CARTHAGE - With the entire student body in attendance, the Carthage wrestling team opened the season with a 51-19 win against visiting Carl Junction in an assembly dual on Tuesday afternoon.
The stands were full inside the main gymnasium at the high school when the varsity match started just after 2:30 p.m.
"That was everybody in the school," Carthage head coach Kenny Brown said. "We did it last year at CJ and it was our turn. I loved the fact that one, it got a little louder than normal and two, we got some kids to watch a wrestling match who probably never had before and maybe they'll come out again."
The Tigers put on a good show, winning five-straight bouts to start the day, with four falls and a forfeit.
Junior Tanner Russowopened at 120 pounds and pinned Carl Junction's Lucas Watkins in just 47 seconds. Junior SelvinEstrada followed at 126 and pinned Ethan Walker in 5:21. At 132,  senior DalenMoore (129-17 in his career) won by fall in 3:04 against Carl Junction's Holden Hughes. Freshman Eli Sneedwon by forfeit at 138 pounds, and junior Anderson Ixcolthen pinned Corbin Fogelsongin 2:39 at 145 pounds.
That gave Carthage a 30-0 advantage.
"Honestly a lot of that we just got lucky with where we started with the random draw," Brown said. "Just happened to be some of our more experienced wrestlers. Tanner Russowgot the ball rolling and it just kept going. Dalenbeat one of their better wrestlers who I believe was a state medalist in the past as well. Getting a fall against him was big momentum. Momentum plays a huge part in duals and that's what a lot of people don't really understand. Kids tend to feed off the success of their teammates."
The momentum didn't last though; Carl Junction outscored Carthage 19-3 over the five bouts from 152 to 195 pounds to pull within 33-19 on the scoreboard.
Sophomore Creed Lambeth lost by fall in 4:47 at 152 pounds against Carl Junction's Cole Stewart. At 160, junior KeltenCampbell nearly pinned Carl Junction's IsiacShields in the first 30 seconds but was forced to forfeit due to injury just a minute in.
Junior Brandon Crow scored three points with a 4-3 win at 170 pounds over Kobe Maxwell, but  junior Caleb Triplettlost a 17-3 major decision at 182 pounds to Wyatt Ross and freshman KanenVogt lost 8-6 at 195 against Noah Southern.
"We dropped a few in a row," Brown said. "KeltenCampbell had the kid on his back and popped cartilage in between his ribs. That one hurt. That was a match I was hoping we could finish, and we had another wrestler out. We had a sub in at 52 and more power to him for being willing to step in to help the team. He's actually a 45 pounder but he had to wrestle 52 today to help us out."
Junior Kale Schraderstopped the bleeding with an overtime win at 220 pounds, 3-1 over Jesse Cassatt. After that, the Tigers cruised. Junior BrenerOcanawon 3-1 at 285 pounds against Tyler Hoffman, freshman BraxdonTate pinned Ashton Guilford in 1:54 at 106 pounds and sophomore Carlos Reyes finished up the day by pinning Gage Gordon in 33 seconds at 113 pounds.
"That's part of who Kale is," Brown said. "He's come right out of football and obviously he is not quite in wrestling shape yet but he still came out and beat a kid who made the bubble round at state last year."
Carthage will be back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 4 when the Tigers host Columbus and Miami in a double dual.

-Brennan Stebbins, The Carthage Press
 
Carthage 51, Carl Junction 19
 
Individual Results
Varsity
Weight—Name—grade
106—Braxdon Tate—9
Won by fall in 1:54 over Ashton Guilford
 
113—Carlos Reyes—10
Won by fall in 0:33 over Gage Gordon
 
120—Tanner Russow—11
Won by fall in 0:48 over Lucas Watkins
 
126—Selvin Estrada—11
Won by fall in 5:21 over Ethan Walker
 
132—Dalen Moore—12
Won by fall in 3:04 over Holden Hughes
 
138—Eli Sneed—9
Won by forfeit
 
145—Anderson Ixcol—11
Won by fall in 2:39 over Corbin Fogelsong
 
152—Creed Lambeth—10
Lost by fall in 4:47 to Cole Stewert
 
160—Kelten Campbell—11
Lost by injury default to Isiac Shields
 
170—Brandon Crow—11
Won by decision 4-3 over Kobe Maxwell
 
182—Caleb Triplett—11
Lost by major decision 3-17 to Wyatt Ross
 
195—Kanen Vogt—9
Lost by decision 6-8 to Noah Southern
 
220—Kale Schrader—11
Won by overtime decision 3-1 over Jesse Cassatt
 
285—Brener Ocana—11
Won by decision 3-1 over Tyler Huffman
 
JV Results
120—Brayden Benefiel—10
Won by fall in 2:35 over Silas Walker
 
126—Cale Patrick—9
Won by technical fall 18-1 over Kendyn Bennett
 
126—Mateo Kaempfe—11
Won by fall in 0:39 over Silas Walker
 
126—Cody Reeves—9
Won by fall in 0:57 over Kendyn Bennett
 
145—Mitchell Frisinger—11
Won by fall in 3:26 over Phillip Leithaeuser
 
152—Wessly Estes—10
Won by major decision 12-0 over Phillip Leithaeuser
 
160—Levi White—11
Won by fall in 0:53 over Dillon Demasters
 
160—Erik Alvarado—10
Lost by fall in 1:00 to Dillon Demasters
 
170—Payton Choate—11
Won by fall in 0:51 over Clay Sneed
 
170—Grant Lasley—9
Won by fall in 3:04 over Garrett Demasters
 
170—Isaac Saba—9
Lost by fall in 4:31 to Clayton Ross
 
182—James Chuta—10
Lost by fall in 1:54 to Hunter Row
 
182—Christian Orellana—10
Lost by fall in 4:45 to Hunter Row
 
220—Christian Tebalan—10
Lost by fall in 2:27 to Kameron Bennett
 
220—Rafael Lopez—9
Lost by fall in 0:45 to Darris Hill
 
220—Ronaldo Escamilla—10
Lost by fall in 0:57 to Keegan Bennett
 
285—Alan Alva—11
Lost by fall in 2:57 to Micah Lieberman