Creyo Koop could go the distance if necessary. Physically and conditioning-wise, the West Elk junior has rarely felt better than he did during the first month of the high school wrestling season.
 
Unfortunately for Koop’s opponents, he’s had no interest in testing that stamina.
 
“I’ve really focused on being more physical and pushing my opponents to their maximum limitations,” said Koop, Class 3-2-1A’s top-ranked wrestler at 165 pounds. “Don’t let them have time to do something on you.”
 
Koop, a two-time state placer, is off to a 17-0 start, finishing all of his matches in the opening minute. That included a 16-second pin over Clearwater’s Keyson Halling at last week’s Marion County Duals for Koop’s 100^th career victory.
 
With his father, Chad, in his first season as the Patriots head coach, Koop has been impressive in stretching his career record to 103-3. His longest match was a 53-second pin over Republic County senior Alex Dyke – the No. 6-ranked wrestler in 3-2-1A – in the finals of the Hesston Invitational.
 
“He’s a way better wrestler than I ever was,” said Chad Koop, a four-time state placer who won 3-2-1A individual titles at West Elk in 1995 and ’96. “I know the competition will get stronger, but he did wrestle No. 6 in the state, and it was the same outcome.
 
“He’s definitely dominant on his feet and he’s one powerful dude.”
 
Koop’s chiseled frame – achieved in part through assisting his dad with a construction business as well as summer hay hauling – helped him earn All-Eight-Player Division I first-team honors in football for the second straight year as the Patriots finished 9-2 and reached the state quarterfinals. Koop ran for 1,563 yards, accounted for more than 40 touchdowns, and stood out in the return game while also solidifying West Elk’s defense at linebacker.
 
Buoyed by desire to improve on a second-place state wrestling finish his freshman season and third last winter, Koop was sharp throughout the pre-holiday portion of West Elk’s schedule. He earned all-tournament team honors at Burlington’s season-opening Wildcat Duals and was named the most outstanding wrestler at Hesston.
 
“He’s a takedown artist, but this year he said I just want to finish them as fast as I can finish them,” Chad Koop said. “He said the other night I feel as good as I’ve ever felt. That’s what I like to hear.”
 
Koop flourished in his first two seasons under former coach Kevin Weber, who stepped down after last season and serves as West Elk’s principal for grades 7-12. With Koop’s dad now overseeing the Patriots’ roster of seven boys and two girls, the transition has brought already existing synergy to West Elk’s wrestling room.
 
Chad Koop, who coached at high schools in Florida and Alabama as well as the club level in Tennessee, has worked with his son and West Elk’s other top wrestler, three-time state placer Evan Coble, for more than a decade.
 
“He knows everything that I’m going to do before I’ve even done it,” Creyo Koop said. “It just pushes me to my limit every day. When I make a mistake, he knows how to fix it and make it right. It makes me more confident in what I’m doing.
 
“As he helps the others, I can help him demonstrate what he wants and know how to make it flow right and with the right purpose. I’m kind of like a practice dummy. I know the way he wants it done.”
 
Koop, who is second to Mill Valley senior Colin McAlister in the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association’s all-class rankings at 165, won his first 44 matches as a freshman before dropping a 5-3 decision to Kingman’s Colby Schreiner in the state 145-pound final. Koop had defeated Schreiner the previous week for the regional title.
 
Last season, Koop’s state title bid at 165 was derailed by eventual champion Drew Bretz of Hoxie in the semifinals. Koop scored an early takedown, but misfired on a lateral drop attempt late in the first period and was nearly pinned. He faced an uphill climb the rest of the way in a 12-4 loss.
 
The lessons he’s taken forward?
 
“Stick to what you know best,” Koop said. “Not relaxing and going out there and giving it 110 percent from the start. When I’ve switched from what I do best, I let them be in control of me.
 
“The more you can get your opponent moving back, the easier it is. Then I’m in control of the match.”
 
 
OTHER WRESTLING STANDOUTS

• Pratt had the most individual girls champions with four and came within one point of winning the Wichita North Invitational on Friday. Sophomore Gracelyn Hembree (125 pounds), junior Wendy Candia (130), and seniors Keimarla Thompson (135) and Emmaline Primrose (155) won their weight classes as the Greenbacks’ 177 points finished just behind champion Junction City’s 178. Other area weight-class champions included Winfield’s Sheena Gocela (105) and Abby Brenn (190), Wichita North’s Jaycee Tyler (145) and Aariyah Jackson (170), Rose Hill’s Payton Burton (110), Mulvane’s Leiannah Landreth (120), Bishop Carroll’s Alexis Means (140) and Maize’s Meya Howell (235).
• Salina Central senior Lydia Dong won the 125-pound title at the Basehor-Linwood LadyCat Classic, pinning Shawnee Mission Northwest’s Mia Butler in the second period of the championship match. Dong, the Class 6-5A runner-up last season, pinned all five of her opponents in the tournament.
• Maize seniors Ayden Flores and Ronan Wunsch stayed unbeaten by winning individual titles at the KC Stampede last weekend in downtown Kansas City. Flores (19-0), a Class 5A state champion last season at 215 pounds, won the 190-pound division with a 3-2 decision over Isaac Sheeren, a state champion from Klein High in Texas. Wunsch moved to 16-0 with a 4-2 overtime victory over Aaron Riner of Buford, Ga.
• Bishop Carroll’s trio of freshman Jackson Herrman (106 pounds), junior Brady Duling (150) and junior Luke Arredondo (165) captured individual titles to help the Golden Eagles finish second to Hays at the Carroll Invitational on Saturday. Carroll’s 169 points were 10 behind Hays, which also had three individual champions.
• Buhler’s boys went unbeaten in their four-team pool, then defeated fellow pool winners Rock Creek and Clearwater to win the 16-team Marion County Winter Duals title on Friday. The Crusaders defeated Clearwater 44-23 to complete their run. Colton Parsons, Sammy Hershberger, Cruz Hershberger, Dawsyn Valdois, Griffin Holmes and Lucas Anderson recorded pins in the championship bracket final for Buhler.