BOYS STATE WRESTLING STORYLINES

CLASS 5A

FOUR VICTORIES FROM FOUR TITLES FOR NEWTON’S TREASTER
 
Nick Treaster was driving home from Newton’s regular-season wrestling finale against Salina South two weeks ago, munching on a piece of pizza when realization struck.
 
“I was like, ‘Wow, that’s my last time ever wrestling at a home dual meet,’” said Treaster, Kansas’ No. 1-ranked wrestler for all classes at 120 pounds. “I remember as a little kid watching from the stands and thinking, ‘Man, that’s going to be so fun being out there when I’m older.’ And now I’m done.”
 
Treaster’s high school career isn’t completely finished. His sunset voyage will come Friday and Saturday in the Class 5A state tournament at Park City’s Hartman Arena, where he’ll bid for his fourth state title and try to help the Railers end Goddard’s eight-year reign atop 5A.
 
Treaster (32-1) will begin his title quest against Leavenworth junior William French (17-23) in Friday’s opening round.
 
Not only could Treaster join the state’s list of 38 four-time boys state champions, he could become part of Kansas’ first father-son combination to accomplish the feat. Matt Treaster won four state titles for Beloit from 1981-84 before going on to an All-American career at Navy.
 
A Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine article on the Treaster family’s achievements reported the four-time, father-son championship combo is known to have happened just four times nationwide.
 
“I think it would be awesome. I do,” said Treaster, who will also wrestle for Navy like his father and older brothers Logan and Grant, who also won state titles for Newton. “Being here in this spot and getting the chance to do that is a privilege. I don’t ever want to take it for granted.”
 
Treaster is 140-5 in his career, with all of his losses coming to out-of-state wrestlers. He won his fourth regional championship last weekend in Andover, pinning Goddard senior Levi Glover, the 2022 5A runner-up to Treaster, in the final.
 
“We go to the Kansas City Stampede and different tournaments where he sees tough competition,” Newton coach Tommy Edgmon said “That prepares him and that’s why he’s performed well at the state tournament. He does everything right top to bottom and it shows.”
 
Treaster has benefited from practicing daily against a formidable group of lower-weight teammates. The Railers’ five wrestlers from 106 to 132 pounds – Taylor Rickard, Lucas Kaufman, Treaster, A.B. Stokes and Bailey Steinmetz – are all ranked in 5A, with Kaufman, Treaster and Stokes listed at No. 1 in their respective classes.
 
“Those first five guys, we all go live together,” Treaster said. “My main practice partners are usually Lucas and A.B., but for the most part, we all wrestle one another and we’re always going after one another.
 
“We’re having to be creative and we’re having to defend tough shots, so when we go against a different partner, they have to work even harder because now the person that they’re wrestling is just getting better. Everybody has to get better if they’re going to be able to compete in that practice room.”
 
Treaster has maintained a consistent approach toward his run at history, embracing the journey as an essential part of the destination.
 
“In my eyes, I’ve got nothing to lose,” Treaster said. “I’m just going to go out there and do my stuff. In my mind, I’m just going for a state title. I’m not going for four state titles. I’m going for one.
 
“I’m looking at it through a very narrow lens. I’m not thinking big picture. I also just see it as a steppingstone for bigger and better things in the future.”
 
But on the eve of his final state appearance, there was one more planned workout with his teammates, followed by a movie night. Treaster’s focus was entirely on savoring those moments.
 
“Some practices can be hard and you’re hard on yourself,” he said. “But I’ve just been trying to soak it in and enjoy the rough times, enjoy the good times and all that. You only get to go through high school once, and I feel like I’m pretty much flying through it right now.
 
“Sometimes I’ll find myself sitting up against the wall at practice and I’ll just be looking around, taking it all in. It’s been pretty nice, though. This has been a great way to wrap it up.”

 

MAIZE POSITIONED TO LOOSEN GODDARD’S GRIP ON 5A
 
The Goddard Lions stretched their remarkable run of Class 5A team titles to eight consecutive years last February. But with individual champions Jerrdon Fisher, Quentin Saunders and Kaden Glass all graduating, Goddard’s streak is in peril.
 
