By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The Cabot Panther wrestling team fared well in their first invitational-tournament appearance of the season with a third-place overall finish at the Central Baptist College Invitational hosted by Greenbrier High School over the weekend.
The host Panthers and North Pulaski High School were the only 5A schools participating in the 16-team event with the rest of the bracket made up of 7A/6A programs.
Cabot ended up with eight medalist performances in the light and middle weight classes, including a first-place finish for Tyler Kurz in the 182-pound division. Kurz went 4-0 over the span of two days, including three victories by fall and the championship win by decision over the top seed from Little Rock Catholic.
“Tyler wrestled really well,” Panthers coach Jason Rogers said. “His first three wins were all by falls, and he won 10-2 on points in the championship match.”
Other top performances for Cabot included a third-place finish for Austin Dye in the 106-pound division, second place for Hayden Mills in the 113-pound class and a third-place finish for Michael Morgan at 126-pounds.
Erik Cooley took third place in the 132-pound weight class, Bryce Mitchell finished second in the 145-pound class and Cody Pugh finished third in the 152-pound division. In the 160-pound class, Kyle Wheeler finished second.
“We wrestled well,” Rogers said. “We lost some I thought we should have won, but we also won a few I was concerned about. It was a good tournament for us, and we have some big tournaments coming up.”
Cabot hosted Beebe and Riverview last night, and will take part in the 7A/6A East Conference tournament at Searcy this Saturday.
