking up forfeits were Holt (106 pounds) and Brazelton (138 pounds).
SJ-O (5-2) returns to action on Friday (Dec. 29) in Springfield at The Rumble in the Land of Lincoln.