Maize enters the tournament with the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association’s No. 1 ranking in 5A. The Eagles qualified 11 wrestlers for state, including regional champions Talon Verbeck (106 pounds), junior Jayden Ford (165), Connor Padgett (175) and Ayden Flores (215). Padgett and fellow senior Nakaylen Shabazz (138) are among seven former state champions in this weekend’s 5A field.
 
“If we’ve gone to a tournament where we didn’t place as high as we expected, it’s because we had injuries or had people missing here and there,” Maize coach Mike Schauer said. “I think everywhere we went with the people that we have, we did about as well as we could expect.”
 
Maize was sensational at the western regional hosted by Andover, sending nine wrestlers to the finals. Verbeck avenged a dual loss to Newton’s Taylor Rickard in the 106-pound final, winning 5-1. Ford knocked off Arkansas City senior Wyatt Bahm 5-4.
 
Padgett, the 5A champion at 170 last season, pinned Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s Adrian Turner for his title. Flores, the state runner-up to Saunders last season at 182, pinned Kapaun’s Omari Elias to build momentum for state.
 
Rickard, Padgett and Flores are ranked No. 1 at their respective weights. The Eagles got runner-up finishes from junior Daniel Gomez at 132, seniors Shabazz (138), Camden Padgett (144) and Clayton Bowers (150), and junior Ronan Wunsch (190).
 
Newton, with 12 qualifiers, is ranked No. 2 in 5A. No. 3 Blue Valley Southwest has 11, three more than fourth-ranked Goddard’s total of 8.
 

BLUE VALLEY SOUTHWEST TRIES TO PUSH PAST AQUINAS AS TOP 5A EAST TEAM

For most of the season, St. Thomas Aquinas has looked to be the East team with the best shot of getting in the middle of Maize and Newton battling for the 5A state title.

But fellow Eastern Kansas League team Blue Valley Southwest has tried its best to push the Saints aside.

Blue Valley Southwest even won the league title on the strength of three individual league champions and nine total wrestlers advancing to the finals. Sophomore Lucas Skouse, senior Cole Cronk and senior Torin Forsyth won individual league and regional titles.

Aquinas ended up winning the regional team title, but Blue Valley Southwest ended up finishing just two points behind them there as well.

Forsyth, who finished as the runner-up at 220 in Class 5A last year, has been an unstoppable force so far this season.

“Torin, coming off a state runner-up finish, has been motivated and working towards his goals since he left the state tournament last season,” Parks said.

Since dropping the state final against Gavin Myers of Hays, Forsyth has racked up a long list of accolades as he trains to prevent that runner-up finish from happening again. He’s been named a UWW Greco All-American and USA Wrestling Preseason All-American. Forsyth took home first at the Council Bluffs Wrestling Classic in Iowa.

Forsyth’s only loss was in the KC Stampede final against Sampson Stillwell of St. Michael the Archangel in Missouri. Stillwell is the No. 14 at 285-pounds in Flo Wrestling’s national rankings. Stillwell earned a 1-0 decision over Forsyth.

“As a heavyweight, (Forsyth) is fun to watch and a fan favorite,” Parks said. “He does not look or wrestle like your typical heavyweight.”

Skouse did not have a winning record this season until he secured his spot in the finals at league. His pinfall victory of St. Thomas Aquinas sophomore Shane Gifford in the championship match pushed Skouse’s record to 14-12.

“(Lukas) is really hitting his stride at the right time,” Parks said. “Coming off an injury that he sustained early in January, his record does not reflect the way he is wrestling.”

Parks has expectations that Skouse, a state qualifier last year, will be able to get back to state again and take home a medal this time.

Cronk is also still rounding into form after an injury earlier in the season. Cronk missed time back in December, but maintained his top rank at 157 in Class 5A with his 19-0 record.

