Grapplers post second win

Sikeston's Scotty Keenan prepares to roll Murphysboro's Glen Stokes in the 189 division of Tuesday's wrestling meet (photo by David Jenkins, Staff)

SIKESTON -- Sikeston's wrestling team posted its second dual win of the season Tuesday night, beating Murphysboro, Ill., 54-30.

The Bulldogs won seven matches via pin, lost four by pin, won two by forfeit and gave away one forfeit in the victory. "I thought we wrestled a lot better tonight," said Sikeston coach Chris Hodgkiss. "We pulled out some big matches. We had some close scores, and were even losing a couple. And we were able to come back and get pins. Those were huge momentum matches."

The match started in the 160 weight class, where Ken Masegian was pinned by Murphysboro's Steve Manis in 2:40.

At 171, Malcolm won by forfeit. In the 189 division, Scotty Keenan pinned Murphysboro's Glen Stokes in 2:56. At 215, Andy Croxford was pinned by Murphysboro's Joey Youngberg in 3:15.

Heavyweight Joe Johnson got Sikeston back on the winning track, pinning Murphysboro's Justin Bryant in 1:43.

In the 103 class, Jeremy Freeman won by forfeit. At 112, Sikeston forfeited to Murphysboro's Aaron Richards. In the 119 weight class, Shawn Cooper was pinned by Murphysboro's Zach Pittman in 1:57.

At 125, Adam Miller pinned Murphysboro's Trent Lee in 3:01. Cody Ryan was pinned by Murphysboro's Chad Rose in 1:15 in the 130 class.

At 135, Kyle Weeks pinned Murphysboro's Don Carraway in 4:24. In the 140 class, Tony Reynolds pinned Murphysboro's Corey Camden in 1:52. At 145, Cody Weeks pinned Murphysboro's Jordan Ellis in 4:56, then Lance Berry pinned Murphysboro's Nathaniel Luster in 2:49 at 152.

The Bulldogs improve to 2-2 in dual meets this year.

"I thought the last couple of (meets), we really didn't wrestle that well," said Hodgkiss. "I liked the change in the team tonight. They wrestled with a lot more confidence and were a lot more aggressive."

The Bulldogs will need all the confidence they can get this weekend, competing in the 16-team Tiger Classic in Cape Girardeau.

The event draws state powers such as Jackson, Lindbergh, Northwest, Ste. Genevieve, Fort Zumwalt North and Zumwalt West.

The Classic starts on Friday at 5 p.m.

In Tuesday's junior varsity meet, Sikeston defeated Murphysboro 36-30.

Sikeston winners were Nick Nielsen (119), Travis Cummins (135), Shay May (145), Cullin Looney (152), Todd Sloan (171) and Kyle Rodgers (215).