The Granite City wrestling team didn't have any champions in last weekend's Geneseo Invitational, but once again, the Warriors had a strong showing in a tough tournament.
Granite City had 159 points to place third in a 16-team field. Prairie (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) took first place with 232.5 points while Waverly Shell Rock (Iowa) was second with 207. Arrowhead Union from Hartland, Wisc., was fourth at 153.5 and O'Fallon was fifth at 124.
"We had the highest finish for an Illinois team and O'Fallon had the second-highest, so that says a lot about the Southwestern Conference and how much better it is this year," Granite City coach Allen Kirgan said.
The Warriors had three second-place finishers. Chad Whitford (152 pounds) was pinned in the final by Zach Witte of Prairie, a defending state champion who is ranked No. 1 in Iowa. Alex Brooks (182) lost 6-4 to Austin Gould of Prairie while Cole Whitford (285) lost 4-2 to Adarios Jones of Moline.
Justin Nelson placed third at 106, winning a pair of matches after a 3-1 semifinal loss to eventual champion Jeronnie Steward of United Township. Josh Dowdy was third at 160, pinning three opponents after a quarterfinal loss to O'Fallon's Bryan Pierson.
Justin Valencia finished fourth at 170 after being pinned in the third-place match by Alex Bee of Chatham Glenwood. Sam Tamayo was fourth at 195.
At 220 pounds, Josh Masters placed sixth after three matches by one point. Justice Ragan was sixth at 132.
"I thought Alex Brooks did a real good job and Dowdy and Nelson did a great job of coming back after losses," Kirgan said. "Overall, we wrestled hard and we're moving forward toward the regional. We made some progress and we also found some areas we need to work, but we'll be working on those this week in practice."
Granite City (15-1 in duals) has seven matches in three days this week, starting Thursday at home against Belleville West. The Warriors wrestle Collinsville, Triad and the host Panthers Friday at Jerseyville and face Mattoon, Mascoutah and the host Titans Saturday at Chatham Glenwood.
TRIAD PLACES FIFTH AT QUINCY
Led by a pair of individual champions, Triad placed fifth out of 26 teams in last weekend's Quincy Invitational. Mediapolis, Iowa, won the tournament, followed by Alton, Belleville East and Cahokia.
First-place finishers for the Knights were senior Jake Tindle at 170 pounds and freshman Cole Wysocki at 103. Tindle is ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 2A and Wyscocki is No. 3.
"Tindle hasn't really been tested yet," Triad coach Russ Witzig said. "Wysocki won a few close matches, but he's doing everything he's supposed to do."
Chris Kenney was second at 152, Lucas Zook was fourth at 126 and Dan Calvin (285) placed seventh. Two other wrestlers, Ben Throm (182) and Adam McElligot (220) won the consolation championship.
"We won at Quincy the last two years, but this year I didn't know what to expect," Witzig said. "Kyle Graumenz has been out and Chris Kenney was a question mark until Friday night. All things considered, fifth place was not terrible. With Graumenz in the lineup, we could have finished second or third pretty easily."
Graumenz, bothered by a recurring back injury, could be back this week at 138 pounds.
"If it was the regional, he could have wrestled, but this was not our most important tournament," Witzig said. "We didn't want to take any chances."
Triad plays host to Alton on Wednesday. On Saturday, the Knights travel to Jerseyville to face Granite City, Collinsville and the host Panthers.