“As a senior, there is only one target,” Parks said. “He is primed to get the goals he has set this season, but will have to beat some tough kids to do it.”

Wyatt McCulley (106), Kaden Markley (120), Evan Richardson (132), Karter Moore (144), Tad Forsyth (165) and Jaelyn Sides (190) earned league runner-up finishes. Sultan Bayazid (175) and Andrew Uko (215) took third while Parker Gillen (138) and Collin Gessner (150) finished fourth.

Markley was able to follow up with a regional runner-up finish while McCulley, Forsyth and Sides took third. CLASS 6A
 

 BROXTERMAN, WITT FLIP ROLES IN LONGTIME RIVALRY
 
For a year, Easton Broxterman has been the hunter, waiting for the chance to exact a little revenge on longtime rival Ezekiel Witt.
 
The two have seen each other more times than they can count throughout the years. And last year, Witt capped a 40-1 sophomore season at Junction City with a pin of Washburn Rural’s Broxterman in the third period of their showdown in the Class 6A 106-pound state championship match.
 
“He was better than me last year,” Broxterman said of last year’s freshman season where he posted a 39-6 mark in a runner-up state finish. “It gave me something to think about all season. I had to get better to catch him. If I’m feeling lazy or don’t want to work hard, I think about that and it gets me going.”
 
As the two rivals prepare for a potential rematch in the state finals this weekend in Park City, it’s Witt’s turn to have the motivation of a loss fuel him.
 
After going through the regular season without running into each other – Witt missed the Centennial League meet – they finally met again in last Saturday’s Class 6A 113-pound regional final at Rural. And this time, Broxterman was the better man.
 
Rebounding from a scary incident early when he briefly passed out after getting locked in a deep hold by Witt, Broxterman not only was able to continue but flipped the script on his Blue Jay rival. Broxterman dominated the rest of the match, taking a 15-3 major decision victory to claim the regional title.
 
“I’m excited to get to this challenge and hopefully I can turn things around,” Broxterman said going into the finals showdown with Witt. “I’ve been wrestling great all year and it’s great to have someone like him to push me because I know wrestling him makes me a better wrestler and I assume it’s the same thing the other way around.”
 
Witt agreed.
 
“It’s fun for me and it gives me more motivation every morning,” Witt said. “It makes me want to be better than everyone and he’s a big reason I push myself more because I know he’s pushing to beat me.”
 
Fittingly the rivalry has gone back and forth throughout the years with each taking turns of holding the upper hand. 
 
This season, Witt is 34-2 and Broxterman is 45-3. Two of Broxterman’s losses are to out-of-state opponents and his other is to 5A No. 1 Lucas Kaufman of Newton. Witt’s only other loss came to an out-of-state wrestler via medical default.
 
“He’s definitely the toughest guy I face – he’s no scrub there at all,” Witt said. “I love wrestling him and he definitely pushes me more than about anyone. I feel like every day if I don’t train, he’s going to beat me and that keeps me going because there’s no room for error. I always try my hardest and I know win or lose against him, I’m getting better and as long as I tried my hardest, I’ll still feel like I did everything I could.”
 
In last year’s finals loss to Witt, Broxterman said Witt was simply the better man.
 
“He was a lot stronger than me and just worked me over in every way,” Broxterman said. “I was a little bit undersized but he got the best of me from every position. I put on a lot of weight since then and that’s made a difference.”
 
The chances of a rematch in the state finals this year seem highly likely. They’ve been ranked 1-2 at 113 pounds all season in 6A and for much of the season in the all-class rankings.
 
Broxterman’s side of the bracket does include reigning 6A 113 champion Nolan Bradley of Free State, who he beat 6-0 in last week’s regional semifinals. Witt’s top challengers on his side of the bracket are Olathe North’s Blake Samuelson, who is ranked No. 4 and Manhattan’s Cameron Coonrod, who he pinned in 43 seconds in the regional semifinals.
 
“I think it will be fitting,” Witt said. “It’s something I’ve been looking forward to all year.”
 
Perhaps even more so now.
 

