Seckman Wrestling Team On A Roll

The focus shifts to area wrestling and swimming teams as basketball teams begin conference play after holiday tournaments.

The biggest news wrestling-wise is Seckman. The Jaguars, who are ranked fifth in the state in Class 4 according the Missouriwrestling.com poll, defended their title in the All-Suburban Conference Wrestling Championship over the weekend at Hazelwood Central.

The tournament featured teams from the Suburban North, Suburban South and Suburban West Conferences and the Jaguars won the 30-team tournament with 228.5 points. That was 42 points better than McCluer North, which finished second.

Matt Kraus led Seckman, winning the 132-pound championship at the tournament. He was named the tournament's outstanding wrestler. 

The Jaguars have three wrestlers ranked in the top 10 in the state in the lightest three weight classes and they showed why Saturday.

Freshman Weston Basler, who is ranked fifth at 106 pounds, freshman Luke Weiland, who is ranked seventh at 113 pounds, and sophomore Brock Wingberhuehle, who is ranked second at 120 pounds, all won individual titles for the Jaguars.

Josh Glore is the other Seckman wrestler who is ranked in the top 10 in state. He is ranked seventh at 182 pounds.

The Mehlville wrestling team is 5-1, beating Affton Dec. 14. Senior Dillon Diamond shares that record, which is the best on the team. Jimmy Sellers is 4-0 in the heavyweight category.

Lindbergh's Mike Slyman is the top ranked wrestler in the state at 160 pounds. The defending state champion remained undefeated for the 2011-12 season with a championship at 160 pounds Saturday.

His teammate, Tom Korenak, who lost to Kraus in the title match Saturday, is ranked fourth in the state at 132 pounds.

Northwest and Fox also has state-ranked wrestlers. Devin Cagle is the top-ranked Northwest wrestler. He is ranked third at 220 pounds. Zach King is ranked fourth at 160, Chris Byrd is seventh at 120 and J.T. Tuck is seventh at 145.

Fox's Anthony Reno is seventh at 220 and Dominic Vitale is eighth at 182.

Rockwood Summit has four ranked wrestlers in Class 3 and is ranked 10th as a team. Ian McIntosh is third at 160, Spencer Matthews is fourth at 220, Mitch Mays is seventh at 152 and Rudy Mays is 10th at 182.

Two of the Falcon wrestlers came home with first place medals this weekend. Mitch Mays was at 152 and Matthews at 220.

A pair of Summit seniors have also shined in the pool this winter.

Megan Popp has top swims in the 200-freestyle and 500-freestyle. Popp has the third best recorded time in the state in the 500 (5:08.50) and seventh best time in the 200 (1:59.09).

Bianca Ninneman has met state qualifying times and has top 16 state efforts in three events: the 100-butterfly (1:01.80); the 100-breaststroke (1:12.16); and the 200 IM (2:16.71).

Two other area swimmers have recorded qualifying times in the 100-fly. Cor Jesu's Haley DeBandt has a best of 1:02.54 and Lindbergh's Kaitlyn Keltner has swum a 1:02.78. The qualifying time is 1:03.09.

Lindbergh senior Kellen Hope had a score of 262.3 in a meet Jan. 3. 

Oakville and Summit are leading their respective conferences in the Mid-States Hockey Association. The Tigers are 5-0-1 in the Suburban Southwest Conference and 11-3-1 overall while the Falcons are 8-0 in the Suburban South Conference and 12-2-2 overall. We will spotlight hockey in next week's review.

Patch Male Athlete of the Week: Seckman wrestling's Matt Kraus is a two-time defending state champion and currently ranked No. 1 in his weight class. He captured the 132-pound championship at the tournament and was named the tournament's outstanding wrestler. 

Patch Female Athlete of the Week: Lindbergh diver Kellen Hope is the best in the area. Hope had a score of 262.3 in a meet Jan. 3. That is the third best recorded score in the state this season.

About this column: Miss a game this week? Catch the latest Panther and Tiger sports news in this weekly South County Round-up. Read about scores, highlights and our player of the week.