By Kim Staudinger
The Chinook Sugarbeeters capped off a weekend full of wrestling with a second-place finish at the Harlem Invitational Saturday, but perhaps the most exciting part of the weekend was their own Wrestling Showcase.
Glasgow, one of the top teams in Class B, Malta and Big Sandy attended the Chinook meet, which was composed of three rounds of wrestling.
In the first round, Chinook's Clayton Parsons won by pinning Glasgow's Josh Johnson in 1:13. At 125 pounds, Jeremy Painter continued the Chinook dominance with a pin in 56 seconds over Malta's Zach Ost. Painter, who finished second at the Harlem Invite, had a 5-1 record on the weekend.
Howie Miller, who took second at Harlem and finished with a 7-1 record, defeated Evan Fessler from Glasgow by pin in 2:39 in the first round. Next at 135 pounds, Ben Parsons won by decision 13-3 over Malta's Greg Ziegler. Parsons took third at Harlem and ended the weekend at 5-2.
Jake Phillips suffered one of only two losses in the first round for the Beeters, falling by pin in 1:20 at the hands of Malta's Wayne French. Phillips finished fourth at Harlem and 2-3 on the weekend. The other loss for the Beeters came at heavyweight when Kevin Elias lost to Malta's Marcus Green by pin in 4:49.
Other wins for Chinook in the first round were Thomas Maddox with a pin in 1:03 over Skippy Simms from Malta, Justin Lotton pinning Glasgow's Adam Morehouse in 33 seconds, and Danny Skoyen pinning Malta's Adam Bachmeier in 2:45. The match that had everyone's eyes on the mat in the first round was an intense Eric Hinebauch taking on Malta's Luke Spencer. Hinebauch, who went 6-1 on the weekend and took second at Harlem, edged Spencer with a 7-4 decision.
"I am very pleased with the kids' performance this weekend," Chinook coach Perry Miller said. "They did a good job. They work hard. They always give 100 percent. I couldn't be more happy with the kids."
Moving on to second round action, Clayton Parsons continued to be a powerhouse, defeating Malta's Jay Blunt by a 3-2 decision. Parsons finished the weekend with a 5-2 record and also placed second in Harlem. Howie Miller added a pin in 36 seconds over Ryan Smith from Glasgow, and Thomas Maddox pinned Scot Barthelmes from Malta in 1:17. Maddox placed second at Harlem and finished the three-meet weekend with a 6-1 record.
Kris Parsons, 3-3 on the weekend and second in Harlem, lost in the second round to Glasgow's Josh Feller by pin in 5:01. Parsons also lost to Feller in Harlem by a 6-4 decision.
Big Sandy's Jacob Bold defeated Chinook's Jake Phillips by a 9-0 decision, and Malta's Luke Spencer pinned the Beeters' Justin Lotton in 11 seconds.
Getting back on the winning track for the Sugarbeeters, Eric Hinebauch pinned Adam Morehouse from Glasgow in 3:21, and Danny Skoyen pinned Big Sandy's Luke Runnion in 36 seconds. Skoyen capped an incredible weekend with a second-place finish in Harlem and a 8-1 record.
In the final round, Howie Miller won by pin in 3:22 over Malta's Karl Harms for the Beeters' only win in the short round. Ben Parsons lost to Jeron Wesen from Glasgow by a 10-7 decision, and Alex Thornton from Big Sandy won by technical fall 18-2 over Chinook's Kevin Elias.
"It's the time where we have to turn the heat up," Miller said. "We need to work because we are not at that peak yet."
Chinook's combined record for the weekend was 57-24. The weekend included a 21-3 record at Valier, 16-9 at the Chinook meet, and 20-12 at Harlem.
