MAT LESSONS: BHS, Barnsdall endure hard knocks in Enid
Bartlesville High School’s wrestling team didn’t harvest a bumper crop of highlights from last weekend’s Mid-America National Tournament in Enid.
But, they reaped plenty of experience out of the seeds of experience they sowed.
Due to a scheduling issue, the Bruins brought only about half their team.
Danny Blankenship (132 pounds) spearheaded Bartlesville’s effort in the crowded competition that featured hundreds of wrestlers from a multi-state area.
Blankenship (3-3) powered to 13th place by defeating a Glenpool opponent by decision, 4-3, in the 13th place match.
The championship bracket featured 16 placers, while the consolation bracket included the 17th through 32nd place placers.
Elijah Lunn (144) won the consolation title in his age group, which meant he finished 17th overall. After starting out at 0-2, Lunn turned it on to win his final four matches — all of them by falls (0:26, 1:29, 2:28 and 3:40). He downed an Enid opponent in the final match.
Following is a look at how the other Bruins fared.
Emanuel Camacho (120): Camacho (2-5) finished 26th. He won in round three by a fall (3:51).
Wyatt Lumbley (125th): Lumbley came in 28th but missed multiple matches due to injury.
A.J. Kerr (138): Kerr (5-3) turned in one of the stronger showings and came in 21st. He muscled up to win his final two matches by pins (1:34 and 2:08).
David Cooper (157): Cooper (3-5) landed into 22nd place. He reached the consolation fifth-place match with three straight wins by pins (2:31, 2:22 and 1:00).
Mason Manley (165): Manley (2-4) came in 20th, including a pin in 30 seconds.
“It was definitely a rough tournament for us,” said Bruin head wrestling coach Josh Pulsifer. “The good thing was some of our wrestlers got as many as seven or eight matches. This is the worst we’ve done at this tournament.
Earlier last week, the Bruins lost a dual at Glenpool, 54-25, but picked up a dual win at home against Tulsa McLain.
In the lost at Glenpool, “we wrestled well at a lot of weights,” Pulsifer said.
Lunn locked down one of the Bruin wins in the match.
Bartlesville has no varsity duals the next few days because it’s finals week in the classes.
—
BARNSDALL
The Panthers also made their presence felt in the tournament — no one as much Easton Malone (215 pounds).
Malone proved his competitive mettle by finishing sixth with a 6-2 record. He surged to a 3-0 record to start and advanced to the championship quarterfinal before suffering a loss.
Four other Barnsdall grapplers also participated.
Cooper Softian (126): Softian (3-5) came in 24th overall. After starting out at 0-2 he fought back.
Blaine Gilbert (144): Gilbert (3-5) finished 15th in the championship bracket. He won his final match by fall (1:36).
Ronald Weber (150): After four straight losses, Weber (1-7) rallied to power to a 12-6 winning decision.
Andrew Cole (165): Cole (0-7) saw a lot of mat time.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Bartlesville takes lumps at Mid-America tourney, Barnsdall competes
