Beck And Varner Shine At The Maryville Open

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University men's wrestling team had a strong showing at the Maryville Open to being its 2022-23 season.

"I felt like today was a big step for our program," said head coach Chad Cook. "To go into a tough tournament like this against really good Division II and Division I competition without our full lineup and come away with two placers is a great step in the right direction."

There's been a lot of great energy with the team and it feels like we're building something special. We hope to continue to improve and keep this good energy going into ur duals on Wednesday." 

At 125, newcomer Diego McCormick opened with a tough fall loss to Isaac Bourge (Quincy). In his next match, McCormick fell to Sam Shafer (Maryville) by fall at 2:24.

Kody Kretzer competed at 133 and was defeated by fall against Jp Homfield (Maryville). On the consolation side, Kretzer fell by technical fall (21-6) against Christian Cartright (McKendree).

Another newcomer, Cameron Varner, got his first win on the year knocking off Ethan Norton by fall (2:21). He dropped his next contest against Daniel Sheen (Indiana) by fall.

Varner advanced on the consolation side winning by medical forfeit. He then picked up another fall win over Blake Watts (Cumberland), however, he dropped his next match against Ryan Schepers (McKendree) finishing in sixth place.

At 157, Joe Beck dropped his opener against Tyler Conley (Indianapolis) by fall. Then, Beck went on a run winning by decision (5-2) over Antonio Wester (Quincy). He followed that up with a major decision victory over Logan Johnson (Lindenwood).

Against Sergio Palacios (Ozarks), Beck won by decision 7-1. Then, he took on Jorden Johnson (SIRTC) and fell in a tough 3-2 decision. In the fifth place match, Beck fell by fall against Carter Smith (Maryville) to finish in sixth.

At 165, newcomer Connor Morin fell by decision against John Ward (Ozarks). On the consolation side of the bracket, Morin faced Dalton Litzsinger (Maryville) and was defeated by fall.

At 197, another newcomer Jake Flowers, faced Donnell Packer (Quincy) in his first match and fell by fall. After a bye, Flowers picked up his first win knocking off Cody Martin (Kentucky Wesleyan) by fall. However, he ran into Kadin Stutzman (Cumberland) in his next match and it was Stutzman coming away with the fall victory.

Up Next

The Griffins are back in action next Wednesday when they'll compete at Missouri Baptist. They'll face the Spartans at 5 p.m., followed by a showdown against Quincy at 7 p.m.