Tiger wrestling team takes down another ranked opponent

Improving its record to 5-0 in duals, the No. 5-ranked Cowley College wrestling team defeated No. 20-ranked Cloud County 31-15 Tuesday in Concordia, KS.

The victory was the Tigers' fourth over a ranked opponent in five matches.

"Cloud is always a battle, so anytime we can win a dual against them on the road is good," Cowley head coach Beau Vest said. "I thought we wrestled well collectively."

No. 6-ranked Austin Kincaid would defeat Cloud County's Aiden Connors by a 13-2 major decision while No. 4-ranked James Davis for the T-Birds would fall to Ryan Smith by a score of 7-4 at 133 pounds as Cowley jumped out to the early lead.

"That was a big win for Ryan," Vest said. "He has been wrestling really well for us."

Following the 133 pound match, Cowley would be deducted a team point for unsportsmanlike conduct as Cloud would trail the Tigers 6-0 heading into the 141-pound bout.

At 141 pounds, Cowley would add to their lead as Malik Johnson, making his season debut, had an impressive 23-7 technical fall victory over Michael Barfuss to put the Tigers up 11-0.

"Getting Malik in the lineup was exciting for the team," Vest said.

Cloud would get on the board when Joel Ostrom pinned the Tigers' Jacorey Miller, cutting Cowley's lead to 11-6. However, the Tigers would answer with an 11-2 win from sophomore Jake Patterson at 157 pounds.

Cowley would later get a pin by Jesse Nunez at 174 pounds, a 15-3 major decision by Matt Santos at 184 pounds, and a win by forfeit at 285 pounds as they earned the 31-15 victory.

"We are still trying to figure out the 10 best wrestlers to put into the duals, which is a nice problem to have," Vest said.

Cloud is now 3-3 overall and 2-3 in the Jayhawk Conference.

Cowley will remain on the road to face No. 11-ranked Northwest Kansas Tech and No. 8-ranked Pratt Community College in a pair of duals Tuesday, February 16 at 4 p.m. in Goodland, KS.

"I believe both of those teams are underrated," Vest said. "This will be a huge test for us to see where we are at as a team."

Results:

*125 pounds – Austin Kincaid (CC) won a 13-2 major decision over Aiden Connors (Cloud).

*133 pounds – Ryan Smith (CC) won a 7-4 decision over James Davis (Cloud).

*141 pounds – Malik Johnson (CC) won a 23-7 technical fall over Michael Barfuss (Cloud).

*149 pounds – JaCorey Miller (CC) lost by fall to Joel Ostrom (Cloud).

*157 pounds – Jake Patterson (CC) won an 11-2 decision over Tristin Hauck (Cloud).

*165 pounds – Montez Robinson (CC) lost a 15-4 major decision to Cooper Mosier (Cloud).

*174 pounds – Jesse Nunez (CC) won by fall over Dakota Garrison (Cloud).

*184 pounds – Matthew Santos (CC) won a 15-3 major decision over Micah Sterling (Cloud).

*197 pounds – Tyler Bingham (CC) lost a 16-3 major decision to Zach Ferris (Cloud).

*285 pounds – Sage Smart (CC) won by forfeit.