Led by 145-pound champion Devon Fennessey, the Union Wildcats placed eighth in the two-day Eric Lewis MICDS Wrestling Invitational Friday and Saturday.
Fennessey was Union’s lone champion in the meet and didn’t allow a foe to make it past the first period in any match.
“Devon Fennessey had an incredible tournament,” said Union Head Coach Justin Cranmer. “He pinned all four of his opponents, winning the 145 pound weight class with a 16 second pin in the finals. He only wrestled for a total of 3:54 in his four matches.”
Two other Union wrestlers, Dalton Kuenzel (160) and Joe Lasky (285), each placed fourth.
“Dalton Kuenzel also wrestled well this weekend,” Cranmer said. “He beat a tough kid from St. Charles who was ranked seventh in Class 2. In his third-place match he was wrestling the defending state champ in Class 1, William Hahn. Dalton was up 4-2 in the third but could not hold on for the win. Joe Lasky finished in fourth. He has been wrestling well, more confident when wrestling those big heavyweights.”
The Wildcats placed eighth in the final standings with 106 points.
“We finished in eighth place as a team, which I thought was respectable for this tournament,” Cranmer said.
Holt won the title with 278 points, over 100 ahead of St. Charles West (169.5).
McCluer North led the rest of the field followed by Whitfield, Ladue, Pacific, De Soto, Union, Westminster, SLUH, Ritenour, Hazelwood West, St. Clair, MICDS, John Burroughs, St. Charles, Principia, Chaminade and Parkway North.
Fennessey, now 43-3 on the season, opened with by pinning Chaminade’s Kieran Mettler in 1:16.
In the quarterfinals, Fennessey pinned St. Charles West’s Steven Biondo in 1:11.
In the semifinals, Fennessey won in another first-round pin by stopping Jeff Orr of Ladue in 1:13.
Fennessey pinned Amili Lester of Hazelwood West in 14 seconds to claim the title.
Kuenzel, who had been wrestling at 170 in recent meets, dropped to 160 for this tournament and opened with a pin of Parkway North’s Jordan DeClue in 2:26.
In the quarterfinals, Kuenzel picked up an 8-3 decision over St. Charles’ Ryan Johnson.
St. Charles West’s Casey Bartee earned a 14-6 major decision against Kuenzel in the semifinals.
Kuenzel came back to pin Gary Washington of McCluer North in the consolation semifinals in 3:27 before losing a 7-4 decision to Whitfield’s William Hahn in the third-place bout.
Lasky (285) received a bye in the opening round and then pinned Dan Kalz of St. Charles West in 1:03 during the quarterfinals.
During the semifinals, Daniel Vaughn of Hazelwood West pinned Lasky in 3:13.
Lasky rebounded with a 2:10 pin victory over St. Clair’s Colton Huddleston. Lucas Fann of De Soto won the third-place bout over Lasky by a pin in 3:57.
Tyler Pace (120) was Union’s next finisher, taking sixth.
Pace opened with a 1:47 pin against Leo Diamant of Parkway North and then advanced with a win by disqualification against McCluer North’s Terrell Pampkin.
In the semifinals, Pace was pinned by St. Charles West’s Brendan Hachtel in 3:36. He lost by a 5:50 pin to Reid Hanmore of St. Charles.
In the fifth-place match, Pacific’s Joseph Rind picked up a 9-0 major decision against Pace.
Cody Pace (152) placed seventh. He opened by pinning De Soto’s Randy West in 55 seconds.
In the second round, Pace lost a 16-7 major decision to Ritenour’s Tyron Welch.
Pace rebounded with a 1:23 pin of Parkway North’s Paul Cassell, but then lost a 9-5 decision to Dalton Voyles of Pacific.
In the seventh-place match, Pace pinned Eric Shaffer of Westminster.
Three other Wildcats reached the place matches.
Colton Faber (113) finished ninth. He lost in the opening round and then won twice with another loss between.
In the ninth-place bout, Faber earned an 18-7 major decision against Zane Norton of John Burroughs.
Shane Foster (138) placed 10th. He lost in the first round, but came back with a win, a loss and a win. In the ninth-place match, he was pinned by Nick Geiser of SLUH in 1:20.
James Lewis (195) placed 10th. He won his first match by a pin against Christian Kinsey of McCluer North in 1:08, but then lost his next two. After a bye, he reached the ninth-place bout.
In that match, Kyle Williamson of De Soto pinned Lewis in 2:39.
Jordan Nowak (126) went 1-3, winning his second match by a 59-second pin against Austin Wanta of Ritenour.
Joseph Parrott (182) went 1-1 in matches he wrestled, pinning Eric Khondaker of MICDS in the consolation match, but had to default out due to injury after that.
Nick Ciaccio (132) lost both of his matches.
Grant Henry (170) also dropped both of his matches.