WAC WELL-REPRESENTED AMONG TITLE CONTENDERS IN 6A 

Highlighted by two-time state champion Luke Barker from Dodge City, the Western Athletic Conference has produced several state title hopefuls for the Class 6A tournament at Hartman Arena. 

Barker won the 152-pound title as a freshman, was runner-up at 152 pounds as a sophomore and captured 170-pound crown last year as a junior. 

The North Dakota State signee is 41-0 at 175 pounds heading into the 6A tourney.

“Luke’s the kind of kid that just goes out and wrestles every match, and he doesn’t care who you are, he’s going to wrestle the same no matter what,” Dodge City coach Tate Lowe told KSHSAA Covered early this season. “He’s wrestling for high school, but preparing for college. We talk to him a lot about that. 'Hey, you might be tech-ing people and pinning people, but in the room, here’s where we need to go.' 

“The great thing about Luke is, he could lose a match, and 10 minutes later be the same person. His goal isn’t necessarily on winning, it’s on, 'How good of a wrestler can I be?' That’s a very mature quality for a high school kid to have.”

Garden City will look to contend for a team title with seven wrestlers ranked in 6A. Junior Sebastian Lopez (34-3) is top-ranked and the reigning state champion at 285. Colin Kleysteuber (33-11) is ranked No. 1 at 165 while sophomore Braydon Pacheco (39-6) and senior Ryan Heiman (31-11) are tabbed No. 2 at 106 and 132, respectively. 

The Buffaloes were narrowly edged out by Derby for a regional title last weekend. 

Liberal senior Trystian Juarez is another top-tier wrestler in the WAC, ranked No. 1 at 190 pounds with a 38-2 record. He was runner-up last year at 175 to Barker.
OLATHE NORTH LEANING ON RETURNING CHAMP DUOS, THEIR YOUNGER BROTHERS TO MAKE STATE PUSH

Olathe North boys wrestling head coach Josh Carroll is hoping the work his team put into this season, particularly the last few weeks heading into the postseason, will help his team put itself back in the state title hunt.

After taking their fair share of lumps at tournaments that took them into Texas and Oklahoma, across the state to Garden City and across the state line again to Platte County in Missouri.

Senior Cael Alderman likes the late-season road trips.

“We travel a lot,” Alderman said. “It takes out a lot of energy, takes a toll on your body when you’re always in the car, always traveling and wrestling the best in the country.

“But it definitely prepares us to come back to Kansas and dominate at tournaments like this, where the competition is good and our kids are ready to go because they’ve been wrestling all year against the best kids in the country.”

With a little bit of rest, the Eagles were able to do just that. Olathe North ended up tying Mill Valley for the 6A East regional title, but the Eagles also beat the Jaguars two weeks before that in the Sunflower League championship meet.

Now the Eagles are hoping to finish at the top of the team leaderboard for one more postseason event. Olathe North last won a state title in 2018. The Eagles have finished in the top 10 of the team race each year since, including a state runner-up finish in 2021.

If they are able to win another state title, the foundation will have been built by a pair of seniors who are returning individual state champions.

Alderman and senior Alec Samuelson plan to duplicate the finishes they had last year. 

“Alec and I have been practice partners for the last two years and we’ve always just worked hard together,” Alderman said. “Our plan is both to go into state and figure out a way to bring home another title.”

If Alderman completes his goal, he’ll become a four-time state medalist. He’s also won four regional titles and three league titles.

“I've known him since he was a little kid, since he was six years old when he had the long hair,” Carroll said. “ He just loves the sport of wrestling. That's the one thing that Cale does, he loves the sport of wrestling and that means a lot. It breeds success.”

Samuelson is hoping to accomplish a similar feat as Alderman. After taking sixth-place and third-place at state in his first two seasons of high school wrestling, Samuelson took it to the next level with a state title last year.

Samuelson enters this contest having two straight hard-earned victories over one of his top challengers. Samuelson defeated Shawnee Mission Northwest sophomore Adam Hageman in the finals of both league and regionals. He scored a final period takedown to earn a 4-2 decision at the Sunflower League championship meet, followed by a 2-0 win in the regional final last week. 

