Warriors third at home tourney; Comets take sixth

KEOSAUQUA ? Van Buren head wrestling coach Richard Daugherty saw an entirely new team when his Warriors took to their home mat Saturday.

?We had a good discussion before the break,? Daugherty said. ?A lot of them were out of shape and weren?t really pushing themselves. They?ve since stepped up practices and the boys started to see what potential they have, what they can do.?

Three Warriors made it to the finals round and another three finished in third to help the team to 143 points and third place at their weekend home tournament.

Davis County won the invite with 203 points and Sigourney-Keota took second, just edging out the Warriors with 145.5 points.

The top finishers for Van Buren were Jacob Heisel (126), Curtis Thomas (182) and Zach Corman (220) finishing second. Colton Putnum (120), Hunter Coffman (132) and Mitch Garrels (195) all took third in their weight classes.Jordan Staton (106) finished the day in fourth and Dakota LaRue (170) was fifth to round out the team scoring for Van Buren.

The top-to-bottom team success led Daugherty to call it Van Buren?s best overall team performance of the season ?without question.? A lot of Van Buren?s newfound success might be because of a newfound attitude in practice.

?I?ve been at Van Buren since ?05 and this is the hardest working group I?ve seen,? Daugherty said. ?They?ve just really picked it up in practice.?

He saved some of his biggest praise for the trio of underclassmen Heisel, Coffman and Garrels.

Each, according to Daugherty, has shown a great amount of improvement since December and has worked hard through the break to further tap into their potentials.

?We?ve got a long way to go until February,? the head coach added. ?We?re not where we need to be by any means, but we?re on the right path.?

Also in attendance were the Comets, who finished the tournament in sixth place with 113.5 points.

All seven Cardinal wrestlers in attendance made the podium, including two first-place winners and five bronze winners. Ryan Cale wrestled to a flawless record Saturday at 113 to take first place, and Andrew Hemm capped an undefeated week with a first-place finish at 195. Levi Rupe (106), Patrick Lind (126), Austin Deshler (145), Robert McLaughlin (154) and Tonch Craver (185) all finished third in their respective weight classes.

Next up for Van Buren is the Davis County Quad on Thursday. Cardinal hosts WACO and Tri-County Tuesday.

Final Team Standings

1. Davis County 203, 2. Sigourney 145.5, 3. Van Buren 143, 4. Kirksville 134.5, 5. Wapello 118, 6. Cardinal 113.5, 7. WACO 66, 8. West Burlington 60, 9. Moravia 54

Van Buren Individual Results

103 ? Jordan Staton (4th), 120 ? Colton Putnum (3rd), 126 ? Jacob Heisel (2nd), 132 ? Hunter Coffman (3rd), 170 ? Dakota LaRue (5th), 182 ? Curtis Thomas (2nd), 195 ? Mitch Garrels (3rd), 220 ? Zach Corman (2nd)

Cardinal Individual Results

106 ? Levi Rupe (3rd), 113 ? Ryan Cale (1st), 126 ? Patrick Lind (3rd), 145 ? Austin Deshler (3rd), 154 ? Robert McLaughlin (3rd), 185 ? Tonch Craver (3rd), 195 ? Andrew Hemm (1st)