Dodge Co Indian Grapplers Compete in Fitzgerald Invitational |

Grapplers Compete in Fitzgerald Invitational

While most students at Dodge County High School were enjoying the holiday break the Grappling Indians were on the war path down south competing in the Fitzgerald “Rooster Town” Invitational Wrestling Tournament.

Beginning on Friday afternoon, the wrestlers would each battle through five matches before the night was over. Based on their records in the first five bouts, the top six wrestlers out of sixteen would earn a spot in the medal rounds each vying for a shot at the top four spots and a chance to travel home with some hardware.

Returning on Saturday morning, three Dodge Grapplers would be seeded into the medal rounds. Co-Captain Will Morgan, 132 lbs, with a record of 5 wins against zero defeats, earned the top seed in his weight class while fellow Co-Captain Kenzie Graham and senior JaQuan Mann earned the fifth seed respectively.

After the first medal round, only Morgan had managed to advance into the top four by pinning his opponent in the first period. During the consolation round, Kenzie Graham and JaQuan Mann, both refused to give up wrestling for 5th place and each walked off the mat after pinning their opponents.

That left only Will Morgan with a shot at winning Dodge County’s first High School Gold medal of the season and Will’s second of his career. Morgan stepped on the mat in the 132 lbs final match against a very seasoned wrestler, also undefeated in the tournament, from Fitzgerald HS. In front of a packed hometown crowd heavily favoring Fitzgerald, Morgan kept his composure and scored a takedown late in the first period. In the second period Morgan increased his lead to five points following a near fall tilt.

In the third period, an opening flurry gave Morgan’s opponent his first points of the match. With the score to close for comfort at 5-2, Morgan executed a stand up and managed to escape to score a one point escape. Both men traded take down attempts scrambling to score points. With the crowd on their feet cheering Morgan continued to press the fight.

With less than 20 seconds left in the bout, Morgan hit a sweep single leg takedown to put the match out of reach and won his first Gold medal of the year. Morgan, whose two-day tally brought 5 pins, 1 technical fall (18-2), and one decision (8-2) was selected by the coaches and tournament director as the Outstanding Wrestler (OW) of the tournament.

The OW Award is a very prestigious award presented to only the very best wrestlers and Morgan is the first-ever high school wrestler from Dodge County to earn such an honor. Also wrestling for the Grappling Indians was JT Shields, 3-2; Brandon Roland, 1-4; Tad Honeycutt, 2-3; Zach Flagg, 2-3; and Jerald Gay, 1-4.