Hornet wrestlers flawless in first round at Spartan Duals

The state-ranked and undefeated Fulton Hornets wrestling team didn't allow some injuries to deter and distract.

Fulton - ranked No. 2 in Class 2 by MissouriWrestling.com - went 4-0 in Friday's opening round at the Spartan Duals. The Hornets started with a 43-23 romp over Winfield, then followed that with victories over St. James (40-33), Affton (48-28), and Chillicothe (42-33).

Fulton competed without the services of senior Ryan Fritz (back strain) at 171 pounds, senior Sean Luetkemeyer (concussion) at 189, sophomore Kelcey Nunley (abdominal strain) at 140, and freshman Tristan Gary (stress fracture) at 130.

Hornets head coach Eric Hudson said that he expected Fritz, Luetkemeyer and Nunley to all return to practice this week, while Gary will be out for three to five weeks.

Despite the absences, Hudson was "reasonably pleased" with his squad's overall performance Friday.

"We probably didn't do quite as well as we're capable," Hudson said. "We made some mistakes, but there are always things that you can work on.

"You've got to be happy when three or four of your best wrestlers don't participate and you still get wins."

Fulton winners in the Winfield dual included sophomore Cody Pae (125 pounds), junior Zack McClure (135), sophomore Brian Dennison (140), senior Josh Curtis (145), sophomore Drew Benner (152), freshman John Kingsley (160), freshman Paul Books (215), and sophomore Mack Kelley (285).

Freshman Kory Masek (103), freshman Jared Kaiser (112), Pae, McClure, Curtis, Benner, Kingsley and Kelly all triumphed in their matches against St. James. Winners for the Hornets against Affton were Kaiser (103), Masek (112), Pae, McClure, Curtis, Benner, Kingsley and Books.

Match winners against Chillicothe included Kaiser (103), Masek (112), Pae, McClure, Dennison, Curtis, Benner and Kingsley.

Fulton moved into individual competition at the Spartan Duals on Saturday. Results were not available at press time.

•Notes: Seven Hornets are ranked individually by MissouriWrestling.com. McClure is No. 1 at 130, while Benner and Fritz are both No. 2 at 152 and 171, respectively. Curtis is ranked No. 4 at 140, while Pae, Luetkemeyer and Kingsley are each No. 5 at 125, 189 and 160, respectively.

Kirksville......................................60

Fulton basketball (VG).................27

KIRKSVILLE - The Lady Hornets found themselves under constant duress while watching their three-game winning streak come to an end in Friday night's NCMC loss to the Lady Tigers.

Locked down by Kirksville's unrelenting defensive presence, Fulton was unable to establish any offensive rhythm. The Lady Hornets were down 33-11 at halftime and 45-18 to open the fourth quarter

"By far, that's the best defensive pressure we've seen this season; (Kirksville) denied everything," Fulton head coach Jenny Preiss said. "We broke their fullcourt pressure, but we couldn't get open or get into our (offensive) sets against their halfcourt pressure."

Junior guard Corri Hamilton, with 10 points, was the only player to make it into double figures for the Lady Hornets. The loss dropped Fulton to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the North Central Missouri Conference.

Kendyl Blanke topped Kirksville with a game-high 13 points.

The Lady Hornets (1-3) bowed in the junior varsity game 55-20. Senior center Lynesha Piggee totalled a team-high 16 points.

Fulton hosts Eldon at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Roger D. Davis Gymnasium.

New Bloomfield basketball (VB)...57

Belle..............................................48

LINN - The No. 4 seed Wildcats outscored the No. 8 Tigers 16-7 in the second quarter Friday afternoon in the consolation semifinals of the 50th-annual Linn Invitational Tournament.

New Bloomfield overcame a 14-12 deficit after one quarter and went into halftime with a 28-21 advantage.

"We limited (Belle) to one-shot possessions and forced some turnovers," Wildcats head coach Tyler Clark said of the second-quarter performance.

New Bloomfield was up 41-33 entering the fourth quarter.

Senior guard Aaron Bedsworth delivered a game-high 18 points to spur three players in double figures for the Wildcats (3-3), who made all 10 of their free throws overall. Senior guard Kolby O'Dowd also provided 15 points and senior guard Daniel Berry put up 12.

