Bobcats Compete In Ultimate Warrior Tournament; Logan Powell And Mason Gourley Make Podium
The Clarion Bobcats competed in the prestigious Ultimate Warrior Tournament at West Branch High School in Morrisdale on Friday and Saturday (January 27th and 28th).
Bobcats Head Coach Lee Weber shared this summary:
The Ultimate Warrior Tournament is one of the biggest and toughest high school tournaments in the country. There were 42 teams entered throughout PA.
Four out of nine of our wrestlers that entered the tournament placed in the Top 10 in this Varsity tournament.
We finished 28th with Logan Powell finishing in 5th and Mason Gourley finishing in 8th place to reach the podium! Logan Edmonds and Jacob Henry just missed the podium by finishing around the 10th positions.
The importance of this tournament was to let our kids know how close they are to the best wrestlers, but also to let them know how much harder they have to work to beat the best!
We also had 3 wrestlers that wrestled well in the Junior Varsity tournament, Seth Weckerly 3-2, Colten Keihl 2-1, and Sebastian Burkhart 1-2.
Here is a quick rundown of each wrestler:
114 Logan Powell (6th seed): 4-2 to take 5th place. He lost to the 3rd seed and the 3rd place finisher. In his last win to take 5th, he avenged an earlier loss by defeating Patrick of Wyalusing 2-1!
121 Grayson Aaron: 0-2 Lost to a seeded wrestler in his first match and lost in the final seconds in a match he was in control. Grayson just needs to get himself in condition in order to finish off his opponents.
127 Zane VanTassel: 1-2 Zane earned his first win at 127 lbs. by defeating Lucca of Bradford in his 2nd match. Zane also needs to focus on conditioning to take it to the next level.
133 Brendon Wright: 0-2 Brendon also lost to a seeded wrestler in the first round and lost a close 10-8 score. Brendon is getting better on his feet but will need to focus on the mat to compete with the more experienced wrestlers.
145 Jacob Henry: 3-2 to take 10th. Jacob lost to the 10th seed in his first match but won 3 in a row by falls to put himself in position for a medal match. Wrestling against the 6th seed, Jacob was in a couple of flurries but his opponent ended on top in the 2nd and pinned Jacob. Jacob is a pinner but as a pinner, he will make mistakes because he “goes for it!” Once he recognizes dangerous positions, he will get caught less.
152 Mason Gourley (8th seed): 4-3 to take 8th – Mason wrestled the most matches and the longest matches! In his first 3 wins, he dominated and had falls. In his first loss on the first day, it took a ride out to defeat Mason. In the consolation quarters, Mason defeated the 6th seeded Corter of Central Mountain 4-2. In his next 2 matches against seeded wrestlers, Mason lost in overtime and in the last seconds to finish in 8th place! In the next month, Mason will improve his strength and finishes to defeat these quality wrestlers in his postseason run!
160 Jacob Naser: 0-2 Jacob drew the top seed and lost by fall then lost by fall again in a much closer match. Jacob is an inexperienced 9th grader, wrestling in a very tough weight class. This year’s experience will toughen him up for the next 3 years!
172 Matt Alston: 0-2 Matt is also getting through some tough lessons in a usually very strong weight class. Most of the kids here are physically mature juniors and seniors. He will return the favor in the future with more seasoning and lifting in the off season.
215 Logan Edmonds (8th seed): 2-2 to take 10th. In his first match, Logan pinned his opponent in the 3rd period and major decisioned his 2nd opponent. In the quarters, Logan had to face a nationally ranked, 1st seed wrestler. He fought hard but lost by tech fall. To get into the medal bouts, he lost to a technically sound Indiana wrestler by a 10-2 score to place 10th.
Our last match is this Tuesday at RBV starting at 6 PM with the Junior High.
(Congratulations to Logan and Mason for placing and to the rest of the Cats, for a good tournament!!!! Thanks to Coach Weber for his summary and Coach Diaz for his photos!!)