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  • David Stonner/Special to the Globe Seneca's Jalen Skaggs defeats Trenton's Thomas Mack in the 160-pound division of the Class 1 state wrestling tournament on Friday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo.

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February 16, 2013

Seneca makes state wrestling run, holds fifth place entering final day

From staff reports

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Whitfield withstood a fierce Seneca assault and remained in first place in Class 1 after the semifinals Friday night at the MSHSAA Wrestling Championships at Mizzou Arena.

Whitfield led with 93 points, followed by Brookfield with 81.5 points. Seneca was fifth with 74 points.

Seneca briefly took the lead in the team standings after Will Roark at 120 pounds decisioned Garrett Zahner of Brookfield 6-1 in the semifinals and Quintin Cotten at 113 and Jesse Rhoades at 132 won their matches in the third round of wrestlebacks.

Roark (53-1), a sophomore, will face Jacob O’Neal (45-1), a senior from Carrollton, in tonight’s finals.

Seneca had a near-perfect session earlier Friday in the quarterfinals and the second round of wrestlebacks.

The Indians won three of four quarterfinal matches, all by pin. Roark, Cole Lankford at 126 and Jalen Skaggs at 160 advanced to the semifinals.

In the second round of wrestlebacks, Seneca pinned three of its four opponents. Cotten pinned Brian Noble of Stanberry in 20 seconds, Jeff Butler pinned Austin Cummins of New Madrid Central in the second period and Devin Madison pinned Tyler Partney of Herculaneum in the first period.

Seneca’s run fell short with two one-point losses in the semifinals. Lankford was decisioned by Justin Rhodes of West Platte 2-1, and Skaggs fell to Ramzie Cooper of Brookfield 4-3.

Skaggs’ match on Mat 3 took place just after unbeaten Justin Hartzell of Lathrop knocked off William Hahn of Whitfield 8-5.

The Indians have four wrestlers in the consolation finals. The winners will advance to third-place matches and the losers will wrestle for fifth place.

Lankford (45-9), a senior, will face sophomore Nathaniel Alexander (29-4) of Maryville, and Skaggs (46-4), a senior, will face senior Joe Collins (27-9) of Adrian.

Cotten (27-15), a freshman who was defeated in the first round, will face Caleb Osborn (43-4), a junior from Lathrop, and Rhoades (36-21), a freshman, will face Jesse Oldham (40-3), a senior from Stanberry.

Diamond’s Jordan Douglas (39-16), a senior and a four-time state qualifier, was defeated in the third round of wrestlebacks by Tyler Spurling of Centralia.

Class 2

Monett’s Chase Brennan advanced to the championship match at 113 by defeating Ethan Rentschler of Kirksville 7-3. Brennan (45-4), a junior, will face sophomore Trevor Burkhart (46-1) of Cameron.

Nevada won all four of its quarterfinal matches but fell in the semifinals. Travis Jones of Ste. Genevieve won in sudden victory over Slade Stiles at 120, and Maliek Collins of Kansas City Center at 285 remained unbeaten with a decision by ultimate tie breaker over Sam Ellifrits.

Dayton Miller of Nevada at 106 was pinned by Dakota Miller of Odessa, and Colby Smith at 220 was pinned by Zach Kearney of Reeds Spring.

Oak Grove led the team standings with 143.5 points. Fulton was second with 92.5 points.

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