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| Hood captures first title of season at Eudora |
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| Sports - Louisburg | |||
| Written by Andy Brown | |||
| Wednesday, 16 December 2009 08:00 | |||
EUDORA — There were some tense moments during Bryce Hood’s championship match during Saturday’s Eudora Tournament of Champions.  Hood found himself down 4-2 to Lansing’s Spencer Blew in the first period, and in danger of losing his first match of the young season. But just like many of Hood’s other matches, it ended up not being much of a contest. Hood rallied back for an 11-7 decision in the 140- pound bracket and captured Louisburg’s lone first-place finish of the two-day tournament. Hood was one of five Louisburg wrestlers to make it to the championship bracket in the 24-team tournament. He helped the Wildcats to a 16th place finish with 117.5 points. Lansing won the tournament with 244 points. “There is really not much to say about Bryce,” Louisburg coach Greg Darrington said. “He just went out and did what he usually does. He was just really dominant all weekend. I really wasn’t nervous at all when he got down in his championship match because Bryce did whatever he wanted against (Blew). He is a good wrestler, but Bryce was just on a different level that day.” To get to the championship match, Hood had to survive another scare against Gardner-Edgerton’s Micah Flora-Swick. Hood was up big in the second period, but Flora-Swick put Hood on his back several times to creep back in it. However, Hood survived for an 11-10 decision. “That match was probably good for Bryce,” Darrington said. “It was a good test for him and it showed that you have to keep battling through adversity. He really wrestled well all weekend.” The biggest surprise from the weekend might have been Derek Mathia. The Louisburg senior, who wrestled at 145 pounds, battled back after losing his first match in the championship bracket to take third place after he pinned El Dorado’s Maverick Horsch in just 16 seconds. Mathia started Friday with a loss in the round-robin brackets, and ended up winning his pool. Then in the first match against St. Thomas Aquinas’ Johnnie Perz, he pinned himself after he got caught in a bad position. Mathia went on to record two pins and a 2-0 decision of Gardner’s Casey Kidwell to take third. “Derek probably matured more in those two days than he has in the last two years,” Darrington said. “He never gave up when things weren’t going well. For him to battle back after losing his first match Friday, and then again on Saturday, shows he is a different wrestler this year. He was aggressive all weekend and that is why I think he showed such a big improvement.” Freshman Cullen Hood had his fair share of challenges, but most of it was due to health reasons. Cullen battled flu-like symptoms most of the weekend, but still managed to finish fourth. Darrington pulled Cullen from his third-place match due to illness, but he recorded an 8-7 decision over Fort Scott’s Tyler Sharp, then after a loss to Baldwin’s Bryce Shoemaker, he dominated Spring Hill’s Taylor Smith in a 9-0 major decision. Sophomore Austin Hood took to the mat in the tournament’s toughest bracket — 112 pounds. The bracket featured six state placers and eight state qualifiers. When all was said and done, Hood took fifth overall after he won an 11-4 decision over Spring Hill’s Michael Nemer to avenge a loss earlier in the tournament. “I really think this tournament was good for Cullen and Austin because it shows how much harder they have to work to get to where they want to be,” Darrington said. “They are good wrestlers, and when they are wrestling hard, there aren’t many who can beat them, but they have to start wrestling offensively, instead of defensively.” Mason Whaley also held his own in a tough 171-pound bracket. Whaley opened the championship bracket with losses to De Soto’s Brandon Vukas and Prairie View’s Billy Teters, but ended his day on a good note with a 4-0 decision over Wellsville’s Jesse Campbell in the seventh-place match. The Wildcats return to the mat Saturday when they travel to the Randy Starcher Invitational in Tonganoxie.
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