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Chatham-Glenwood wins Carbondale wrestling tourney

By Geary Deniston, For The Southern

Sunday, January 7, 2007 7:27 AM CST

CARBONDALE - Chatham-Glenwood earned just enough points Saturday to sneak past host Carbondale for its first Murdale Wrestling Tournament title.

With both teams capturing two first- and two third-place trophies, it came down to who could get more second and fourth places. In both cases, the Titans got the nod to beat the Terriers, 199 to 180.

"We had 12 out of 14 in the place bouts, so up and down we were pretty solid," said Titans coach Tommy Johnson. "At 130 Zach Pallante wasn't even going to wrestle because of a bad shoulder, but he made it to the finals and finished second. Even at 135 Dallas Tankersley loses his first match, but comes back to place sixth. It all helped."

The Titans picked up second-place finishes in the 112-weight class by Dan Ramsden, in the 130 by Pallante and in the heavyweight class by Paul Hinckley.

The Terriers picked up second-place points in the 145 by Zach Lomax and 215 by Mike Smith.

Carbondale's brother-sister duo of Jared and Alli matched Chatham's two titles by Sam Danna at 160 and Jake Bennett at 189.

Alli Ragan's title in the 112-weight class was not only the first Murdale title for the freshman, but was the first time a girl has won a title in the 46-year history of the tournament.

"It's pretty cool being the first girl to win a Murdale title. I'm hoping it's the first of four," Ragan said. "(Ramsden) was the first match I had this season, so it was easier this time (winning 10-2). I was only ahead 4-0 going into the third period, so I kept the pressure on."

For her brother, Jared, it was the second time in three years the junior has won. Ragan beat Herrin's Thad Farlow by a tech fall at 3:58 in the 125 class. He also won as a freshman at 112 and finished second at 119 last year.

Herrin's John Kesler breezed through the competition at 145 to win his first Murdale title. He also claimed the coveted "Most Falls in the Shortest Time" award with three pins in an average time 1:35. The junior beat Carbondale's Zach Lomax on a pin with 30 seconds left in the second period.

"Reaching back to get him was actually the wrong thing to do, but it works on some people. He just got high and his head was on the outside, so I just grabbed it," Kelser said. "He is good. It would have gone all three periods if I hadn't caught him."

Herrin's Jake Holliday - last year's "Most Falls" champion - continued his undefeated season with three wins in the 119 class to up his season record to 15-0 and win his third straight Murdale crown.

Belleville East and Murphysboro led the tournament with three first-place finishes each. Sophomore Shae Baker at 140 and senior Matt McLaughlin at 275 each won their second consecutive titles while freshman Jake Miller winning his first at 103.

"He made a mistake and I capitalized on it (to pin him). I just put him in a Saturday night ride and he couldn't hang with it," McLaughlin said. "His mistake was wrestling me."

Zack Marvel took Johnston City's only first-place finish with a pin at 3:46. For the senior it was his first title of any kind and upped his season record to 17-1.