Turnbough edged for title; three SG wrestlers medal

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Ben Turnbough stood less than a minute away from crowning a perfect wrestling season with a Class 2 state championship at 182 pounds on Saturday night.

The Potosi standout instead ended his junior season with a second-place finish and 40-1 record at Mizzou Arena to follow up a fourth-place result from last year.

Cameron senior Caleb Shanks (56-1) of Cameron executed a decisive takedown with the third period winding down, and emerged with a 5-4 decision in the title bout.

Turnbough charged through his weight division with a fall, major decision and 6-4 semifinal decision, and became the first member of the Potosi program to reach a state final.

Ste. Genevieve closed its tournament three victories in placement matches. Those results bumped the Dragons into ninth place within the final Class 2 team standings.

The outlook is already optimistic for next season. Seven wrestlers began the weekend at Mizzou Arena for the Dragons, none of whom are seniors.

Juniors Wade Hahn (195) and Jared Humbolt (145) won their third-place matches, and sophomore Grant Staffen (132) finished in fifth.

Hahn ended his season with a mark of 43-1 with decisions of 5-2 over Dawson Cox of Cameron and 2-1 against Chance Richards of Moberly. He suffered a crushing 1-0 setback in Friday’s semifinal round.

Humbolt (41-5) rattled off four consecutive wins after tasting defeat in the quarterfinals, starting with back-to-back falls in the consolation bracket.

His weekend was capped by a 10-0 major decision over Austin Morgan of Excelsior Springs that included a late takedown and near fall to improve his team’s score.

Staffen notched his 35th and last triumph of the season by pinning Blake Schmidt of Southern Boone in the third period.

Farmington senior and four-time state qualifier Bradly Harman (39-10) completed his high school career with a sixth-place Class 3 finish at 113 pounds after taking third last season.

Harman was defeated by Smithville’s Blake Ackerman 1-0 in their second encounter of the tournament after dropping a 10-4 decision against Cody Hey of Washington earlier Saturday.

The Knights sent six athletes to the state meet, but three were eliminated one match shy of getting to the medals podium.

Central senior Matt Dean (16-7) placed sixth in the Class 2 heavyweight division following a 12-0 major decision that favored opponent Joe Bryant of Cameron.

Whitield (Class 1), Oak Grove (Class 2), Neosho (Class 3) and Staley (Class 4) captured the team championships.

Saturday Results:

Ste. Genevieve

132 – Grant Staffen lost by decision to Tucker Caswell (Fulton), 6-2

132 – Grant Staffen won by fall over Blake Schmidt (Southern Boone), 5:31

145 – Jared Humbolt won by fall over Clark Rogers (Winfield), 2:38

145 – Jared Humbolt won by major decision over Austin Morgan (Excelsior Springs), 10-0

195 – Wade Hahn won by decision over Dawson Cox (Cameron), 5-2

195 – Wade Hahn won by decision over Chance Richards (Moberly), 2-1

Potosi

182 – Ben Turnbough lost by decision to Caleb Shanks (Cameron), 5-4

Farmington

113 – Bradly Harman lost by decision to Cody Hey (Washington), 10-4

113 – Bradly Harman lost by decision Blake Ackerman (Smithville), 1-0

Central

285 – Matt Dean lost by decision to Ian Schaumberg (Osage), 7-2

285 – Matt Dean lost by major decision to Joe Bryant (Cameron), 12-0

State medalists for the 182-pound division of the Class 2 state wrestling tournament stand on the awards podium Saturday night at Mizzou Arena. Potosi junior Ben Turnbough ended his season with a 40-1 record and second-place result.