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| Hood holds on for Blue Springs crown |
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| Sports - Louisburg | |||
| Written by Andy Brown | |||
| Wednesday, 04 February 2009 08:00 | |||
 BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — In what was probably his toughest match of the season so far, Bryce Hood hung on for dear life.Hood, who wrestles at 135 pounds, faced off with Holt’s (Mo.) Tony James on Saturday in the championship match of the Blue Springs South Invitational. Not only was James highly rated in Missouri, but is ranked No. 10 in the nation in his weight class. The two aggressive wrestlers went back and forth at each other after Hood took a 7-2 lead early. The Louisburg junior held on for a 15-13 decision and made a statement for the rest of the season. “Bryce and I were both very confident about beating James in the final,” Louisburg coach Greg Darrington said. “We both realize he needs to get into better condition for when we start wrestling tougher competition later in the month. The good kids keep pressuring, and I must get him into better shape. It was intense, and James lost his cool while Bryce kept his. That was the key to Bryce winning the match.” After all was said and done, the Wildcats finished ninth out of 13 teams with 148 points, four places higher than their finish at the same tournament a year ago. Austin Hood, Tyler Ewy, Mason Whaley and Brock Elliott all medaled in their respective weight classes during the two-day tournament. “Most of the team handled the two-day tournament well,” Darrington said. “They did a great job controlling their weight, which is important for regionals and state tournaments. “As far as wrestling, I still need some kids to realize that if you lose once you’re not out of the tournament, and they need to wrestle harder than they did the first round. This tournament is the toughest one we wrestle in all year. There are only 13 teams, but everyone is tough, and it is hard to survive Friday and make it into Saturday.”  Austin, a freshman, lost a close 3-2 decision to Joplin’s (Mo.) Brycen Minor and suffered only his second loss of the season.“Austin did a great job and could have won,” Darrington said. “He beat some good kids and wrestled well enough to win. He needs to practice and condition harder to get into better shape. When he gets in great shape, he will be even tougher to beat.” Ewy, a heavyweight, picked up his fair share of wins, but fell in the third-place match after he was pinned by Blue Valley Northwest’s Josh Motti in 3 minutes and 43 seconds. Whaley finished sixth overall at 160 pounds after losing an 8-3 decision to Raytown’s Kenya Woods. Elliott took eighth after losing the seventh-place match. “Mason wrestled harder than all the kids,” Darrington said. “I can count on Mason to wrestle hard if he is winning or losing. He is working hard to make his goal of going to state, and I really think he has a good chance. When kids wrestle Mason, they know they have been in a match.” The Wildcats returned home Tuesday for a dual with Spring Hill and travel to the Silver Lake Invitational on Saturday for their final regular season tournament.
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