| Grimes Second In Home Tournament |
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| Sports | |||
| Written by David Wolman | |||
| Tuesday, 02 February 2010 16:41 | |||
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Zack Grimes had blood rushing down his face after going for a takedown against Blue Valley West’s Pat McCann during their 189-pound semifinal match Saturday in the Osawatomie Wrestling Invitational. Grimes, in the process, was struck in the back of the head by McCaan. Blood started gushing from the back of Grimes’ head, and he had to be tended to by trainer John Pomatto. A streak of 32 consecutive wins to start the season was on the line for Grimes. Osawatomie coach Matt Higgins knew the blood could be stopped the first time, but he wasn’t so sure if it happened a second time, with a total of five minutes allotted to clean up cuts for each wrestler during a match. If that scenario happened, Grimes would have suffered his first loss. Grimes, with a large bandage wrapped around his head, was able to continue wrestling. He went on to defeat McCaan by an 8-0 major decision to advance to the championship.  Grimes’ win streak came to an end in his next match as he suffered a 5-2 loss to Blue Springs’ Lewis Foutz, a returning state qualifier who is ranked second in Class 4 in Missouri, to place second. Grimes was one of six Trojans who placed in the top-six in Osawatomie’s home tournament. Brant Johnson garnered third at 140. Bodhi Wallace and Tyler Daniels placed fourth at 119 and 171 respectively. Andrew Cannon (125) and Devon Dozier (135) both struck for fifth place. Osawatomie placed eighth in the team standings with 100 points. Blue Springs won with 242 points, while Blue Valley West was second with 211. Grimes and Foutz wrestled a state tournament-caliber type of match. It was close the entire way. Foutz gained a 4-0 second-period lead with a two-point reversal, but Grimes, who was recognized prior to the match for recording his 100th win in a recent tournament at Prairie View, broke free of a hold later in the period for a reversal of his own to cut the deficit to 4-2. Foutz, however, scored a timely escape with just two seconds remaining in the stanza to increase his lead to three points and went on to win by that margin. “You never want to give up an escape with short time left,” Higgins said. “I must say that Foutz worked for that point, but Zack needs to hold him down to win that match. This is something Zack will learn from a close match like this one. “Foutz was the best we have seen this season, he is the real deal. His only losses in Missouri came to a two-time state champion, and they were close matches. He has a loss to a Nebraska kid and a kid from New Mexico.” Johnson had an impressive showing at 140 pounds. His only setback on what was a 3-1 day was in the semifinals, where he was pinned by Blue Springs’ Josh Howk, a two-time state champion. Johnson, however, responded in a big way in the consolation bracket. He pinned Ruskin’s Aaron Wiggins in the consolation semifinals to earn a berth in the third-place match, where Johnson won by a 3-1 decision over Blue Valley West’s Matt Mcwhorter. Johnson took a 3-0 lead into the third period in the third-place match on the power of an escape and a takedown. Mcwhorter, however, had some fight left in him, earning an escape to cut the deficit to two points. He appeared he was going to maneuver behind Johnson for a late takedown to tie the match, but Johnson locked Mcwhorter’s leg and never allowed him to get the two points. “Brant did not try to throw the kid, but wrestled for a takedown and an escape to get the win,” Higgins said. “He was under control and looked like a state qualifying wrestler.” Daniels, who entered the tournament with a 4-8 record, appeared his day was going to come down an early end. He trailed in each of his first two matches in the consolation bracket at 171 pounds by large margins. Both times, he stunned his opponent with a move before recording late pins to advance to the third-place match. Daniels, however, was pinned in just 34 seconds by Anderson County’s Max Hopkins in the third-place match, but that loss didn’t rattle his confidence in what was his best showing on the season. “Tyler hit his stride today and had a good tournament,” Higgins said. “He needed some confidence and he should have some after the way he wrestled Saturday. He stayed in both of the matches he won and when it mattered he hit big moves and got the win.” Cannon finished 4-2 at 125, while Wallace went 2-2 at 119 and Dozier 3-2 at 140. Caleb Lofing won three of five matches to place seventh at 215. Dylan Stewart (130), Joe Gamache (152) and Zack Owens (215) all placed ninth. Jake Williams (125), Durland Crane (135), Kyle Kjar (140), Jacob Blurton (145), Zak Higgins (152), Matt Lofing (145) and David Higgins (160) also competed for the Trojans. DOUBLE DUAL CARBONDALE, Kan. — Osawatomie had to play catch-up in each of its two duals against Santa Fe Trail and Bonner Springs on Thursday. While the Trojans weren’t able to overtake Santa Fe Trail in their first dual on the evening, falling 38-28, pins by Grimes (189), Caleb Lofing (215) and Trevor Needham (285) in the squad’s second dual on the evening helped Osawatomie to erase a 19-point deficit to rally for a 39-30 win over Bonner Springs. Needham knew the dual against Bonner Springs came down to him. With Osawatomie holding a three-point lead, all he needed to do — at the minimum — was to win by decision. Things didn’t look good early in the match as he trailed 8-3, but he was able to register a pin in the third period to secure the win for the Trojans and put the capper on an exciting win for his team. Osawatomie returns to the mat Thursday for a home dual against Iola.
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