For a potential second rematch, Hageman will need to get through a bracket that includes No. 2 ranked Derby senior Knowlyn Egan.

While Alderman and Samuelson are looking to complete their high school careers with a picture-perfect finish, their younger brothers are looking to get started on that same path.

Freshman Blake Samuelson, ranked fifth in the most recent KWCA rankings, will be the ninth seed in a stacked 113-bracket after going 36-12 this year. With two reigning state champions on each side of the bracket, Samuelson has a potential semifinals matchup with Junction City’s Ezekiel Witt, last year’s 106 champ. 

Last year’s 113 champ Free State senior Nolan Bradley and last year’s 106 runner-up Washburn Rural's Easton Broxterman are the frontrunners on the other side of the bracket. Broxterman brings in the most momentum, having taken down Bradley and Witt in succession to win the West regional title last week.

Freshman Quinn Alderman has had a tougher road at 120, going 16-29 this year. But he still became a state qualifier with an eighth-place finish at regionals.

The Eagles also had freshmen Jaxson Scott (106) and Taggart Murphy (126) advance to state.

“We got four very hardworking freshmen,” Carroll said. “All four have to get tougher mentally and they will. They’re just young kids. You got to always remember where these seniors are now, where they were back as freshmen. So I’m excited for them.”

Sophomore Vance Provost looks like he can make a deep run, even though making the finals in 175 would be a tall order. If Provost can navigate the first two rounds, he’ll likely meet reigning state champ Luke Barker of Dodge City.

The Eagles also have juniors Trevor Vasquez (150) and Jacob Vasquez Jr. (165) as ranked wrestlers looking to help the team score enough points to stay in the title hunt.

CLASS 4A
 

SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE
 
Both Owen Eck of Andale and Tucker Cell of Abilene are halfway home to becoming four-time state champions, each capturing titles as freshmen and sophomores the past two seasons.
 
Only one of them, however, will stay the course this weekend in Salina.
 
Eck, who won titles at 120 in 2021 and 138 in 2022, and Cell, who won crowns at 113 in 2021 and 132 in 2022, have landed in the same weight class this season. The duo have spent the entire season ranked No. 1 and 2 at 144 pounds with Eck holding the top spot for the bulk of the season.
 
And he’s earned the nod. Eck and Cell have already met twice this season with Eck winning both matches. They first saw each other in the finals of the Salina South Invitational with Eck dominating the showdown with an 18-4 major decision.
 
Two weeks later, they met in the finals of the Rocky Welton Classic in Garden City. And once again, Eck took a major decision, this time by an 11-2 count.
 
They are Cell’s only losses in a 33-2 season. And also his only losses to a Kansas wrestler in his high school career.
 
Eck, meanwhile, is the lone unbeaten in the 4A field with a 42-0 record.
 
Thanks to the random draw for the weight brackets, a third meeting this season won’t be for a state title. Instead, Eck and Cell are on the same side of the bracket and would meet in the semifinals if they win their first two matches.
 

 BATTLE TO DETHRONE TONGNAOXIE WIDE OPEN
 
Tonganoxie captured the first team wrestling championship in program history a year ago, scoring 136 points to edge Augusta by 8.5 points.
 
With 10 qualifiers this season, led by 132-pound No. 1 Braeden Moore and four other ranked wrestlers, the Chieftains have positioned themselves to make a run at another crown. Tonganoxie is also coming off a dominating regional performance that saw it outscore runner-up Holton by 67 points for the title.
 
But a second straight crown for the Chieftains won’t be easy as their chief rivals from a year ago have arguably positioned themselves even better.
 
Runner-up a year ago, Augusta matches Tonganoxie with 10 qualifiers, including two-time state champion Marcus Terry at 126 and 150-pound No. 1 Cannon Carey. Third a year ago, Andale also has 10 qualifiers led by returning two-time state champion Owen Eck at 144 and 138-pound No. 1 AJ Furnish.
 
