Wrestling | 11/18/2024 5:26:00 PM

Springfield, MO - On Saturday, Nov 16th, the Neosho Panthers competed at the Drury Open in Springfield, MO and saw competition from the NCAA I, II and III, NAIA and NJCAA. 

Hunter Jennings (So. Sothern Boone, M0) had a very strong performance at 157 lbs, going 3-2 on the day, and placing 4th. 

Jennings started the day with  a 15-0 technical fall over Stephen Bell (Fontbonne ) followed by a tough (11-6) decision over Conner Quinn (Unattached) in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals Jennings lost to the eventual champion, Jaylon Otero (Ouachita Baptist) by fall, but came back with(18-2) technical fall over Chase Koehler (Fort Hays State) before losing to Zeke Liescheski (Tarleton State) in the consolation finals.

Dylan Waggerman (So., Paola, KS) competed well at 184 lbs, going 4-2 on the day and wrestling his way into the consolation bracket finals.

Dylan won in the first round by fall over Riko Camacho from Fontbonne, before losing in the second round to Laird Bourbon from of Tarleton State. Waggerman went on to win his next three matches before losing in the consolation finals to Nawab Singh (Schreiner).

Kelton Howard (Fr. Plam Coast, FL) wrestled well also and went 2-3, and placed 6th

Coach Hansen said "We like what we are seeing. We are not where we want to be yet but we have a good evaluation of what we need to work on with our guys. This open is a good tournament for us. Now we need to go to work on correcting some of our mistakes and bad habits so we can keep delivering good results against tougher opponents."

The Panthers will face off against Drury on Wed. Nov. 20th in Springfield, MO. Wrestling begins at 5:00 pm