Trojan Wrestlers Place At The NAIA Central Regional Tournament

Kasey Cates (141 lbs.,sophomore, Washington, MO) and Jobi Hambrick (174 lbs., freshmen, Lexington, MO) lead the way for Trojan wrestling at the NAIA Central Regional Tournament hosted by William Penn University in Oskaloosa, IA. Both Cates and Hambrick finished in third place becoming the first Trojan wrestlers to place at the Central Regional Tournament.
Cates’ (unseeded) first round match was against Bryan Williams of York College who he defeated by 8-5. In the second round Cates was matched up against the #1 seed, Jerry Garner from Oklahoma City University. Cates lost 11-7 to Garner. After dropping down to the consolation bracket Cates won matches over Brett Delich from Baker University by fall and once again over Bryan Williams. In this rematch, Williams defaulted in the second period as a result of an injury suffered in the first period. Kates two straight wins were enough to claim the consolation championship.
Jobi Hambrick, 5th seed, entered the Central Regional Tournament with the more wins than any other freshmen in the NAIA. Coach Hawes commented on Hambrick’s seeding for the Central Regional Tournament. “I believed he was the 3rd best wrestler in the region, but because of criteria he only was able to be seeded 5th. Hambrick was beaten soundly by # 3 seed Jacob Guernsey from MO Valley at the Grand View Tournament this year.” Guernsey is also ranked 11th at 174 lbs in the season's final NAIA national rankings. Coach Hawes also stated,” I had to coach another wrestler who was wrestling at the same time as Hambrick, I did not see Jobi’s entire match verses Guernsey, but the part that I did see I noticed that he was making some mistakes that could have made the difference in the match. I believed that Hambrick could have beaten Guernsey if he would have wrestled smarter.” Having a bye in the first round, Hambrick’s first victory came in the second round over #4 seed Gabe Vasquez from Waldorf College with the score of 9-4. Hambrick lost his second match by fall to the eventual outstanding wrestler and #1 seed, Glenn Rhees, from Grand View College. Then Hambrick’s next match was in the consolation semifinals verses Clarence Jordan from Baker University. Hambrick beat Jordan soundly with the score of 9-3. In the consolation finals Hambrick was in position to prove that he was the 3rd best wrestler in the NAIA’s Central Region against an opponent he could have beaten earlier in the season Jacob Guernsey. The match began with Guernsey taking a number of low shots on Hambrick which he was able to deflect until about one minute left in the period when Hambrick was taken down. Hambrick responded with an escape shortly after the take down and the first period was finished. In the second period Hambrick chose down and set the tempo for the rest of the match. Hambrick was able to score a reversal and then Guernsey scored an escape. After the escape Hambrick responded by returning Guernsey to the mat with a takedown. The score going into the third period was 5-3 with Hambrick in the lead. Guernsey had over one minute in riding team so the score was really 5-4. Guernsey was starting to look fatigued and he chose down to start the third period. Hambrick was able to ride down Guernsey’s built up riding time, but he gave up a penalty point for locked hands. Guernsey almost scored with the free move situation but the referee stopped the match for the locked hands restart. After a series of flurries Hambrick held on with the victory over the 11th ranked Jacob Guernsey.
Tommy Pickens, Josh Smith, and Nathan Downs will be joining Cates and Hambrick to Okalahoma City University March 4th for the 2010 NAIA National Championships.