GRANITE CITY – Both Alton and Granite City's wrestling teams had good days Monday as the 54th Granite City William “Red” Schmitt Holiday Wrestling Tournament got under way at Granite City's Memorial Gym complex.
The Redbirds advanced eight wrestlers into Tuesday's championship Gold bracket and three others into the points-paying Silver bracket, while the host Warriors put five into the Gold bracket and eight others into the Silver bracket.
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Alton was fourth in the team standings after the first day with 318 points, with Granite City placing eighth with 240 points. Defending champion Neosho, Mo., led the field with 447.5 points, with Washington, Ill., second with 349.5 and Joliet-area school Plainfield South third 335.5.
“It could have been a bit better today,” Redbird coach Eric Roberson said. “We lost some close ones, a few one-point decisions and couple of others that went to overtime. It's just a rollercoaster of emotions throughout the day; sometimes you dwell on what happened. We did all right, we're just not where we need to be right now.
“One good thing about this tournament is that you see a lot of great competition and great wrestlers. It gives us good competition without having to travel too far from home, and it's a well-run, top-notch tournament.”
“We did pretty good,” said Warrior coach George Kirgan. “Yeah, it could have been better, but I was happy with some of the guys we got into the Gold and Silver brackets. We had a good day for some of our kids.”
Advancing into Tuesday's championship brackets for the Redbirds were Connor Broyles (120), Alejander Lopez (138), Phyllip DeLoach (145), Nicholas DeLoach (152), Qiante Walker (160), Cameron Cawey (170), KeOntay Holmes (182) and Darian Pearson (285). Advancing into the Silver brackets were Nijel Ward (106), Tim McCarvey (126) and Christian Everidge (132).
Moving into the championship brackets for the Warriors were Gabe Wood (120), D.J .Millett (126), Josh Rozell (132), Devon Simpson (138) and Kyle Thompson (160); the Silver brackets will have Chris Santiago (106), Josh Harsh (113), Brendan Davis (113), Wilyonde Bell (145), Daniel Hileman (170), John Buckingham (195), Ryan Earney (220) and Korinthi Nabors (285).
Quarterfinal bouts in all weight classes begin at 9:30 a.m. today, with championship bouts scheduled to commence at approximately 5 p.m.
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