The Joplin Eagles came away from their home dual on Tuesday with a 40-35 win over McDonald County in the second gym at Kaminsky Gymnasium.
Joplin won the first match by forfeit at 106 pounds and jumped out to a 30-6 lead, McDonald County used four pins to cut it down to 33-30 because of a point lost due to unsportsmanlike conduct, and Joplin earned critical wins at 190 and 215 to secure the team victory.
“It was a great team-effort win tonight,” Joplin coach Jeremy Finley said. “Mac County’s got some good kids. They really do. I think they’re ranked somewhere in the state Class 3, I don’t know but they’ve got tough kids. It took a total team effort. We had to shuffle the lineup a little bit, and our kids stood up to the challenge. That goes to show what Joplin kids are about. We may not be the most technical, we may not be the most flashy, but dang it, we’re tough kids and very proud of the team effort.”
On a night when the contested matches ended 7-6 in favor of Joplin, two of them proved especially critical since both Joplin wrestlers trailed significantly after the first period only to turn around and pin their McDonald County opponent during the second period.
Jabin Brown (120) fell behind Robinson Yoshino 10-4 after one, then he pinned Yoshino 30 seconds into the second.
Andrew Burke (132) trailed Ayden Ball 4-1 after one, before pinning his McDonald County counterpart with 46 seconds remaining in the second.
“Jabin Brown at 120, that kid (Yoshino) was clearly a good wrestler,” Finley said. “It was 10-1 and 10-4 then we found a way to put him on his back. Honestly, those matches at 120 and 132 were the difference in the dual. We end up winning by five. If we get beat in those matches, Mac County wins the dual.”
Joplin’s Toryn Jones (126) pinned Paden Vance in 2:25, Alex Short (138) pinned Lorenzo Mendoza in 24 seconds, Juan Morales (165) won a 5-2 decision from Huxley Wardlaw, Drew VanGilder (190) won 7-3 against Malosi Sosef, and Jonathan Williams (215) won a 10-0 major decision against Cole Thomas.
Tucker Houston (106) won by forfeit.
“Any time you have a nice win like this tonight and you’re going into the second half of your season, it’s a nice springboard going forward, that’s for sure,” Finley said.
McDonald County’s Eberson Perez (113) pinned Ryley Hall in 3:16, Blaine Ortiz (144) pinned Johnathon Burke in 2:18, Levi Smith (150) pinned Cole Gandy in 1:29, Cross Spencer (157) pinned Hyder Bowman in 44 seconds, Colter Vick (175) pinned Ethan Bentz in 1:03, and Samuel Murphy (285) pinned Draven VanGilder in 53 seconds.
Finley moved Draven VanGilder up to heavyweight Thursday and Williams stepped in and stepped up with a big win at 215.
McDonald County’s Matthew Muehlebach (144), Ethan Jones (150), and Kevin Molina (165) each won their JV matches by pin.
Joplin and McDonald County ended in a 24-all draw in their girls dual.
Joplin’s Coryaunna Mueller (115) pinned Jaslyn Benhumea with 30 seconds remaining in the third period, Ericka Washom (135) won by forfeit, Amy Kessler (145) pinned Jazmynn Brewer in 3:02, and Illahna Burtrum (190) pinned Gisel Aragon in 2:24.
McDonald County’s Ellysia Wasson (110) won by forfeit, Rylie Huston (140) pinned Olyvia Higdon in 1:51, Stacy Lopez-Apolinar (155) pinned Mya Ndedi-Ntepe in 3:55, and Helen Martinez-Mazariegos (170) won by forfeit.