The Indians are coming off a title at the toughest of the 4A regionals, scoring 214 points to beat Rose Hill and Augusta by 17 and 22 points, respectively.
 
In the final KWCA rankings, however, it’s Rose Hill holding down the No. 1 spot. The Rockets just missed a trophy a year ago and not only return state champion Johnny Leck at 106, but also have four wrestlers heading to state ranked No. 1 at their respective weight – Adam Bilby (113), Damon Ingram (126), Bronx Wood (215) and Milan Colvin (285) – among their nine qualifiers.
 
Throw in Paola, which leads all 4A schools with 12 qualifiers, and the 4A team race could be an epic one.

Paola could also be in the state race for years to come. The Panthers have eight of their state qualifiers ranked, led by top-ranked freshman Brock Johnson at 106. Johnson takes a 38-2 record into the state tournament while sophomore Kaiden Powell (120), senior Charlie Zeller (157), senior Dylan Waggerman (175) are in the top three of their weight classes. Senior Macoy Johnson (144) clocks in a fourth.

While the Panthers will have Sheldon Martin (150), Ryan Pankov (138) joining the seniors listed above, it’s the youth on the roster that might help this team remain in this conversation for years to come.

Johnson has Bryson Rockers (113), Brody Latto (126), and Carson Martin (215) joining him as freshman state qualifiers. Sophomore Hagen Blanck (132) and junior Clayton Younger round out the underclassmen competing at state for Paola. CLASS 3-2-1A

BRETZ FUELED BY LAST YEAR'S SEMIFINAL LOSS; HOXIE LOOKS TO MAKE MORE HISTORY

Motivated by the sting of a state semifinal loss last year, Hoxie senior Drew Bretz spent as much time working on his mental approach as anything physically. 

“Going into the junior year, I was a returning state champion and I was a little complacent, I think,” Bretz said. “After losing last year and not finishing the season how I wanted to, I think I really had a fire lit under me this year. 

“I really wasn’t focused on whether I won or lost my matches, I was just focused on getting better every day and preparing for the matches as best as I could, not overlooking anybody.”

Bretz has been unstoppable so far this year at 165 pounds, posting a 36-0 record heading into the Class 3-2-1A state tournament at Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays. 

After winning the 138-pound title as a sophomore, Bretz dropped a decision to eventual state champion Jonathan Dyke from Republic County in the 152-pound semis last year. 

“You can’t leave anything to doubt,” Bretz said. “You’ve got to go out there ready for everything. You prepare yourself physically every day in the room but you’ve also got to work on yourself mentally, during the offseason and during the season.”

“He’s staying calm in matches and wrestling through positions,” Hoxie coach Mike Porsch said pf Bretz. “If he stays strong between his ears he’s as good as anybody. He’s really athletic, probably one of the more athletic kids on the team. When he’s solid there, he’s as good as anybody.”

Hoxie, two-time reigning state champs, is well positioned to possibly win the Class 3-2-1A team title by another record margin as it did last year. 

Hoxie produced nine regionals champions and two runner-ups last week at Larned. They qualified all 12 wrestlers for state. 

“I can’t wait to see what this team’s able to do,” Bretz said. “We’ve got some goals in mind as a team that we really want to go for and I’m sure all of us have individual goals that we’d like to achieve as well. But mostly it’s about getting the experience with the team one last time and soaking it all in.”

Senior Derek Johnson (39-0) will look to enter rarified air as he goes for fourth his straight championship. His previous titles came at 132, 145 and 160 pounds. He’s wrestling at 157 this year. 

“(Bretz) and Derek push each other, and Sam (Watkins), so much. It’s really nice,” Porsch said. 

Hoxie is the first team in Class 3-2-1A to be ranked No. 1 in the all-class KWCA team rankings. 

“We’ve got a good core of seniors that provide a lot of great leadership,” Porsch said. “We’ve got a good solid group of sophomores that are really coming along, and we’ve got a freshman and a couple juniors that are just right in the mix. That’s what it takes. We’re going to graduate a lot, but we’re going to have a lot of guys coming back.”

