Cody Thorn Olathe South finally got on the mat again — after a long layoff between quarantine and Christmas break — and saw some positives.
The No. 10-ranked team in the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association Class 6A poll went 3-2 during the Olathe South Duals held on Saturday. Blake Jouret, Zack Leskovac and Bob Shands went a perfect 5-0 on the day for the Falcons.
Olathe South opened with a win over Shawnee Mission East, 44-30, before suffering a 45-30 loss to Fort Scott, ranked No. 4 in Class 4A. The Falcons bounced back with wins over Baldwin and Olathe West before falling to Platte County (Mo.) in the finale of the event.
“I love the dual tournament aspect,” Olathe South coach Connor Fitzgerald said. “I get to coach every kid. I’m not running back and forth between two gyms. I get to coach and right away, right after the match, when they step off the mat, I can give them instruction and try to apply everything we talk about throughout the day. It was an opportunity to get better throughout the day.”
Olathe South and Baldwin both went 3-2, but South won the tiebreaker to finish second. Olathe West and Fort Scott were 2-3, while Shawnee Mission East was held winless. Platte County went 5-0 to win the tournament.
The Falcons had three open weights, as did Fort Scott. Shawnee Mission East had four opens and Olathe West and Platte County had one each. Baldwin was the only team out of the six to have a full 14 weight class lineup.
These were the first matches for the Falcons since a dual on Dec. 18. A quarantine followed and to knock off some rust, a practice was held prior to the tournament – the same time the girls tournament was being held in the other gym.
Olathe South fell behind 24-11 before rallying to beat Shawnee Mission East. The Falcons could not do the same against Fort Scott, which won seven in a row from 120 to 160 pounds. Jouret, who was fifth at state last year at 182 last year, started a streak of four in a row for the Falcons.
“As the day went on, we kicked it up and looked better and better,” Jouret said. “Everybody gets to wrestle, so I almost like it more (than tournaments), I love me some duals. I like seeing the competition and get to see some different looks. It is great; we will be that much more prepared heading to the state tournament. It is good stuff.”
The Falcons beat Baldwin and then won a close match against Sunflower League rival Olathe West, 37-36 – getting a tiebreaker win on number of falls.
Shands, a state qualifier last year at 285, got a decision over Olathe West’s Jose Diaz in the final match that set up the tiebreaker scenario. The Falcons won four of the final five matches and the only loss was a forfeit at 220. Jouret, Leskovac and Ty Knudsen also had pins to give the Falcons five – one more than the Owls.
In the final match of the day, the Falcons got two forfeits to open against Platte County, but then lost six of the next seven.
“Our kids wrestled their guts out and I’m so proud,” Fitzgerald said. “I thought we got better match-to-match and they are listening. We had a few guys out sick and had a little adversity coming into the day but the kids responded well, so I couldn’t be more proud.”
Baldwin improved to 14-5 on the season, losing to Olathe South and Platte County. The Bulldogs blasted Shawnee Mission East, 61-14, before beating Fort Scott and then Olathe West in the finale.
Baldwin got a 50-30 win over Fort Scott, which didn’t have state-ranked Malachi Vann (170) from the lineup. The Tigers jumped ahead 24-6 – and the six given up came from a forfeit – but the Bulldogs won eight of the final nine matches. Jaiden Michael (152) pinned Fort Scott’s Jacob Stinnett, ranked No. 2 in Class 4A.
Baldwin bested Olathe West, 48-32, building a 28-9 lead over the Owls. Six of the eight wins were by falls.
The Bulldogs got a perfect 5-0 day from returning state qualifier Toby Thomas (220), who had two close matches. Thomas won 6-5 against Shawnee Mission East’s Max Franklin and then a 3-1 decision against Platte Count’s Jesse Schillinger. Thomas, who had one forfeit, is now 19-1 on the year.
Freshman Dalton Dempsey (113) also had a good weekend for the Bulldogs, going 5-0, to improve to 17-2 on the year.
“It was great to wrestle five duals in a day, and against all tough teams, too,” Bulldogs coach Kit Harris said. “Great event hosted by Coach Fitz and Olathe South. I am real proud of our team. We are very young … we have eight freshmen/sophomore starters. But our young group holds its own pretty well, a lot of them have a lot of wrestling experience. I like to face tough competition as it shows you most what you need to work on. Our coaching staff has a good list of plenty of things to focus on this week at practice.”
Olathe West overcame a 22-0 deficit to beat Shawnee Mission East, 48-37, while topping Fort Scott 39-37.
Fort Scott got wins against Olathe South and Shawnee Mission East and lost a tough match, 39-36, against Platte County. The Tigers built a 30-10 lead over the Pirates, but lost four in a row by pin and a forfeit followed. That match featured a flagrant misconduct call against Platte County for biting, which came in the first match of the dual.
Olathe West’s Lucas Hageman went 5-0 for the Owls, getting four pins and then a decision over Stinnett, who took third place in Class 4A 138 last year.
