The Barton Community College wrestling team turned in a competitive night on the mats Wednesday evening in Jayhawk Conference action at the Colby Event Center, coming up short in a pair of duals against Cloud County Community College and host Colby Community College.
Individually S'Ron Hill (184 pounds) and Brennen Pfannenstiel (149) paced the Barton lineup, each posting 2-0 nights on the mat while five other Cougars recorded a victory across the two duals.
With the results, Barton moves to 0-5 in Jayhawk Conference play and 2-17 overall on the season. The Cougars will remain on the road Saturday, competing at the Golden Norseman Open in Miami, Oklahoma. Barton then returns home next Thursday for its lone home dual of the season hosting Neosho County and No. 11 Cowley College, along with Great Bend High School boys' and girls' wrestling matches against Liberal.
Recap vs Cloud County: Barton opened the night against Cloud County, coming up short in a 29-29 tiebreaker decision, with the Thunderbirds earning the edge on non-maximum near-fall points (12-7).
Hill set the tone early for the Cougars with a 6:32 fall at 184 pounds over Jase Fitzmorris. After Cloud County built an advantage with the next 12 points, Julian Orrantia (125) pulled Barton back within striking distance with a 17-2 technical fall on Roderick Brown, cutting the deficit to 12-11.Momentum continued to swing the Cougars way as Shane Todd (141) evened the dual at 17-17 with a 1:16 pin over Dakota Gibson. Pfannenstiel then pushed Barton in front overcoming an 11-7 deficit to secure a 5:36 fall against Noah Bailey and give the Cougars a 23-17 edge with three bouts remaining. At 157 pounds, Gabe Swoyer kept Barton rolling, earning his first dual victory of the season with a 5:00 fall over Jacob Vasquez to extend Barton's lead to 29-17 heading into the final two weights.
Stepping in four-weight classes higher, Joshua "AJ" Almanza battled late before dropping a 6:44 fall, allowing Cloud County to close the gap. The Thunderbirds carried that momentum into the final bout, where Micah Cauthers produced a fall to square the score at 29-29, sending the dual to the tiebreaker scenario.
Recap vs Colby: In the nightcap against the host Colby, Barton jumped out to an early lead before the Trojans pulled away late in a 38-16 decision.
Hill opened the dual with a 10-1 major decision at 184 pounds over Kash Alley, while Derek Truman, wrestling up two weight classes at 197, followed with an early first-period fall over Salvador Barintas to gift the Cougars a 10-0 advantage.
Colby responded with victories at heavyweight and 125 pounds to claim its first lead of the dual and continued to build the momentum through the middle of the lineup. Pfannenstiel (149) supplied Barton's final points of the evening, rallying from a deficit to secure a 2:41 fall over Scott Engle.
The Trojans closed the dual by capitalizing on the final four bouts, including open weight victories at 165 and 174 pounds.