BonnerSprings.com

Caleb Seaton battled the flu throughout the Bobcat Classic on Saturday and finished third in the tournament.

“I was wrestling good until I started to feel bad,” Seaton said. “I had to tough it out the rest of the tournament.”

The flu affected him during the semifinal match. He lost 6-5 to Dom Cervantes of Oak Park (Mo.) in the 119-pound semifinals.

“I didn’t wrestle very good at all,” he said. “I was drained of energy.”

After losing the match, he managed to win the next two matches and placed third in the tournament. He defeated Taylor Miller of Andover by pin. He picked up another win by pin in the consolation finals against Olathe South’s Tracy Copen.

“I felt like Caleb finished strong. He lost a tough match in the semifinals but came back and wrestled well through the back side of the bracket,” coach Brandon Jobe said.

In addition to Seaton, Jonathan Blackwell placed seventh in the 130-pound weight class. He was 4-2 in the tournament, defeating Kevin Taylor of Silver Lake, 3-0, in the seventh-place match.

Seaton and Blackwell’s performances highlighted the Braves’ 18th-place finish out of 32 teams.

Jobe circled the Bobcat Classic on his calendar when he took the reins of the program last year, because it is one of the state of Kansas’ toughest tournaments. He saw it as a measuring stick for his program. Building a wrestling program is a process, and Jobe wanted to see where the program is and where he wants to take it.

“Now, I know where we are. I know where we want to be and we have got to close the gap,” he said.

Andale won the tournament with 185.5 points and had three individual champions. Oak Park placed second with 172 points, Goddard was third with 169, Lansing finished fourth with 164 and Glenwood (Iowa) was fifth with 129. Basehor-Linwood placed 15th with 70.5 points and BSHS had 65.

The Braves had numerous wrestlers who won matches but just missed out on competing in the medal rounds. Those near-misses were the difference in challenging for a top-10 team finish.

Justus Seaton finished 2-2 in the 103-pound weight class. Aaron Puckett finished 2-2 in the 140-pound weight class. Jared Clements went 2-2 in the 160-pound weight class. Collin Sterling went 2-2 in the 189-pound weight class.

“Guys wrestled hard. We had six guys within one match of placing and we have got to finish better in close matches,” Jobe said. “We have to win close matches.”

At this point of the season, wrestlers have different things they need to work on, Jobe said. Some need to improve techniques and others need to work on their ability to finish matches. Some just need to get in better shape.

“It is different for each guy. We are making progress and getting closer to the end of the season,” Jobe said.

Comments