Winning three weight classes and having four other wrestlers finish in the top three of their respective weight classes, the Union Wildcats finished second in the Ft. Zumwalt North Tournament Green Pool Saturday.
“Overall I thought the team wrestled very well,” stated Union Head Coach Justin Cranmer. “We are getting better every day and will have even a tougher lineup once a few wrestlers return from injuries and other issues that are keeping them out of the lineup.”
In the team standings, Union scored 207 points to finish behind only Ft. Zumwalt North (270) in the Green Pool. Also wrestling were Cape Girardeau Central (141), Parkway Central (75) and University City (66).
Fulton won the Gold Pool with 240 points.
Union’s winners were Colton Faber (113), Alex Gaebe (138) and Devon Fennessey (145).
Faber pinned University City’s Daniel Pluma in 2:52, pinned Brennan Redinger of Cape Girardeau Central in 31 seconds and pinned Andy Zhang of Parkway North in 29 seconds.
“Alex Gaebe also wrestled tough at 138 winning the weight class while pinning three opponents,” Cranmer said. “He is going to be tough to beat this year at 138. He is a strong, tough wrestler who doesn’t give up any free points. He is the leader of this team in the practice room.”
Gaebe pinned Dan Halperin of Parkway Central in 1:40, EDavion Wade of Cape Central in 1:25 and Collin Overkamp of Ft. Zumwalt North in 3:07. He earned a 7-5 decision over Fulton’s Trenton Clines.
“Devon Fennessey wrestled really well, pinning every one of his opponents to win the tournament at 145,” Cranmer said. “He is now 6-0 on the season.”
Fennessey pinned University City’s Timothy Davis in 23 seconds, Parkway Central’s Tyrus Hudson in 1:23, Cape Central’s Tremaine Grant in 1:40, Ft. Zumwalt North’s Jon Cecil in 4:24 and Fulton’s Jacob Hamerstone in 1:22.
Two Wildcats, Jordan Nowak (126) and Hank Tappe (285), each placed second.
Nowak won two matches by pins over Julian Askew of University City in 1:22 and Bailey Sheehan of Cape Central in 1:14.
He earned a 5-4 overtime decision against Eric Byers of Ft. Zumwalt North, but lost to Warrenton’s Dakota Werner, 4-0.
Tappe pinned three foes. He put down University City’s William Mitchell in 21 seconds, pinned Parkway Central’s Keith Bobo in 2:42 and won over Austin Lott of Zumwalt North in 1:11. His loss was a 1:02 pin defeat against McCluer’s Xavier Jenkins.
Union’s Cody Pace (152) and Jake Siddens (160) placed third in their respective weight classes.
Pace pinned four of his opponents, beating Gianni Cook of University City in 1:41, Ian Harvey of Parkway Central in 53 seconds, Alex Davis-Carter of Cape Central in 1:27 and Austin Clancy of Warrenton in 32 seconds.
Pace’s one loss was a 7-5 decision against Justin Manzella of Ft. Zumwalt North.
Siddens pinned Cameron Davis of University City in 55 seconds and Yu Chen Lee of Parkway Central in 33 seconds. He won an injury default against North County’s Matthew Whitwell.
The loss was a 14-9 decision against Quinton Moore of Ft. Zumwalt North.
Tyler Pace (120) won two matches by pins and lost twice. He was 3-2 on the day.
Dalton Fennessey (132) also went 3-2 on the day with two wins by pins.
Joe Lasky (220) earned three victories, all in open matches. He also lost twice.
Logan Meyer (170) went 1-3 with the victory coming in a pin.
Union wrestles Thursday in a three-team match Thursday at Ft. Zumwalt East. The Wildcats also will take on Principia in the 5 p.m. meet.
On Saturday, Union hosts the Union Tournament starting at 9 a.m.
