GRANITE CITY - Austin Jones at 106 pounds and Brayden Drew, at 150 pounds, both finished eighth in their respective weight classes as Alton's boys wrestling team had good showings at the William "Red' Schmitt Holiday Wrestling Tournament over the weekend at Memorial Gym in Granite City.
The tournament, named for the late Granite City wrestling coach and Alton native Schmitt, is considered to be one of the top tournaments of its kind in the nation, attracting top talent from around the Midwest, in a two-day tournament.
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The Redbirds entered a total of eight wrestlers in the field, and finished 26th in the 30-team lineup with 53.5 points.
Columbia, Mo., Hickman won the team title with 343 points, far ahead of runner-up CBC, who had 273 points, and third-place finisher Rockwood Lafayette, with 271 points.
Jones finished eighth at 106 pounds, scoring 10 points for Alton, and lost his final bout in the seventh place match, being pinned by Matthew Deutsch of Waterloo at 35 seconds. in the 126-pound division, Jornal Dandridge placed 15th, scoring 6.5 points, and in his final match won by medical forfeit over Hunter Pittman of Tinley Park Andrew.
Marquez Singleton finished 19th at 132 pounds, scoring 3.5 points, and in his final bout, won by technical superiority over Silas Stachyra of Mt Vernon 17-1 at 5:28. In the 138-pound class, Marshall Skelton finished 10th and scored 12.5 points, losing his final match to Braden Kelly of Belleville East by technical superiority 21-4 at 5:02.
Edwin Ponce finished 21st at 144 pounds, scoring two points, winning his final bout over Logan Green of Hazelwood West 8-3. Drew was eighth at 150 pounds, scoring 12 points, but lost the seventh-place match to Maddux NeSmith of Bolivar, Mo. by fall at 34 seconds.
Lew Meroles was 18th at 165 pounds, scoring three points for the Redbirds, but in his final match, lost by fall to Charles Pickett of Bloomington at 44 seconds, and at 285 pounds, Kavon Newby finished 19th and scored four points, winning his final bout over Owen Hardy of Lafayette by fall at 2:43.
