Tigers have two place at H-10 tournament

GLENWOOD — The Red Oak wrestling team had two top six finishers as they finished ninth at Saturday’s Hawkeye 10 tournament at Glenwood High School.

The top finisher was Tanner Mertz as he took third at 145 lbs. Mertz lost in the semifinals to Atlantic’s Reid Nichols, but rallied to win out in the consolation rounds to finish in the top three.

Mertz lost to Nichols by an 8-6 decision. In the consolation semifinals, he pinned Clarinda’s Kollyn Buch in the second period. In the third place match, Mertz won an 8-2 decision over Glenwood’s Andrew Tilley.

Mertz started the tournament with a first period pinfall in thefirst round over Denison-Schleswig’s Jacob Irwin. In the quarterfinals, Mertz recorded a second period pinfall over Nick Foss of Harlan.

Caleb Orme (126 lbs.) was the other place winner for Red Oak as he took sixth. Orme lost via pinfall in the fifth place match to Gavin Gray of Glenwood.

Orme started the tournament with a quarterfinal loss to Mitchel Swank of Creston-Orient Macksburg. In consolations, he pinned both Brody Brandenberg of St. Albert and Marshall Tucker of Harlan to guarantee his place in the top six. Orme lost the consolation semifinal via pinfall to Marshal McDermott of Atlantic.

Red Oak recorded a team score of 29 points. Creston-Orient Macksburg finished first, while Lewis Central took second and Clarinda finished third.

Red Oak double dual

The Tigers lost both of their duals to close out the 2014-15 regular dual season.

Red Oak lost to Lewis Central 63-9 and fell to Atlantic 66-9.

The shorthanded line-up conceded 36 points via forfeits in both duals.

Mertz started strong with a 22 second pinfall victory over Kristian Nielsen.

Carlos Guerra (152 lbs.) followed up with a solid 5-0 decision victory over Dallas Volentine. Guerra took control early and never stopped.

Orme came close to knocking off No. 10-ranked Brock Massey, but lost a close 8-7 decision.

Against Atlantic, Mertz got the first win, defeating Reid Nichols via a 5-4 decision.

The win was a bit of revenge for Mertz, who lost a one-point decision to Nichols at the John J. Harris Tournament.

Lyndon Bright (152 lbs.) followed up with a second period pinfall over Devin Seidlik.

The postseason continues for Red Oak this Saturday when they compete in the sectional tournament. Red Oak will be in Class 2A Sectional 4 of District 2.

The Tigers will be competing at Harlan for this weekend’s tournament. Along with Harlan, the list of schools includes Atlantic, Kuemper Catholic, Missouri Valley and Shenandoah. Top two wrestlers in each weight class will advance to the district tournament, which takes place in Atlantic Feb. 14.

This weekend’s sectional tournament kicks off at noon.