Kinser, Ortiz Excel At Liberty Invitational

The McDonald County High School wrestling team, despite being short-handed due to illnesses, took 11th place at the Liberty Invitational held Jan. 27-28 at Liberty High School.

The Mustangs were led by 106-pound Oscar Ortiz and 285-pound Tinker Kinser.

Ortiz advanced to the championship bracket with a 3-0 record in pool matches. He defeated Shaemon Erb in the quarterfinals before getting pinned by undefeated Jeremiah Reno of Liberty in the semifinals.

Ortiz, 36-5, rebounded to claim a 6-2 decision over Corbin Harrington of Lincoln

(Nebraska) East High School in the third place match.

Kinser won all three of his pool matches by pin, taking just 1:07 to defeat his three opponents. The junior received a forfeit to advance to the semifinals where he pinned Dominic Toese of William Chrisman to advance to the finals.

In the championship match, Kinser, 38-6, lost a 3-2 decision to undefeated Zane Shaddox of Liberty. The only other McDonald County wrestlers to have winning records at the tournament were David Lazalde (113) and Kammeron Barnes (220). Both finished the tournament with 3-2 records to take seventh place.

Other McDonald County results included Johann Dela Cruz, 113 pounds, sixth, 2-2; Christian Willmann, 138 pounds, sixth, 2-3; Jack Teague, 145 pounds, 13th, 2-3; Timber Teague, 170 pounds, 12th, 0-4; and, Brandon Andrew, 182 pounds, 12th, 0-2.

Kearney High School won the tournament with 510 points followed by Oak Grove with 422.5 points, Grain Valley 415, Liberty 409, Lincoln East 396.5, Blue Springs 362.5, Fort Osage 357.5, Pleasant Hill 335, Lee’s Summit West 327, William Chrisman 269.5, McDonald County 236.5, Harrisonville 196, Lincoln 164, Raytown South 155, Blue Springs JV 85, Liberty JV 78, Ruskin 69, Lincoln East JV 53, Kearney JV 49, Fort Osage JV 43, Oak Grove JV 30.5, Pleasant Hill JV 29, Grain Valley JV 27, Lincoln JV 17 and Harrisonville JV 17.

McDonald County was at Grove on Jan. 30 before closing out its regular season on Feb. 2 at Diamond. McDonald County will travel to Camdenton on Feb. 10-11 for the Missouri Class 3 District 3 Championships at Camdenton High School.

Carthage/Marshfield

McDonald County was without several starters, including state-ranked Truman Craig and Jakob Gerow at a double dual held Jan. 26 at Carthage High School.

The Mustangs fell to Marshfield 43-33 in its first dual of the night. Picking up wins for McDonald County were Ortiz (106, pin), Lazalde (113, pin), Dela Cruz (120, 8-2 decision), Willmann (138, pin), Timber Teague (170, pin) and Kinser (285, pin).

Carthage defeated McDonald County 53-27 in the Mustangs’ second match of the night.

Picking up wins for the Mustangs were Willmann (138, pin), Barnes (220, 5-2 decision), Kinser (285, pin), Oritz (106, pin) and Lazalde (113, pin).