Jim Ramirez Before the tournament even started in Region 1, coaches, wrestlers and fans knew a two-team battle would emerge with Goddard ranked # 1 versus Maize ranked # 3. And once the mats were cleared that’s exactly what materialized. Goddard end up on top with 256 points while Maize finished a strong second with 227.5 team points. Both teams dominated the tournament throughout each weight class with Goddard qualifying 12 wrestlers and Maize qualifying 13 for next weeks Sub-State Tournament. Only Hays with 2 champs in Harley Zimmerman @ 126 and Gavin Meyers @ 220, along with Great Bend’s Kaden Spragis @ 106, and Kayson Dietz from Salina South @ 285 managed to break into the winners circle that was completely dominated by Goddard with 7 champs and Maize with 3 champs.
Goddard’s champs included Zachary Wessley @ 132, and then came their death row of 6 champions in a row with Jerdon Fisher @ 152, Jace Fisher @ 160, Cayleb Atkins @ 160, Nolan Crane @ 170, Logan Davidson @ 182, and Kaden Glass @ 195. Maize meanwhile countered with a few champions of their own with Nakaylen Shabazz @ 113, Daniel Gomez @ 120, and Cayden Hughbanks @ 138.
In Region 2, Andover had an exceptional tournament with not only being the perfect host, but winning the tournament by scoring 180.5 points while barely edging out Newton by a point and a half who scored 170 points. Andover in their tournament win, qualified 10 wrestlers for next weeks Sub-State. In addition, the Trojans placed 6 in the Finals and managed to win 2 individual championships with Landy Root @ 113, and Gabe Maki @ 138. Newton, was right on the heels of first place with crowning 3 champions in Nick Treaster @ 106, Logan Buchanan @ 195, and Rio Gomez @ 285. As a team however, Ark City crowned the most individual champions in the tournament with crowning four that included Kael Pappan @ 120, Jevin Foust @ 132, Wyatt Bahm @ 152, and Defending State Champion Trigg Tennant @ 160. The Bulldogs problem however, was they simply didn’t have enough depth in all weight classes to contend for a tournament title and ended up placing 5th as a team, but nevertheless qualified 8 for Sub-State. It’s to early to count the Bulldogs out though, they still have enough quality wrestlers that can place high at State to be right in the thick of things. Five other teams managed to have an arm raised in winning an individual title that included Valley Center’s Alyeus Craig @ 126, Emporia’s Xerach Tungjaroenkul @ 145, Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s Nathan Fury @ 170, Bishop Carroll’s Hunter Trail @ 182, and Bronx Wood from Andover Central @ 220. Meanwhile both Newton ranked # 10 in Class 5A along with unranked Bishop Carroll will be sending 9 wrestlers to next weeks Sub-State to keep them in position to be heard from.
Shawnee Heights took control of Region 3 with advancing its entire team to Sub-State qualifying all 14 of its wrestlers and being the only team in Class 5A to accomplish this feat. In doing so, they put 9 in the Finals and captured 4 titles with Tyler Lincoln @ 106, Brock Ferguson @ 120, Caden Walker @ 160, and Preston Hartman @ 182. Bonner Springs likewise had a respectable tournament with scoring 187.5 points and finishing second that produced 5 champions of their own with Ethan Cook @ 113, Cruz Lara @ 138, Cassius Vanderpool @ 145, Shane Daniels @ 152, and Tony Caballero @ 285. To help spread the wealth of champions around among other teams, both Lansing and Topeka Seamon showed up on the top podium to win individual championships with Camden Maestas @ 132, Jacob McLain @ 170, and Dylan Ward @ 220 for the Lions. Topeka Seamon saw the arms raised on two of their wrestlers winning a regional crown with Kyle Adams @ 126, and Jaxson Thomas @ 195.
At the Region 4 Tournament, Shawnee Mill Valley, the #2 ranked team in Class 5A made it known they will be a dangerous team to reckon with and are a serious about being a title contender for state team honors. To prove a point on how serious they are, they put a valid exclamation point on the subject with scoring 230.5 points to easily win its region 4 tournament. In doing so, the Jaguars were so dominant they managed to put 8 in the finals and captured 7 titles and qualified 11 to Sub-State. Winning titles for Mill Valley were Dillon Cooper @ 106, Eddie Hughart @ 113, Carson Dultz @ 138, Payton Douglas @ 170, Brodie Scott @ 195, Caiden Casella @ 220, and Ethan Kremer @ 285. Saint Thomas Aquinas on the other hand, didn’t go away so easily and made its presence known with qualifying 11 as well with placing 7 in the finals and winning 3 titles with Jordan Habben @ 132, Dylan Elmore @ 152, and Jared Simma @ 182. Blue Valley Southwest ranked 6th in state, placed third with 169 points and has the capability to put a couple in the finals at state and can be dangerous enough to play a spoilers role for any team in 5A that thinks they won’t be heard of. BV Southwest has two legitimate state title contenders in 2-Time State Champion Hayden Mills @ 126 and Brett Umentum a returning state champion from last year. Both won their regionals this past weekend and should duplicate that effort again this week at Sub-State. Two other teams managed to have a champion a piece with Max Schemmel from St. James @ 120 and Matt Smith from Pittsburgh @ 160.
Class 5A is so evenly divided with 5 ranked teams in each of their Sub-States that its going to be a matter of which team avoids any upsets along the way in hopes they can take as many qualifiers as possible to state. Each team needs every available wrestler to qualify this weekend to have the all important number of wrestlers to make a difference in the team standings at state. And don’t kid yourself, every team, along with their coaches and fans are looking in the rear view mirror to see what the other teams are doing and where they’re at. Can you say, Class 5A its a hot ticket item that is being billed as a must see live entertaining event that is forthcoming? I can.