Like Bretz and Johnson, junior 132-pounder Carson Ochs is also undefeated for Hoxie at 34-0. He picked up a hard-earned 2-1 decision over Hoisington’s Josiah Ball in the regional final. 

“It was a real tight, gritty match, and I thought it would be with Josiah Ball,” Porsch said of Ochs, a state runner-up at 126 last year. “(Ball) is a good competitor. I was hoping we’d be able to open it up a little more but we beat him in the match that probably they like to wrestle, and hopefully that’s good.”

Watkins, a runner-up at 170 last year, has continued to build off a strong summer that saw him earn All American status at the 16U freestyle nationals at Fargo, N.D. 

Watkins is 28-1 at 175 with his only loss coming to Dodge City two-time state champion Luke Barker in the Dodge City Invitational. 

“He was kind of dinged up a little bit (earlier this season) so we had to sit him out, and it was just like trying to hold back a stallion,” Porsch said. “He’s such a competitor. Never drops off, just a hard wrestler.”

Senior Tate Weimer is a returning state champ after winning the 113-pound state champ in 2022. He’s ranked No. 2 at 120 behind Republic County’s A.J. Polansky. 

“Tate’s got the heart of a lion,” Porsch said. “He sat out there a little bit and we gave him some time to rest and he came back just right where he left off. Just believing and fighting and wrestling hard.”

Dayton Bell (138) and Duncan Bell (144) have enjoyed solid seasons for Hoxie, with Dayton Bell posting a 37-2 record and Duncan 32-5.

Freshman Ian Giancola has been Hoxie’s top newcomer. Giancola is a regional champ, owns a 33-3 record and will look to contend at 113. 

“He’s kind of been reserved at times,” Porsch said. “Trying to get him to open up and wrestle and attack more, and I think he can start spreading matches out. He’s took some tough losses against quality kids but he’s also competed. Those (matches) have really helped him. He’s making an adjustment from being a freshman and respecting guys too much, to believing he’s the guy.”

Two of Hoxie’s most improved wrestlers have been 106-pounder Kash Schiltz and heavyweight Gavin Schippers, both regional champs. 

“Last year, (Schlitz) qualified, ended the season with a losing record,” Porsch said. “He was a match away from placing. This year, he’s improved a lot. (Schiltz) has grown and worked a lot in the summer. Last year, nobody thought much of him, other than us. He’s gotten to the point now where he kind of feels a little bit of the pressure at times, like, ‘Hey, I’m supposed to be winning.’ That’s a privilege. You’ve reached that stage, and now I say, ‘You’ve just got to go wrestle and not let that bother you.’ He’s made a ton of improvement.”

“(Schippers has) gotten a lot stronger and he’s believing in himself and wrestling with some purpose. Kind of the same way (as Schiltz), sticking to what we want him to do and believing in that. He took some lumps early on, but he’s lost to good kids and he’s starting to beat some good kids now.”

Other Hoxie state qualifiers include Wayne Shepard, a regional runner-up at 126, and Easton Nickelson who took fourth at regionals at 150. 

“It’s a lot of fun coming into the room every day,” Bretz said. “You can wrestle with four or five different guys and you’ll be wrestling either a state champion or a state placer every day. Everybody’s getting better every day. It’s a room unlike any other room I’ve been a part of.”  

NORTON LOOKS FOR STRONG SHOWING 

Norton’s lineup has been bookended by three-top ranked wrestlers at the heaviest weights. 

Corbin Puga (285), Jefferson Otter (215) and Garrett Urban (190) are a combined 104-14 on the season. All three claimed regional titles last week at Beloit to help the Bluejays take the team crown by a narrow margin. 

Urban, who has recovered from an injury that sidelined him for most of the football season, is looking for his second straight championship after moving up to 190 from 170. 

