Returning to the site of setting a program record a year ago, the Barton Community College wrestling team had another successful trip to nearby Lindsborg as on Saturday the Cougars had three placers, knocked off a pair of ranked opponents, and a compiled 19-12 overall record in the 8th Annual Swede Open hosted by Bethany College.
Two of the Cougars' placers finished in the top four last week as well, Andrew DeArmond in the 165 division and Joey Ewalt in the 184, with Kolby Droegemeier' 149 division run joining the mix this week as each placed fourth combining for a 13-4 record.
DeArmond and Droegemeier had the misfortune of reaching the third place match in being halted against the six match limit rule to spoil any chance of earning the top three finish.
Dropping his first match of the day, DeArmond piled up a pair of tech fall victories in the backside bracket before coming out on top of a 17-15 sudden victory battle to stay alive. Winning the next match in a 53-second back pinning, DeArmond then knocked off NAIA's 20th ranked Marcus Urban of Dakota Wesleyan to end his time on a high note despite having to forfeit the 165 third place match to Jerrett Villinger of Neosho County Community College.
Droegemeier was knocked from the championship bracket in the 149 quarterfinals, earning a pair of first period falls before coming up short 8-2 to Lindenwood-Belleville's Brendan Krask. Rolling through the next two backside opponents in adding another pair of pins on his afternoon, Droegemeier pulled out a 6-4 win over Nebraska-Kearney's Kaleb Canoyer 6-4 but had to settle for fourth place with the 6-match forfeit to Canoyer's teammate Teotae Wilson.
Ewalt's run through the bracket tallied a 10-3 decision over Benedictine's Eli White and a 10-0 major decision over Neosho's Branden Cardwell before Fort Hays State University's Aryus Jones put the brakes on Ewalt in the 184 semifinals by scoring an 18-0 technical fall. Recovering in his next match, Ewalt got a little revenge by piling up a big win over Jones' teammate Clint Herrick, winning on a 15-0 technical fall. Ewalt's bid for the third place ended 4:46 into the match as Joseph Reimers of Nebraska-Kearney claimed the placing with the fall.
Gable Howerton joined Ewalt in reaching the semifinals of the championship bracket, registering a 2:31 fall and a 16-14 sudden victory over NAIA 10th ranked Ryan Delforge of Ottawa University before being bounced to the 157 division consolation on a 3:26 fall to Tyler Cunningham of Nebraska-Kearney. The afternoon's appearance on the backside of the bracket was short lived as Cunningham's teammate Walker Johnson piled up a 17-2 tech fall to end Howerton's day.
A pair of Cougars ended 2-2 on the day with both being bounced from the championships side of the bracket by the eventual runner-up before having their Open competition conclude in the next match coming on the consolation side. Javier Duchene rolled past Neosho's John White 13-6 and Hastings' Kavika Aholelei for his two wins to reach the 125 division semifinal round while Drew Burgoon's 10-6 win over Labette's Dyland Priddy and a 6:02 fall over Ottawa's Bobby Robinson advanced to the 133 quarterfinal match.
Also in the 133 division, Johnney Perez' day was short lived with a pair of losses after receiiving a first round bye.
Barton's next action comes this Saturday as the Cougars head north to Kearney, Nebraska, for the UNK Holiday Inn Open.