Refusing to let a shoulder injury derail his senior season, Ben Hansen has constantly adapted to adversity and pushed forward. 

The Plainville senior relied on the same mindset to power through a thrilling 182-pound semifinal in the Class 3-2-1A state tournament on Friday night at Gross Memorial Coliseum, punching his ticket to Saturday's final with a 4-2 overtime decision over Ellis' Mason Gottschalk. 

Backed by a huge cheering section of Cardinal fans, Hansen notched a takedown in overtime to make the championship match for the first time in his standout career. 

"I was tired. He was gassed; I knew he was," Hansen said.  "I wrestled him earlier this year and it was the same type of match, physical, gritty.  

"His feet weren't moving very good. I saw the single leg, went for it, didn't quite turn out the way I was hoping to. It wasn't as easy, but the state semifinals should never be easy. He dropped his head, I locked up the cradle and then it slipped. I just limp armed back and got around." 

Hansen, now 24-3 on the season, didn't step onto the mat until after the new year after suffering a broken bone in his shoulder during football season. 

"My senior year hasn't gone anything like I expected,"  Hansen said. "I'm still fighting lingering problems (from the shoulder injury). But no excuses, just got to get it done." 

Hansen said he felt like he was close to taking control of the semifinal in the second and third period, but didn't get discouraged when he was unable to capitalize.

"A couple times there in the second and third, I had some turns," he said. "I thought I could have got some back points and I didn't. You just got to forget. Short-term memory, that's what's wrestling all about." 

The Hansen-Gottschalk match gathered a big crowd, both near the mat and in the stands. 

Hansen's family, friends and teammates erupted when he got the takedown to win the match. 

"I grew up with all those guys," Hansen said of his supporters who urged him on by the mat. "I wouldn't be there without them. They pushed me in the wrestling room and they pushed me everywhere to just to be better everyday. It was indescribable down there on the floor. It's the best crowd here no doubt.

"(Wrestling for a championship has) been a goal of mine since I was a little kid, up there watching in the stands and seeing the emotion down there on the floor."

Hansen entered the tournament ranked No. 6 at 182. He finished fourth in the Norton regional after being bothered by the shoulder injury in his last two matches. 

"I messed up my shoulder in the semis match, and I fought through," Hansen said. "My end goal was to be wrestling here. It doesn't matter how you get there, it's how you finish." 

Hansen will meet No. 1-ranked Matthew Rodriguez from Southeast Saline for the 182 title. 

"I've wrestled him a quite a few times. Great kid. It's going to be a battle." 

Hoxie dominates Day 1 

Reigning Class 3-2-1A state champion Hoxie racked up an insurmountable lead on Day 1, placing six in the finals and finishing the day with 157 points. Douglass sits far back of the Indians in second place with 55 points followed by Norton with 52. 

Tate Weimer (113), Carson Ochs (126) Dayton Bell (132), Drew Bell (138), Derek Johnson (160) and Sam Watkins (170) will wrestle for championships for Hoxie. 

Drew Bell and Johnson will be aiming for their third straight championship. Bell pinned Rossville's Colby Hurla in 21 seconds in his semifinal. He'll meet Wichita County's Wyatt Gardner in the final. 

Johnson took an early lead over Uniontown's Bryce Eck in the semifinal before Eck sustained an injury and was not able to continue. Johnson will face Hill City's Aiden Amrein in the championship match. Amrein took an 8-1 decision over Ellis' George Crawford in the semis. 

In the 113-pound title match, Weimer and Oakley's Carter Krier will meet for the fourth time this season. Weimer pinned Oberlin's Josh Juenemann in the semis while Krier earned a 5-0 decision over West Elk's Evan Coble. 

Ochs secured his spot in the final with an 8-5 win over Minneapolis' Gage Carlson. He'll face Larned's Dillen Hook for the championship. Hook pinned Hill City's Carter Underhill in the semis. 

Dayton Bell earned a fall against Plainville's Logan Normandin in the 138 semis, setting up another match between Bell and Norton's Kolton Field for the state championship.

Field will going for his third state championship after taking a 17-2 major decision over Smith Center's Andrew Wilkinson. 

Watkins, a freshman, pinned Hillsboro's Tristan Rathbone in the semis. He'll face Norton's Garrett Urban in the 170-title match after Urban earned a 7-3 decision over Jayhawk Linn's Andres Flores. 

Republic County senior Dyke takes down former champ

Republic County's Jonathan Dyke used late back points to take No. 1-ranked Drew Bretz from Hoxie in the 152 semifinal with a 4-1 decision. 

"At the end there, I was just trying to ride him out, because I thought I was a lot better on my feet so I thought I could get the takedown in overtime," said Dyke, who improved to 45-4 on the season. "It just happened that he stood up and I had my leg in there, was able to lock up that bulldog and went straight back, somehow my leg stayed in and I was able to hold him there and get the back points." 

