Fort Hays State had four wrestlers place in two separate open tournaments this past weekend, all taking home third place honors in their respective weight classes. Three Tigers, Brandon Ball (141), Micqulle Robinson (184), and Christian Lance (285) placed at the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Open, and William Homalon (141) placed in the Missouri Valley Open.
Ball had back-to-back pinfalls to start the day with a victory over Western State’s (unattached) Seth Rich at the 5:00-minute mark, and Air Force Academy’s Anthony McHugh at the 3:00-minute mark. In the quarterfinal bout, Ball lost to Northern Colorado’s (unattached) Sean Cannon in a close 5-4 decision. In the consolation semifinals, Ball got it going again with an 8-0 major decision over Josh Giorgio, then defeated another Air Force Academy wrestler, Stephen Turner in the third place bout.
Robinson received a bye to start the day but dropped his first match in the quarterfinals to Khyre Burns of Colorado Mesa in a 6-4 decision. After receiving another bye in the consolation bracket, Robinson bounced back with a tight 3-2 decision over Colorado Mines’ Brandon Saunders. Another 3-2 decision, this time over Colorado-Boulder’s Eli Fuchsman advanced Robinson to the third-place bout against Western State’s David Traynor. Robinson handled Traynor and walked away with the 10-4 decision.
Lance dropped his first match of the day to Air Force Prep’s Kerry Powers but rebounded in the consolation bracket winning his next four. The first was a pin fall victory at 2:26 in the first period over Colorado State’s Andrew Giles. He then followed up with another pin in the consolation quarterfinals at the 3:45 mark over Chadron State’s (unattached) Kai Dill. An 8-3 decision in the semifinals over Wyoming’s (unattached) Danny Gordon propelled Lance to the third place match where he scraped by with a 3-2 decision over Nebraska-Kearney’s Jarrod Hinrichs.
After receiving a bye in the first round, Homalon defeated Baker (Kan.) University’s Tucker Clark with the 11-5 decision to advance to the quarterfinal match. Maryville’s Nick McGee was too much though as Homalon was sent to the consolation bracket suffering the 19-11 major decision. He bounced right back with a 19-11 major victory of his own over Wentworth Junior College’s Tyler Jones, and a quick pinfall (1:10) over William Penn’s Kionte Crocker. In the consolation semifinals, Homalon posted another major decision, defeating Missouri’s Austin Eveler by the score of 23-14. In the third place bout Homalon took on McGee once more but was able to best him this time by pinfall at 5:03.