ES alums receive medals at UCM tourney
Two Excelsior Springs High School alumni, now members of the University of Central Missouri (UCM) men’s wrestling team, picked up medals at the Kaufman Brand Bayly UCM Open.Damon Ashworth, a 2021 graduate, was the 184-pound elite champion at the Nov. 24 competition in Warrensburg.Ayden Dolt, a 2022 graduate, placed sixth in the 149 elite division.Ashworth, a returning All-American and redshirt junior, won his first-round and winner’s bracket quarterfinal matches by first-period pins. His semifinal win over Ottawa (Kan.) University’s Marcus Grist by a 15-0 technical fall put him in the finals.Facing Austen Wetzel of Westminster College, a Fulton-based NCAA Division III school, Ashworth claimed the title with a 16-4 major decision. His championship run put him at 12-2 this season.Ashworth was ranked fourth nationally at 184 in NCAA Division II in a preseason coaches poll. For a...