DeArmond's championship leads Barton Wrestling at Wayland Invitational #GoBarton

Andrew DeArmond's championship finish led the Barton Community College wrestling team on Saturday as the Cougars competed in the Wayland Invitational held in Plainview, Texas.

Seven Cougars competed at the event, compiling a 15-11 overall record with Joey Ewalt securing Barton's other placer in finishing third.

Barton has one more meet on the pre-Christmas schedule as the Cougars make the short drive to Pratt on Saturday for the Beaver Open.

DeArmond needed just two wins on the mat to capture the 165 division title, receiving a bye before back flattening Ottawa's John Redmond in 2:22. Meeting up with region foe Garrett Lange of Cowley College, DeArmond knocked off last year's NJCAA All-American 6-5 to claim the title.

It took five matches in the 184 division for Ewalt to earn the placing, bouncing back from a 9-2 opening round loss to No. 2 ranked and eventual champion Ottis Peeler of Cowley College in rolling to four consecutive victories. Ewalt began the quest with a pair of pancake victories, 41 seconds over Richland Community College's Brian Clark and 63 seconds over Central Christian's Mason McCarty, before piling up a 16-1 technical fall over Kevin Murry of Cloud County Community College. Meeting up with host Wayland Baptist University's Hunter McCarty for the bronze, Ewalt prevailed with the shutout winning 6-0.

A pair of Cougars battled in the 125 division with Zack Gomez going 3-2 on the day including eliminating fellow Cougar Javier Duchene 4-1 on the consolation side of the bracket. Gomez won his first match 5-4 over Cowley's Zachary Strait with a 4:04 fall over Diesma Previl of Wayland Baptist advancing to the quarterfinal round. Sent to the backside on a 4:14 fall to Abram Gonzales of Richland, Gomez then eliminated Duchene but had his day end in the next match by Central Christian's Stephen DaBelko on a thirty-eight second pinning.

Duchene was knocked to the consolation coming up short to Cowley's Taywone McNack 8-6 but bounced back with a 6-1 victory over Cloud County's Aiden Connors before meeting up with Gomez.

Drew Burgoon also took care of a fellow region competitor in the 133 division, advancing to the semifinals following a first round bye and an 8-4 victory over Cloud County's Blake Leiszler. Texas Wesleyan's John Geiger, who would end up taking second place, ended Burgoon's run 9-5 as third place eventual finisher Adelfo Valdez of Wayland wrapped up Burgoon's day on a 7-3 decision.

Wrestling up a division for just the second time this season, Johnney Perez had a 2-2 day in the 141 division with the final match coming to an end on a late 6:45 fall to eventual third placer Bryan Pena of Wayland. Pena's teammate Ernesto Martinez put Perez on the consolation side of the bracket with a 1:54 first period fall in the first match of the afternoon, with Perez rattling off a pair of subsequent wins on a 12-8 decision over Central Christian's Blake Hall and a 4:23 back flattening of Wayland's Kaleb McAlexander.

Jacob Sanchez also had a similar path in 174 division, dropping a first round bout to roll in two victories before having the day end. Sanchez was send to the consolation by a 3:00 fall from eventual third placer Matthew Alejandro of Wayland, recovering after a bye to record consecutive pins over Cowley's Ariston Bartley (2:20) and Ottawa's Carden Busby (2:04). Meeting Alexandro again for the berth into the third place match, Sanchez had no answer in coming up well short of a 16-1 technical fall.