Wrestling | 12/9/2022 9:31:00 PM
CONCORDIA, Kan. – Wrestling at home for the first time all year and opening their 2022-23 dual season, the number-15 ranked Cloud County Community College wrestling team would split a pair of duals by dropping a 33-12 decision to 15th-ranked Carl Albert State College before bouncing back in the final dual of the evening by earning a 36-16 win over 12th-ranked Northeastern Junior College inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium on Friday, December 9th.
The two dual splits for the T-Birds runs CCCC's dual record to 1-1 on the year while Carl Albert State would be victorious in each of the first two duals of the day to run their record to 5-4 overall while Northeastern falls in both of their duals on Friday to fall to 1-6 overall.
Against Carl Albert:
Facing a 6-0 deficit from the opening match with an open weight class at 133 pounds, Cloud County would send out freshman
Caden Crider to face off against RT Noel of Carl Albert in the first actual action of the dual. Facing an 8-2 deficit at the end of the first period, Crider would see the deficit grow to 10-1 after five minutes of action and be in danger of giving up a major decision but manage to score a third-period takedown and cut the deficit to 10-3 to not give up any bonus points in the dual.
Salvador Barintas would then head out to represent CCCC in the 149-pound match to take on fourth-ranked Kayson Kenney in what would be a low-scoring match through the first four minutes of action. Limiting Kenney to just one takedown in the opening period, Barintas would see a missed opportunity lead to a counterattack that would put the Garden City, Kansas native turned to his back as Kenney would earn a fall at the 4:20 mark to put the Vikings up 15-0.
Following a 12-6 decision for Carl Albert's Noah Smith over
Dylan Ancheta at 157 pounds, the T-Birds would finally get themselves on the scoreboard in the 165-pound match with
Gabriel Bailey taking on Gunnar Spence. Putting together a quick takedown and four-point near fall, Bailey would threaten to end the match early before giving up an escape and takedown in what would be an entertaining 6-3 opening period. Scoring a takedown before giving up an escape in the second, Bailey would carry an 8-4 lead into the final two minutes of action and choose the down position to limit the scoring opportunities for Spence before earning an escape and takedown. Spence would score a last-second escape as Bailey would earn an 11-5 decision with riding time not factoring into the score.
At 174 pounds, Cloud County would see Carl Albert earn another six points with a second-period fall over
Wyatt Powell after trailing 4-0 early in the second period and would go on to earn another second-period fall in the 184-pound match over Tommy Rogers of CCCC. Turning to second-ranked
Ibrahim Ameer at 197 pounds, Cloud County would earn their second victory of the afternoon on the mats with a 13-6 decision that would see Ameer turn a 4-3 lead after two periods into a comfortable win that finished just short of bonus points due to a late escape. With just two matches remaining, Cloud County would send
Montavious Waters out to take on Trey Hudgens in the 285-pound match with Carl Albert earning a 7-1 decision victory with CCCC returning the favor in the 125-pound match courtesy of
Brady Foster with a late first-period takedown creating a fall at the 2:43 mark.
Against Northeastern JC:
Six points would be scored right away by each squad with Northeastern having an open weight at 125 pounds which would be offset by an open weight at 133 pounds for Cloud County to once again get action on the mat started at 141 pounds and Crider for CCCC. Limited action in the opening period would see NJC's eight-ranked Deegan Palmer lead Crider 2-1 heading to the second before scoring a four-point near fall that would lead to a T-Bird injury. With Crider unable to continue, the match would officially end at the 5:00 mark as an injury default would give the Plainsmen their first lead of the day at 12-6.
In what would become one of the more entertaining matches of the day, Barintas and Northeastern's Bronson Richins at 149 pounds would see scoring occur throughout their match with both earning a takedown and escape to keep things tied at 3-3 after three minutes of action. Two escapes and a takedown for Richins would offset a takedown and escape in the second by Barintas to make it a 7-6 deficit for the T-Bird wrestler heading to the third while also holding choice of position to start the period. Taking the bottom position, Barintas would earn an escape to tie things at seven-all before outscoring Richins 4-2 down the stretch to earn an 11-9 decision win.
Following the match would be Ancheta and Josh Arend at 157 pounds with another offensive-laden bout with a takedown and four-point near fall for Ancheta helping to open up a 7-2 lead after one period. Arend would respond by scoring five of the eight points scored in the second period to cut the deficit to three at 10-7 but be unable to close in any more as Ancheta would use two escapes to offset a third-period takedown before earning a takedown of his own to counter a reversal and win by a score of 14-11.
With the dual score tied at 12-12, the 165-pound match would prove to be a prime opportunity for Cloud County with the Plainsmen having an open weight class at 174 pounds and knowing that the opportunity to break the dual open was possible. After two-plus minutes of scoreless action, Bailey would find an opportunity to take a shot and convert with a takedown and waste no time in turning Vince Beeson to his back to earn CCCC's second fall of the day with just 15 seconds left in the opening period. The open weight would mean that the T-Bird lead would grow from six to 12 at 24-12 heading into the 184-pound match as a victory of any kind by Cloud County would secure a dual victory. The clinching opportunity would be thwarted however by fourth-ranked Connor Davis as Rogers would face a 6-0 deficit after one period of action and eventually give up a four-point near fall and riding time point to lead to an 11-0 major decision for NJC.
A ranked wrestler in Ameer at 197 pounds for Cloud County would become the dual clinching match however as a takedown and escape would put both the Florissant, Missouri native and Northeastern's Angel Fuentes on the board before seeing an aggressive Ameer earn another takedown and end the match with a fall at the 2:40 mark. Seeing his first action of the day in the final match of the day would be
Jahmari Pleasant who would be tasked with taking on seventh-ranked Riley Dean-Butt in the 285-pound match as the T-Birds would look to add some additional team points to their victory. With 90 seconds gone by and no scoring occurring, Pleasant would find an opportunity to catch Dean-Butt in a position that would lead to a takedown as Pleasant would make the most of the opportunity by getting the Rio Rancho, New Mexico native to his back for a fall with 1:07 left in the first period to cap off a 20-point Cloud County win.
On the day, the trio of Ameer, Bailey, and Foster would all pick up two victories. The two victories for Ameer would run his season record to 19-3 overall with eight falls while running his career win total to 39 and sit just one shy of moving into a tie for second-most in program history.
What's Next?
A quick turnaround sees Cloud County head to Hays, Kansas on Sunday, December 11th to take part in the Fort Hays State University Bob Smith Open with a limited squad. The open tournament will be the final action for the T-Birds prior to the holiday break and the final non-dual type tournament of the regular season.
