Baxter wrestlers take fifth at Dennis Field Invitational

WOODWARD — John McGill could get another crack at Class 1A No. 1 Ryan Stiles of Earlham later this season.

The next result might go his way. But McGill came up just short in a battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2 on Saturday.

Both Colfax-Mingo and Baxter competed at the Dennis Field Invitational and the Bolts led the area in fifth place. The Tigerhawks placed ninth in the 12-team field.

Six area grapplers claimed runner-up finishes in their weight classes with McGill, Colfax-Mingo’s Cason Fitch and Baxter’s Ayden Beck and Aiden McFadden losing to top-six ranked wrestlers.

The Bolts scored 116 points with just seven wrestlers. Earlham won the team title with 191 points, while the rest of the top five featured host Woodward-Granger (158), ACGC (125) and Martensdale-St. Marys (120).

Baxter edged Southeast Warren/Melcher-Dallas (113.5) for fifth despite having five fewer wrestlers in its lineup.

The rest of the 13-team field included East Marshall/GMG (97.5), Saydel (95), Colfax-Mingo (72), Hudson (65), Coon Rapids-Bayard (52) and Des Moines North/Hoover (30).

Class 1A No. 2 McGill lost 7-6 to top-ranked Stiles in the 165-pound final.

Stiles scored first after countering McGill’s first shot of the match. He led 4-1 after one period before a takedown by McGill got him within 4-3.

Stiles led 7-3 after two periods. McGill scored all three points in the third, including a takedown in the final 10 seconds.

Fitch (120) joined McGill with a 2-1 record for the day and James Cherveny also won twice at 126.

Baxter’s Beck (126), McFadden (285), Jack Anderson (144) and Callyn Bishop (175) also finished second and went 2-1 at their weight classes. Ruger Kincaid was 2-2 and finished third at 138.

Fitch’s lone loss came against fourth-ranked Dallas Conoyer of Earlham. One of Cherveny’s losses also came against a ranked wrestler.

Isaiah Baucom (175) and Donnie Baucom (215) both finished fourth after 1-2 days. Teagan Dybevik was 1-2 at 285.

Beck, who is ranked No. 8 at 113, lost to ACGC’s Teagan Slaybaugh by fall. Slaybaugh is ranked No. 3 in 1A at 126.

McFadden is ranked No. 7 at 285 and his lone loss came against ACGC’s Payton Jacobe, who is ranked No. 6. Jacobe edged McFadden 1-0.

Kincaid and Bishop both won twice by fall, while Anderson scored one win by pin and another by major decision. Bishop is currently ranked 12th in 1A at 175.

Baxter also got fourth-place finishes from Alex Dille (113) and Koltin Hurd (132).