Hornets wrestling team coasts to opening victory

Stephanie Backus/FULTON SUN photo: Fulton sophomore Cody Pae puts Fatima's Luke DeOrnellis in a predicament in their match at 125 pounds in Tuesday night's season opener at Roger D. Davis Gymnasium. Pae pinned DeOrnellis in 3:22.
Stephanie Backus/FULTON SUN photo: Fulton sophomore Cody Pae puts Fatima's Luke DeOrnellis in a predicament in their match at 125 pounds in Tuesday night's season opener at Roger D. Davis Gymnasium. Pae pinned DeOrnellis in 3:22.

The Fulton Hornets wrestling team got its 2010-11 season off to a strong start Tuesday night, easily conquering Fatima 60-11 at Roger D. Davis Gymnasium.

Fulton is coming off a sixth-place finish in Class 2 last February that included a state championship from Drew Benner - then a freshman - at 135 pounds.

"It looked like we were a little out of shape, but that will get better as the season goes on," Hornets head coach Eric Hudson said of Tuesday night's victory. "We looked OK and our effort was pretty good.

"It was good for us to wrestle somebody else; that will help our focus get better. It was a good way for us to get started."

Here are Tuesday night's individual results, by weight class:

•103 pounds: freshman Kory Masek (Ful) won by forfeit; 112: freshman Jared Kaiser (Ful) won by forfeit; 119: Ryan Strope (Fat) defeated sophomore Phillip Barkho (Ful) by 18-3 technical fall; 125: sophomore Cody Pae (Ful) pinned Luke DeOrnellis (Fat) in 3:22; 130: freshman Tristan Gary (Ful) def. Sam Stiefermann (Fat) by 8-4 decision;

•135: junior Zack McClure (Ful) pinned Paul Stratman (Fat) in 2:26; 140: sophomore Kelcey Nunley (Ful) won by forfeit; 145: sophomore Brian Dennison (Ful) won by forfeit; 152: Benner (Ful) def. Aaron Strope (Fat) by 5-0 decision; 160: freshman John Kingsley (Ful) won by forfeit;

•171: senior Ryan Fritz (Ful) won by forfeit; 189: senior Sean Luetkemeyer (Ful) def. Dalton Schroeder (Fat) by 9-2 decision; 215: freshman Paul Books (Ful) def. Josh Swyers (Fat) by 7-3 decision; 285: Evan Kempker (Fat) pinned sophomore Mack Kelley (Ful) in 4:37.

In junior varsity matches, junior Mariah Gary pinned Fatima's Matt Stieferman in 4:30 at 125 pounds. Senior Zach Oliver lost by pinfall to the Comets' Dylan Drennen in 1:24 at 171 pounds.

Fulton travels to Wardsville for dual matches against Blair Oaks and New Bloomfield at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

New Bloomfield basketball (VB)...70

Hallsville........................................53

HALLSVILLE - Three players reached double figures Tuesday night as the Wildcats opened the season with a convincing win for new head coach Tyler Clark.

New Bloomfield carried a 30-19 advantage into halftime and was up 44-37 at the end of the third quarter, before taking control by outscoring the Indians 26-16 over the final 8 minutes.

"I'm a defensive coach, that's what I hang my hat on," Clark said. "We created a lot of turnovers, which led to transition baskets. We didn't give up many uncontested shots."

Senior guard Kolby O'Dowd topped the Wildcats with a game-high 19 points, while senior guard Aaron Bedsworth was close behind with 18. Senior guard Daniel Berry contributed 16 points.

New Bloomfield plays its home opener against North Callaway at 8 p.m. Friday.

Centralia.......................................55

North Callaway basketball (VG)...47

CENTRALIA - The game was tied 23-23 at halftime, but the Ladybirds were outscored by the Lady Panthers 21-7 in the third quarter of Tuesday night's season-opening loss.

"(Centralia) had too many second-chance shots in the third quarter; they shot until they made it," first-year North Callaway head coach Jack Peace said. "We have to do a better job of blocking out."

After being down by as many as 16 points in the fourth quarter, the Ladybirds closed within five but were not able to complete their comeback.

Senior guard Kelsey West logged 14 points to direct North Callaway, which was 24-of-35 overall from the free-throw line. Junior guard Jordan Gray followed with 12 points and senior forward Morgan Brown-Emmons had nine.

"You're never happy with a loss," Peace said. "There were bright points, but the areas we need to work on were obvious. Like I told the girls, they're all correctable but they have to be determined to do that."

Andi Blackwell and Sydnae Hatton led Centralia with 10 points apiece.

The Ladybirds play at New Bloomfield at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Hallsville........................................61

New Bloomfield basketball (VG)...27

HALLSVILLE - The Lady Wildcats were outscored 38-11 in the second half Tuesday night, falling to the Lady Indians in the season opener for both teams.

Junior guard Kelsey Jaegers ended up with a team-high 10 points for New Bloomfield, which was only down 23-16 at halftime.

Taylor Dinyer tallied a game-high 17 points for Hallsville and Lauren Little provided 16.

The Lady Wildcats play their home opener against North Callaway at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

William Woods basketball (W)....65

College of the Ozarks..................63

Junior guard Sharron Andrews scored on a layup at the buzzer Tuesday night at Anderson Arena, topping off a furious rally as the No. 16 Lady Owls remained unbeaten.

William Woods University - which trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half - outscored College of the Ozarks 11-2 over the final 4:11. Senior forward Jestine Gerber hit the second of two free throws with :39 left to tie the game 63-63, helping set up Andrews' decisive basket as the Lady Owls took their only lead of the contest.

Gerber, who was 5-of-9 from 3-point range, connected for a game-high 23 points as William Woods (9-0) defeated the Lady Bobcats (6-2) for the first time since 2002. College of the Ozarks - ranked No. 7 in NAIA Division II - had won eight straight over the Lady Owls.

Andrews chipped in with 10 points and handed out a team-high five assists as William Woods shot 40 percent (24-of-60) as a team and committed 13 turnovers. Senior forward Rachel Baker also contributed eight points.

Junior center Miranda Loesch and junior forward Megan Aubuchon collected six rebounds apiece to power the Lady Owls to a 36-29 edge on the boards.

Tara LaRue countered with 19 points and a game-high eight rebounds to pace the Lady Bobcats.