Wrestling | 12/13/2021 12:20:00 PM
HAYS, Kan. – The final open tournament of the year for the Cloud County Community College wrestling team would see seven T-Bird wrestlers take part in the 2021 Bob Smith Open at Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays, Kansas on Sunday, December 12th.
With 16 schools representing NCAA Division II and the NAIA, Cloud County would be led by 197-pound wrestler
Ibrahim Ameer who would finish the day with a 5-2 record after splitting his opening two matches of the tournament. Earning a 17-2 technical fall in his opening match over Zion Freeman of Colorado State Pueblo, Ameer would then go on to drop a 10-9 decision to Tereus Henry of Fort Hays who would wind up winning the entire 197-pound bracket. Battling in the consolation bracket, Ameer would earn an 11-7 decision over Ben Gould of Colorado State-Pueblo and a 17-2 technical fall over Jayshon Hines of NW Kansas Tech to guarantee his way into the placing rounds. The consolation semifinals would be one of Ameer's toughest matches of the day, fending off Ivan Bavalage of Newman University 4-2 in sudden victory before dropping the third-place match to Hunter Tobiasson of Adams State.
Falling just one match shy of the placing rounds would be 157-pound wrestler
Jonny Crome as the Marysville, Kansas native earned a first-period fall over Alec Capehart of Carl Albert State College before dropping a 15-0 technical fall decision to Tyler Collins of Nebraska-Kearney. Fighting off elimination in three straight matches, Crome would earn falls over Jaime Mitchell of Labette and Justus Hulse who wrestled unattached to go along with an 8-1 decision over Fernando Luna of Colorado State. Facing his sixth and final match of the day, Crome would see his day end in the first period by fall to Justin Davis of Colorado State-Pueblo who would take fourth in the bracket.
Other CCCC wrestlers earning wins on Sunday would include
Michael Barfuss at 141 pounds with a second-period fall over Kyle Adams of Northwest Kansas Tech while
Brandon Rohr managed a 3-1 decision over Kaden Kirk of Pratt in the 174-pound weight class.
Micah Sterling would also earn a win on Sunday, defeating Davis Lee of Northwest Kansas Tech by fall in the second period.
What's Next?
Following nearly a month-long layoff, the Cloud County wrestling team will open up the 2022 portion of their schedule by entering Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference dual action for the first time of the year with a 7 PM home dual against Barton Community College. The T-Birds and Cougars faced off twice last year, with BCCC taking both duals at neutral sites. The dual will mark just the second time that Barton and Cloud County have faced off inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium, with the T-Birds earning their lone win in the series over BCCC on January 15th, 2020 by a score of 30-21.
