By Jayden Mies

Freelance reporter

Special to the Tribune

The Pratt High School Boys’ Wrestling team recently traveled to Douglass to compete in the Seventy-Second Annual Goodwill Invitational on Saturday, December 14. This featured a total of 17 teams with Pratt being one of the smallest. They faced off against several 5A and 6A opponents from schools like Bishop Carroll, Wichita Heights, and Great Bend.

First up for the Greenbacks in the 120 lbs. class was Alex Chavez. He posted a 1-2 record on the day after dropping his first and last matches to two opponents from Great Bend and Newton. However, his win was by fall in 1:27, which allowed him to contribute 3 points to the team total.

Kameron Cox was Pratt’s wrestler in the 126 lbs. division. After receiving a bye in the first round, Cox lost his first match, won the next two, and unfortunately lost in the consolation semifinals to go 2-2 on the day. One of his wins was by fall, and the other was by a major decision of 12-4. He scored 5 points for the team.

Blake Winsor was next in the 157 lbs. class. He had a very solid day, as he ended up placing second with a 3-1 record, losing only to an undefeated wrestler from Rose Hill in the championship. Winsor’s other three wins came by decision, major decision, and a tech fall. With his placement, he racked up 18.5 points for the Greenbacks.

In a tough 165 lbs. weight class, Wyatt Lovell managed to go 1-2 on the day. After losing in the first round, he received a bye and won by fall over an opponent from Emporia. Unfortunately, he lost in the third round of consolation by an 8-1 decision, meaning that he scored 4 points for the team.

The last wrestler for Pratt was Taye Wilson, who competed in the 175 lbs. division. Wilson, who has been on fire in the early part of the season, was able to keep his undefeated record alive by going 4-0 on the day. Three of these wins were pins, with the other coming by a tech fall of 19-4. With this stellar performance, he was the individual champion of the 175 lbs. class, and collected 27.5 team points.

In total, Pratt tallied 58 points, which was enough for the team to place tenth in the rankings. Considering the low number of wrestlers they took, this was a great performance by the team.

The Greenbacks will look to build on this through next week’s contest. This will be on Saturday, December 21, when they will make the long journey to Abilene for their varsity tournament. There, Pratt will look to see and compete against tough competition and improve both their physical and mental games.