Posted: Dec 02, 2017

Bauer wins championship to lead Storm at Luther Hill Invitational

INDIANOLA, Iowa — Blake Bauer won a championship at 149 pounds to lead five, top-three finishers for the Simpson wrestling team at the 2017 Luther L. Hill Invitational at Cowles Fieldhouse.

In addition to Bauer's title, RJ Brown (165), Kobey Bosworth (174) and Noah Robinson (184) finished second in their weight classes while Alek Ziegler (133) took third.

No team scores were kept at Simpson's annual invitational tournament, named after the late Simpson benefactor and wrestling enthusiast.

Bauer won both of his matches at 149 pounds, winning an 8-2 decision over Dakota Schutter (Truman State) in the semifinals and edging Austin Leopard (Coe) 4-2 in the final after receiving a bye in the first round. The freshman earns the first tournament championship of his career and becomes the first Simpson wrestler to win a title in 2017-18.

Brown went 2-1 at 165 pounds, getting a tech fall over Zach Taylor (Truman State) in the first round and a 10-2 major over Jacob Shoop (Grand View) in the semifinals. He was pinned by Bryce Scott (Coe) in the championship.

Bosworth went 2-1 at 174 pounds, pinning Luke Komotos (Truman State) in the first round and scoring a 16-5 major over Allan Person (Central Missouri) in the semifinals. He lost a tough, 7-2 decision to Jake Voss (Coe) in the championship.

Robinson went 2-1 at 184 pounds, getting a 14-1 major over Shane Gallagher (Truman State) in the first round and a 7-1 decision over Dylan Bollinger (Central Missouri) in the semifinals. He fell 3-2 to Josh Edel (Coe) in the final.

Ziegler posted the team's best record on the day, going 3-1 to take third at 133. He received a bye in the first round, then topped Josue Dansou 16-0 in the quarterfinal. After a 6-3 loss to Dante Tacchia (Grand View) in the semifinals, Ziegler came back to take third with back-to-back pins, taking down Caleb Osborn (Truman State) in the consolation semifinals and Johnny Nguyen (Grand View) in the third-place match.

Tournament Report
125 — Jacob Irwin, 0-2 | 5th place
133 — Alek Ziegler, 3-1 | 3rd place
141 — Zach Johnston, 1-1 | 6th place (injury default)
149 — Blake Bauer, 2-0 | 1st place
165 — RJ Brown, 2-1 | 2nd place
174 — Kobey Bosworth, 2-1 | 2nd place
184 — Noah Robinson, 2-1, 2nd place
197 — DeVaughn Scott, 3-2, 5th place
197 — Sam Mathis, 0-2
285 — Damon Piatt, 1-2, 6th place