Wrestling as far west as Pleasant Hill and as far south as Ste. Genevieve, Rod Barndollar’s Owensville Dutchmen wrestlers finally got a chance to wrestle for real on their home mats Saturday during the 25th Annual Dutchmen Wrestling Invitational.

Losing only two schools due to winter weather in Cameron and Affton, Owensville and 11 other schools came together for five rounds of competitive wrestling that last a little over six hours.

Out of Owensville’s 11 wrestlers, six of them placed fourth or higher in their respective weight classes.

Seeing his first action of the season, Dutchmen junior Dakota Martin competed in the ‘B’ pool at 195 pounds.

Scoring wins by fall over St. Francis Borgia’s Thaddeus Isgrigg, Missouri Military Academy’s Daniel Knight and Blair Oaks’ Devonte Sanders, the only wrestler standing between Martin and a tournament title was Dexter senior Shawn Robards.

Pinning Robards in 2:00 at the closing moments of the first period, Martin claimed the first-place medal for the ‘B’ pool at 195 pounds.

Dakota was not the only Martin that enjoyed Saturday success, his younger brother in freshman Michael Martin suited up at 106 pounds.

Pinning Osage’s Adam Diver, St. James’ Teagan Kelly and Blair Oaks’ Aidan Bollinger in just under six minutes combined, Michael won his pool guaranteeing himself he would finish no worse than fourth.

In the bracket semifinals, Michael pinned Dexter’s Diego McCormick in 1:30.

This set up the championship match at 106 pounds between Martin and Capital City Cavalier sophomore Sterling Wheatley.

Unable to overcome Wheatley’s fast start, Martin was pinned in 1:00 settling for second place at 106 pounds.

In addition to the Martin brothers, four Dutchmen grapplers picked up fourth-place finishes in their respective weight classes.

Overcoming early season injuries, senior Cody Linders competed for OHS at 182 pounds.

Pinned in 1:07 by eventual champion Evan Shetley (Sullivan), Linders came back to pin Blair Oaks senior Adam Jurgensmeyer in 1:17 to place second in his pool.

In the top half of the bracket along with the younger Martin, Linders could finish no worse than fourth place.

In the semifinals, Cody took on Osage senior Rudy Escobar.

Pinned in 1:24, Linders was sent to the third-place match against Boonville’s Dakota Rapp.

Battling to the second period, Linders wound up being pinned in 2:29 settling for fourth place.

In the ‘B’ pool at 113 pounds, Aries Nicholas secured fourth place in that weight class with a win by fall over Sullivan’s John Johnson in :58.

Senior Boston Belk found himself in a similar situation.

Pinned in his first two matches in the ‘B’ pool at 145 pounds, Belk pinned Capital City sophomore Ethyn Otto in 1:21 to secure fourth place and a tournament victory.

Also in the ‘B’ pool at 170 pounds, Zach Adams’ last match was his final shot at a win.

Pinning Capital City sophomore Kaleob Latham in :48, Adams finished in fourth place.

Garnering top-five finishes for Owensville were Tighe Bombach at 132 pounds and Michael Stockton at 220 pounds.

Bombach’s weight class was loaded considering the top three wrestlers only had nine losses between them.

In his final match, Bombach pinned Sullivan’s Cole Aberle to finish in fifth place at 132 pounds.

Winning two matches in pool wrestling, Stockton competed in the fifth-place match against Dexter’s Owen Bewley.

Pinning the Bearcat in :29, Stockton secured fifth place at 220 pounds.

Losing all three matches in pool play, 160-pound sophomore Alan Kopp got a chance to bounce back in bracket wrestling.

Matched up against Borgia’s Nathan Boone, Kopp pinned the Knight junior in 3:55 advancing him to the fifth-place match against Central (Park Hills) senior William Mayberry.

Pinned in :30, Kopp settled for sixth place at 170 pounds.