The Trenton High School wrestling team had a very good showing at the Marceline Tournament on Saturday as the Bulldogs brought home four individual titles and placed nine-of-12 wrestlers in the top three of A pools or the top two of B pools.
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“We had one of our best performances ever in the Marceline Tournament since they have gone to this pool/tournament format,” Trenton Head Coach Bill Hill said. “With nine-of-12 Trenton wrestlers placing in either the top three in an A pool or top two in a B pool, we would most likely have won the team title under most any type of scoring system.”
As it was, the tournament does not keep team points, but that did little to demean the Bulldogs’ accomplishments on the day. A total of 13 schools were represented at the tournament with none matching the amount of success the Bulldogs had on the mat.
“These are many of the top teams in our class and several A pools had multiple returning state qualifiers and medalists in them,” Hill said.
Leading the way for Trenton were seniors Karson Hill and Clay Oneal and junior Jacob Spillman, all of whom captured A pool championships at their respective weights.
Hill won the 138-pound A pool with a record of 5-0. Hill manhandled the competition at his weight, winning four matches by major decisions and one by a technical fall. Hill scored 53 takedowns in his five matches combined.
“This weight was stacked with returning state medalists and a returning qualifier, but Karson was really on a whole new level,” Coach Hill said. “He took everyone down at will, scoring 53 takedowns on the day and earning the outstanding wrestler of the tournament award by a vote of all the coaches.”
Oneal picked up the title in the 160-pound A pool. Oneal went 4-0, winning twice by fall and twice by a major decision. Oneal had 23 takedowns in his four matches.
“With two major decisions and two pins, Clay really out-classed this group,” Hill said. “He was just incredibly explosive on his feet, scoring with several blast double-leg tackles in his matches.”
Spillman was 5-0 on the day, winning the 182-pound A pool. Spillman won all but one of his matches by fall, collecting 19 takedowns on the day.
“This was one of Jacob’s best tournaments ever,” Hill said. “He’s another one that was really dominant on his feet. Several of Jacob’s takedowns should have had an exclamation point behind them in the scorebook.”
Trenton also had a winner in Mason Mounce, who took first in the 145-pound B pool, going 4-0. Mounce won all four matches by fall, three by pin and one by a technical fall.
“Mason totally dominated this class with three pins and a tech fall,” Hill said. “After seeing the A pool, I think he may have been able to win it as well. Mason was really fun to watch and is doing a lot of things right.”
Trenton had multiple second-place finishers in Lane Beverlin (126 B pool), Thomas Mack (152 B pool), Dakota Galvin (170 A pool) and Tyler Carpenter (195 A pool). Carlos Gonzalez was third in the 106-pound A pool.
Beverlin was 3-1 on the day with three wins by fall, Mack was 4-1 with three wins by fall, Galvin was 2-1 with both wins coming by fall, Carpenter was 2-1 with two wins by fall and Gonzalez was 2-2 with both wins coming via regular decisions.
Other wrestlers in action for Trenton included Brandon Dolan (120 A pool), who was 1-4; Dalton Ellis (132 B pool), who was 0-5; and Layton Harkins (285 B pool), who was 1-3.
Trenton returns to regular dual action on Tuesday. The Bulldogs will travel to Bethany, where they will face both South Harrison and Gallatin. The first dual will begin at 6 p.m.