Trace Morrow finished in third place in Division 3 182 classification on Saturday afternoon in the LHSAA State Wrestling Tournament at Century Link Center in Bossier City. Summerfield Coach Chris Scroggs summed up the Saturday action “We came up short of the finals, but Trace fought back in the consolation rounds and won out to take third place.”
The Summerfield Rebel had a tightly contested semi-final matchup only to fall in a close 6-4 decision. Morrow then had to battle through the consolation bracket to claim the third-place prize.
Morrow’s semifinal opponent Joseph Belcher from St. Louis had pulled an upset the day before to reach the semifinals. Belcher started with a takedown in the first thirty seconds. Belcher received a penalty and gave Morrow a point. Morrow then pulled off an escape to tie up at 2-2. Belcher took another takedown with 4 seconds remaining in the first period to take the 4-2 lead. Summerfield’s wrestling star took over on the mat midway and tied the match at 4-4 and headed into the final period tied. Belcher took one more takedown in the third. The St Louis wrestler received another penalty with 42 seconds remaining to close at 6-5. Morrow was sent to the consolation to push for the third-place prize.
Morrow faced Collin Hebert from St. Michael the Archangel. Morrow had a late first-period takedown in the first period to take the early 2-0 lead. Hebert took the early control but not enough for a takedown. Morrow pulled off the reversal for another two points. Morrow almost pulled off the pin by getting Hebert on his back. Held him long enough for a 3-point near fall. Morrow was well in control for a 5-0 lead. Morrow almost pulled off another pin early in the third but scored two points in the near fall. Each wrestler was charged with stalling. Morrow had his opponent tied up, but an escape with 3 seconds remaining gave Hebert his sole point. Morrow was credit with one more takedown to advance to the third-place match with an 11-1 major decision.
Morrow faced Kaden Dean from Evangel in the third-place matchup. The physical matchup in the first period almost resulted in a loss for Morrow. Dean received a penalty point for too much roughness. Dean got a takedown with 2 seconds remaining and was close to a pin and credited with three points. Dean was up 5-1 after the first period. Morrow came out strong in the second period. He scored quickly with a reversal and a two-point near fall to tie the match at 5-5. Dean got out Morrow’s grasp to break the tie. Morrow took the takedown to increase 7-6. He didn’t need the points because Morrow pinned Dean for the third-place win.
Trace Morrow has one more year to wrestle after the tournament and he’s not discouraged by the third-place finish. “I was able to finish in third place with four wins and one loss. I improved on my fourth-place finish from the last year and am one step closer to my goal of becoming a state champion. I’m going to put in a lot of work this summer and get ready for next year.”
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