Bretz, the 138 champ last year, entered the match 40-2 and ranked No. 1 in 152 while Dyke was ranked No. 3. 

"He whooped me a couple times last year," Dyke said. "I knew kind of his general style. Really I was just going to go out there and try to do my own thing." 

Dyke let out a big roar after the win. 

"I was just super happy," he said. "That was the first time I've ever yelled after a match. It was just an awesome feeling." 

He will meet Trego's Tanner Sells in the 152 final. 

Sells also won a thriller, pulling out a 2-1 overtime decision over Rawlins County's Drew Withington. 

Sells succintly summed up the match. 

"Tiring and overwhelming," Sells said. "But it was worth it." 

"To be honest my brain was just all over the place. Freaking out, doing what I can to win." 

A move up in weight during the season paid off for Sells (35-6). 

"At the beginning of the season, I started out at 145," said Sells, who was 0-2 in the state tournament last year. "I was cutting too much weight and I didn't really like that.

"My strength was there right away (after the move up), so I felt really good going into matches." 

West Elk freshman remains unbeaten

Creyo Koop might be a name to remember in Class 3-2-1A wrestling. 

The West Elk freshman moved to 44-0 on the season and secured his spot in the 145-pound title match with an 8-3 decision over Smith Center's Alex Wilkinson in the semifinals. 

Koop is the son of former West Elk star wrestler Chad Koop, a two-time state champ in 1995 and '96. 

"My dad and I just work every night," Creyo Koop said. "I've got a practice room and we go every night. Forty-five minutes to an hour every night we work on techinque and moves."

"I'm just trying to beat every record my dad set. It doesn't matter what it is, I'm trying to beat it. And everybody else's records. I go 110 percent all the time." 

Koop will face Kingman's Colby Shreiner in the 145 finals. Schreiner took a 3-2 decision over Eureka's Brody Harrison in the semis. 

Erie's Kennedy gets title shot 

Erie's Drayton Kennedy pulled out a 8-6 win over Plainville's Cohen Kaiser to reach the 106-pound title match. 

Kennedy scored in the final moments of the seconds of the match with a reversal.

"I was thinking, 'Oh, crap, I might give up some back points,' " Kennedy said. "And then I felt my arm kind of slip through, so I could slip it through and come up and get my two. I hurt my shoulder real bad, but you do whatt you got to do to win, right?" 

A four-time state qualifer and fourth-place finisher last year, Kennedy will be making his first final appearance. He's 31-2 on the season with both losses to state-ranked opponents in Class 4A. 

"It feels amazing," Kennedy said. "I'm so happy right now. It's beyond anything I've ever felt before." 

Kennedy will meet Minneapolis' Chase Johnson (32-1) in the final. Johnson earned a 4-0 decision over Phillipsburg's Theo Keesee in the semifinal. 

At 120 pounds, Jayhawk-Linn's Corbin White will go for his second straight championship. He meets Ellis' Mason Younger in the final. 

Other title matchups include beloit's Brennan Walker vs. Douglass' Wade Morgan at 195, Flinthills' Gavin Girty vs. Phillipsburg's Brock Buresh at 220, and Rossville's Jacob Carver vs. Douglass' Joe Martin at heavyweight. 

CLASS 3-2-1A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES 

106 -- Chase Johnson, Minneapolis, (32-1), vs. Drayton Kennedy, Erie, (31-2).

113 -- Carter Krier, Oakley, (37-1) vs. Tate Weimer, Hoxie, (36-7).

120 -- Mason Younger, Ellis (26-5) vs. Corbin White, Jayhawk Linn (28-3)

126 --  Dillen Hook, Larned (37-5) vs. Carson Ochs, Hoxie (36-4)

132 -- Dayton Bell, Hoxie (33-9) vs. Kolton Field, Norton (32-2)

138 -- Drew Bell, Hoxie (39-1) vs. Wyatt Gardner, Wichita County, (40-6)

145 -- Creyo Koop, West Elk (44-0) vs. Colby Schreiner, Kingman (36-5).

152 -- Jonathan Dyke, Republic County (45-4) vs. Tanner Sells, Trego (35-6)

160 -- Derek Johnson, Hoxie (39-1) vs. Aiden Amrein, Hill City, (34-4)

170 -- Garrett Urban, Norton (34-10) vs. Sam Watkins, Hoxie (36-3)

195 -- Brennan Walker, Beloit (20-1) vs. Wade Morgan, Douglass, (35-9)

220 -- Gavin Girty, Flinthills (23-4), vs. Brock Buresh, Phillipsburg (30-5).