"Belle ran a zone defense, so we worked inside-out," Clark said. "We were a little more disciplined than we normally are."

Brian Rose led the Tigers - who were just 5-of-11 from the line - with 15 points.

New Bloomfield faced Chamois for fifth place late Saturday afternoon. Results were not available at press time.

New Bloomfield basketball (VG)...39

Centralia........................................35

NEW BLOOMFIELD - The Lady Wildcats hit 9-of-13 free throws in the fourth quarter to secure their win over the Lady Panthers on Friday night.

The game was tight throughout. New Bloomfield led 10--9 after one quarter and 21-18 at halftime, but Centralia outscored the Lady Wildcats 9-7 in the third quarter to narrow the gap to 28-27 going into the final 8 minutes.

Senior guard Elizabeth Clark directed New Bloomfield (3-4) with a game-high 15 points, while junior guard Kelsey Jaegers chipped in with nine and senior forward Amanda Howard contributed eight. Howard also collected a team-high 13 rebounds.

"I thought we were very patient; we took our time and got some good shots," Lady Wildcats head coach Brett Craighead said. "Defensively, we played pretty well. We extended (Centralia) out and put some pressure on them, and shut down the inside part of their game.

"We did a good job on the boards. Centralia is bigger and a little more athletic, but we did what we had to do."

Krista Armontrout responded with a team-high 10 points for the Lady Panthers.

Sparked by freshman center Abby Haas' 14 points, New Bloomfield (2-0) prevailed in the junior varsity game 32-21. Freshman guard Shelby Bailey added 10 points.

The Lady Wildcats were coming off a 54-25 loss to Fatima in their Show-Me Conference opener Dec. 13 at New Bloomfield. Clark scored a team-high nine points for the Lady Wildcats, who shot a dreadful 16 percent (8-of-48) as a team.

New Bloomfield won the JV contest 49-37. Haas paced the Lady Wildcats with 19 points, while Bailey and freshman guard Bethany Craighead both tallied 12.

New Bloomfield travels to St. Elizabeth for a Show-Me encounter at 6 p.m. Monday.

Eldon............................................56

North Callaway basketball (VB)...54

KINGDOM CITY - John Hall made two critical free throws with 8 seconds to play Friday night as the Mustangs withstood the Thunderbirds.

After Hall put Eldon up by three points, North Callaway junior guard Zack Lavy was fouled. Lavy hit the first free throw but intentionally missed the second one. Senior forward Andrew Attebery came up with the rebound for the Thunderbirds, but was unable to get off a shot before time expired.

North Callaway - whose 16 fourth-quarter points were all a product of free throws - suffered their fourth straight loss in dropping to 1-5 on the season.

"The kids played their hearts out; I couldn't ask for more," Thunderbirds head coach Tim Turlington said. "They put us in a position to win again. We're going to start winning the close games and get on a streak."

Atterbery finished with 19 points - including an 11-of-12 effort from the line - and six rebounds to guide North Callaway. Senior forward Jacob Stafford was next with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Hall led the Mustangs (2-4) with a game-high 22 points and Cannon Carlock contributed 16.

The Thunderbirds (1-2) lost the junior varsity game 45-21. Vance Allen scored a team-high seven points.

North Callaway hosts a varsity girls-boys' doubleheader against Van-Far at 6 p.m. Monday.

Boonville......................................45

FMS basketball (8th/G)................25

BOONVILLE - The Lady Hornets were outscored 20-9 in the second half of Friday night's loss to the Lady Pirates.

Sloane Totta scored nine points and pulled down five rebounds to lead Fulton Middle School (5-3), which trailed 25-16 at halftime.

"We tried to rush things," Lady Hornets coach TJ Quick said. "Boonville's a very good team; they run up and down the court. Since that's what they were doing, that's what we thought we had to do.

"That's not our game."

FMS travels to Warrenton at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

S. Callaway basketball (8th/B).....42

Southern Boone...........................28

ASHLAND - The Bulldogs broke a 10-10 tie by outscoring the Eagles 10-2 in the second quarter of last Wednesday night's season finale.

See CALLAWAY PREPS/JUNIORS on Page 10