By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
LINDSBORG, Kan. – The No. 17 ranked Fort Hays State wrestling completed the Bethany Swede Open on Saturday (Nov. 10) with 11 placers and four individual champions. No. 4 Brandon Ball (149 pounds), No. 5 Efe Osaghae (157 pounds), Aryus Jones (165 pounds) and Micquille Robinson (184 pounds) all emerged victorious at the individual champions for the Tigers.
Freshman Isaiah Luellen (165-unattached) and sophomore Marty Verhaeghe (174 pounds) earned runner-up finishes. In the 149-pound class, redshirt-freshmen Jonathan Ball and Pedro Ordonez shared third place, while sophomore AJ Cooper finished third in the 285-pound class. True freshmen Riley Tubbs (133 pounds) and Tyler Boone (184-unattached) earned fourth-place finishes.
No. 4 ranked Brandon Ball started off his junior campaign with his ninth regular season individual title, this time in the 149-pound weight class. Ball began the tournament with a bye in the first round. He defeated Jacob Beeson (Unattached-UCO) with an 8-0 major decision. Ball advanced to the semifinal bout after defeating Cody Eastman (Unattached) with a 10-0 major decision. The Great Bend, Kan. native defeated teammate Pedro Ordonez with a 1-0 decision to move on to the title match. Ball wrapped up the title with a 15-13 decision over Newman’s Kameron Frame.
No. 5 ranked Efe Osaghae began his sophomore season with a commanding 16-1 technical fall victory over Tyler Johnston of Hastings College in the first round of the 157-pound weight class. Osaghae advanced to the semifinals with a 15-4 major decision over Mario Rodriguez (Unattached). He then used a 21-5 technical fall victory over Justin Peterson of Northeast Oklahoma to enter the title bout unscathed. The St. Louis, Mo. native defeated Gable Howerton of Barton with a 20-4 technical fall to begin the year 4-0.
Redshirt-freshman Aryus Jones went 5-0 on the day in the 165-pound weight class. He pinned Jayden Miller (Unattached) in 1:07 in the first round before using a 16-0 technical fall to defeat Zackary Suniga of Ottawa in the second round. Jones advanced to the semifinals with a 6-0 decision over Nicolas Desch. He then defeated Kyle Caldwell of Northeast Oklahoma with an 8-4 decision. The Junction City, Kan. native began his season with an individual title after a 9-4 decision over teammate Isaiah Luellen (Unattached-FHSU).
Senior Micquille Robinson emerged victorious in the 184-pound weight class after picking up three decisions in his first three bouts over Joey Ewalt (5-2), Ivan Balavage (7-5) and Kevin Murry (5-0). In the semifinal match, Robinson pinned Brett Barefoot of Schreiner University in 5:00. The Wichita, Kan. native improved his overall record to 9-0 after Northeast Oklahoma’s Alex Kauffman bowed out due to injury in the championship match.
True freshman Isaiah Luellen defeated Jarret Jurgens of Hastings College with a 9-1 major decision in the first round of the 165-pound weight class. He used a 24-5 technical fall to defeat David Taylor of Central Christian in the second round. Luellen then advanced to the semifinals with a 5-2 decision over Dominique Evans of Midland. He used a 3-2 decision over Brandon Archuleta of Bethany to earn a spot in the title bout. The Rossville, Kan. native was defeated by fellow teammate Aryus Jones after a 9-4 decision in the championship match.
Sophomore Marty Verhaeghe defeated Kalin Winkler of Northeast Oklahoma with a 4-3 decision in the first round of the 174-pound weight class. He then defeated Nate Panagakis of Newman with an 8-7 decision. Verhaeghe used an 8-6 decision to defeat Devin Crawl (Unattached-UCO) in the semifinals before falling to Gage McBride of Barton in a 12-8 decision in the title bout.
In the 149-pound weight class, redshirt-freshmen Jonathan Ball and Pedro Ordonez shared third place after bowing out of the consolation championship match. Ball went 4-1 in the other matches with two technical falls (17-1 and 15-0) as well as a 9-1 major decision. Ordonez also went 4-1 in the other matches, earning a fall in 2:27 along the way.
Sophomore AJ Cooper finished the Swede Open 5-1 on the day, capturing third-place in the 285-pound weight class. Cooper defeated Lexington Plummer of Kansas Wesleyan with a 4-1 decision in the first round. He then used a 14-1 major decision to defeat Robert Hernandez of Schreiner University to advance his way to the quarterfinals. Cooper pinned Andrew Poumele (Unattached) in 2:36 to earn a spot in the semifinals. He was charged with a 9-3 decision defeat at the hands of Antonio Andrade of Northeast Oklahoma. Cooper fought his way back to the consolation championship after picking up a 14-2 major decision over Joshua Molinar of Northeast Oklahoma to claim third in his first tournament of the season.
True freshman Riley Tubbs wrestled in the 133-pound weight class. In the first round, Tubbs was defeated by Gage Gomez of Barton by a fall in 3:49. Tubbs maneuvered his way back on the consolation side after picking up a major decision (8-0) over Jake Abeyta and two decisions over teammate Conrad Cole and Joshua Crager of Kansas Wesleyan. He fell to Tyler Lawley of Newman by fall in 1:15, finishing his first collegiate tournament in fourth-place.
True freshman Tyler Boone also earned a fourth-place finish at the Swede Open. Boone began his day by pinning Preston Allen of Ottawa in 2:49. He then picked up a 10-4 decision over Tarron Adams of Hastings College in the second round of the 184-pound weight class. Boone grabbed another pin of Noah Manly of York College in 1:08. He suffered a decision defeat to Alex Kauffman of Northeast Oklahoma before battling back in the consolation semifinals with a 5-2 decision over Joey Ewalt. Boone fell to Ivan Balavage in the third-place match.
The Tigers are back in action next weekend when they compete in the Nebraska-Kearney Open on Saturday (Nov. 17). The tournament is slated to commence at 9 a.m.