PETERSBURG - A pair of St. Joseph-Ogden wrestlers placed at the annual Rex Avery PORTA Invite on Saturday, December 9. Holden Brazelton (9-0) won the 132-pound title, and Coy Hayes (5-2) finished 5th in the 157-pound bracket.
Brazelton made quick work of his first three opponents the way to the title.
Holden Brazelton looks for a shot in on Clifton Central's Kayden Cody. The St. Joseph-Ogden's senior won the 138-pound title at the PORTA Invite. Photo: PhotoNews Media
Twenty-four seconds into the second period, the SJO senior secured a tech fall over Cumberland sophomore Jaxson Dukeman. Warmed-up, he ended his next match against Sacred Heart-Griffin's Kenneth Lockhart with pin in 44 seconds.
His semifinal match against LeRoy's Kobe Brent lasted 32 seconds longer, sticking him at 1:16. In their previous meeting in a dual meet at St. Joseph-Ogden on December 3, Brazelton took down Brent 7-1 on his home mat.
In the championship match, Brazelton squared off with Farmington senior Keygan Jennings, whose day and path into the final nearly mirrored Brazelton. After the dust had settled, Brazelton came out on top with a 1-0 decision.
In the 157-pound division, Coy Hayes faced Kewanee's Wayland Lambert in the second round. Forty-two seconds into the bout, Hayes went up 2-0 on a takedown and almost a minute later got the slap, pinning Lambert with 17 seconds to go in the first period.
Hayes' win put him in the path of Shelbyville's undefeated Ryne Peavler (12-0), who beat him soundly in six minutes, 15-0.
During his next match against LeRoy's Bo Zeleznik, Hayes struggled, nearly losing in the first period. Starting the second period down, 5-1, the SJO sophomore scored eight unanswered points to win the match, 9-5.
Advancing to the fifth place match, Hayes defeated Canton's Greene by pin 14 seconds into the third period.
Also representing St. Joseph-Ogden at the invitational meet were:
113- Jackson Walsh, 120- Camden Getty, 126- Eli Birt, 138- Landen Butts, 144- Alex Vaughn, 150- Logan Xiao, 165- Devan Swisher, 175- James Barron, 190- Corbin Smith, 215- Qunicy Jones, and 285- Brodie Harms.
Out of the 30 teams competing earlier this month, the Spartans finished 14 in the team standings with 86.5 points.
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