Statesmen Battle in Largest Tournament of Season at Grand View Open
Grimes–The William Penn men’s wrestling team faced off against talented competition at a massive tournament as it hit the mats at the Grand View Open Saturday.
In an event that featured huge 64-man brackets in both Open and Freshman/Sophomore divisions, Lane Scorpil (Jr., Columbus Junction, Iowa, Business Management) paced the navy and gold by reaching the sixth round of the consolation bracket at 133 pounds.
The junior just missed placing by going 3-2 with two falls.
Cameron Hargrove (Sr., Bolingbrook, Ill., Sports Management) was not far behind with two wins at 165 pounds, while 184-pounder Branson Bottorff (Sr., Mackinaw, Ill., Industrial Technology) defeated one foe by technical fall as well.
157-pounder Trent Evans (So., Houston, Texas, Mechanical Engineering) and 174-pounder Kendal Pugh (So., Letts, Iowa, Business Management) guided the Statesmen in the Freshman/Sophomore division as each wrestler went 3-2 and advanced to the fourth round of the consolation bracket.
Evans won once by both technical fall and major decision, while Pugh had a major decision, technical fall, and fall to his credit.
Jacob Perry (Salisbury, N.C., Undecided) and Kaleb Loving (So., Aledo, Ill., Secondary Education) both recorded one pin Saturday at 141 and 165 pounds, respectively.
“I was really impressed with the way that our guys wrestled today,” Head Coach Drew Sams said. “This tournament is one of the hardest tournaments our guys will wrestle all year as we competed against NAIA, NJCAA, and NCAA D-I teams. This competition, paired with the large size of the tournament, makes for a long day with really tough matches. Our guys were able to stay focused and compete at a high level against this competition. As always, this tournament is not our end goal, and is just another opportunity for our guys to get quality matches and to continue to learn and grow throughout the season. I am very excited with the growth we have already seen this semester and look forward to a couple home duals to finish out the semester.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Thursday to host Central Methodist in a Heart of America Athletic Conference dual meet at 7 p.m.
