.jpg)
Despite only 12 wrestlers competing and one of them going down in his first match due to an injury, the Spartans finished fourth in Harrisonville for another impressive team finish. Once again, Kirksville won the tournament with 782.5 team points followed by Smithville with 776.5 and Cameron with 753. The Spartans finished with 715 points to finish just ahead of Deer Creek with 711 and Raymore Peculiar with 704. Last year, Deer Creek finished 35.5 points ahead of the Spartans.
Brock Polhamus and Kyle Burkhalter led the Spartans with second place finishes. Polhamus fell in the finals to Raymore Peculiar’s Mac Diaz who finished 4th last year in Harrisonville, was a state tournament qualifier and lost one match short of the 3rd place match at 126 pounds. In the finals at 182 pounds, Burkhalter fell to Kirksville’s Makenna Cook by pin in 3:57. Cook was a state runner-up last year at 160 pounds in Missouri Class 2 and finished the season with a record of 51-3.
Seven Spartans finished in the top six of the 35-team tournament. After Polhamus and Burkhalter, the next top finishers for the Spartans included John Roddick (4th), Michael Murnane (6th), Greg Skon (5th), Daniel Dawley (6th) and Chase Bernett (5th). Despite missing wrestlers, the consistent finish of the Spartans across the board, 10 of 12 in the top ten, propelled them to fourth place overall.
Below are summarized results for each Spartan over the two days of action…
106 – Trygve Zurfluh, Did Not Place, Injury Default, 0-1
120 – John Roddick, 4th Place, 6-2 with a pin
126 – Steven Kelly, 8th Place, 4-4 with two pins and a technical fall
132 – Brock Polhamus, 2nd Place, 7-1 with five pins, a technical fall and major decision
145 – Michael Murnane, 6th Place, 5-3 with three pins
152 – Dillon Erickson, 8th Place, 4-4 with three pins
160 – Walker Polhamus, 13th Place, 3-4 with three pins
170 – Greg Skon, 5th Place, 6-1 with three pins
182 – Kyle Burkhalter, 2nd Place, 7-1 with three pins and two technical falls
195 – Daniel Dawley, 6th Place, 6-2 with two pins
220 – Chase Bernett, 5th Place, 6-2 with four pins and a major decision
285 – Joseph Benish, 9th Place, 6-2 with three pins
Through the first month of the season, here are the records for some of the Spartans: Trygve Zurfluh 2-4, John Roddick 12-2, Steven Kelly 5-4, Brock Polhamus 12-2, Michael Murnane 10-4, Dillon Erickson 7-7, Walker Polhamus 8-6, Greg Skon 10-4, Kyle Burkhalter 12-2, Daniel Dawley 12-2, Chase Bernett 8-6 and Joseph Benish 11-3.
The Spartans waste no time before getting back to business. On Tuesday, they look to win their 24th straight conference dual over Onalaska before facing off with Weston on Thursday at home.