Outside of Hoxie’s long list of contenders, other top-ranked wrestlers from Western Kansas include Oberlin’s Josh Juenemann (113), Ellis’ Mason Younger (126), Wichita County’s Wyatt Gardner (144) and Smith Center’s Bentley Montgomery (150).
 

  SABETHA POISED TO MAKE PROGRAM HISTORY IN 3-2-1A
 
Ricky Creek is more than ready to do a little redecorating in Sabetha’s wrestling room.
 
In particular, there’s on item that he’s ready to be rid of.
 
“I have a terrible poster hanging in our room when we took seventh in 2018,” Creek said of the Bluejays’ highest team finish at the state tournament. “Everybody, we had to win one match and we’d win a trophy and it was that perfect storm of failure. We’ve had that poster up there for a long time and I’m ready to get rid of it.”
 
Truth be told, Creek thought his Bluejays would make that to happen a year ago. Sabetha qualified 10 wrestlers for the 2022 Class 3-2-1A state tournament and went to Hays with hopes of perhaps cracking the top five and challenging for a state trophy.
 
Instead, the Bluejays only managed two state placers – sixth-place finishes from Kellen Menold and Jonathan Renyer – and wound up taking a disappointing 15^th place as a team.
 
“We didn’t finish how we wanted to with only two of us placing,” Renyer said. “We were disappointed, but we were also really looking forward to this year because we knew we were losing only one senior. There were nine of us coming back and ready to go after it and learn from our mistakes and do better.
 
“It’s not just about getting there. It’s getting there and doing something.”
 
Sabetha not only will return to Hays with plenty of motivation, but plenty of wrestlers ready to make program history. The Bluejays dominated their Class 3-2-1A regional last Saturday, putting 10 wrestlers in the finals and crowning six regional champions.
 
In all, the Bluejays qualified 12 for the state tournament – matching defending state champion Hoxie for the most of any team. While Hoxie has a team for the ages – ranked No. 1 in the All-Class rankings – Sabetha is ranked No. 2 in 3-2-1A going into the state tournament.
 
“They have fun and they come in and it’s a team in every sense of what that means,” Creek said. “They’re friends outside the room and work hard inside it. It’s just wrestling.
 
“After last year, now they know they’ve got to show up. Nothing is going to be handed to them.”
 
Sabetha showed its focus is where it needs to be at its regional. The Bluejays went 10-2 in semifinals matches to take control of the team title and then followed up with a strong showing in the finals.
 
After getting runner-up finishes from Caleb Renyer at 106 and Dennis Mortorff at 113, the Bluejays won three straight weight classes as Cullen Wikle (132), Colin Menold (138) and Cole Hinton (144) claimed titles with Wikle and Hinton taking narrow wins and Menold pinning his finals opponent.
 
After a second-place finish from Kellan Spielman at 150, Renyer posted his 100^th career win in pinning Rossville’s Paxton Willett in the 157 finals. Josh Herrman added a title at 175 and after Jacob Kuenzi took second at 190, Joshua Grimm capped the day with a 3-2 win over Rossville’s Jacob Carver in the 285 final. The two had split their earlier meetings and Carver was a state runner-up at 285 last year.
 
“This was huge,” Creek said. “We got some revenge on kids in our finals matches that had beaten us earlier this year and that was needed. It was good stuff today.
 
“We’ve grown so much as a team this year.”
 
Sabetha also had qualifiers in Zach Kibbe (third at 126) and Dalton Rokey (fourth at 215).
 
Sabetha doesn’t have an individual ranked No. 1 in Class 3-2-1A, but does have a quartet of No. 2s – Colin Menold (138), Jonathan Reyner (157), Herrmann (175) and Grimm (285). Three of the four are ranked behind Hoxie wrestlers.
 
With Hinton and Spielman also ranked top six, Sabetha has what it needs to make history. Now the Bluejays just have to execute this weekend.
 
“My freshman and sophomore year we never really though this was possible,” Renyer said of seasons in which the Bluejays had two qualifiers (2020) and four qualifiers (2021). “We started seeing how much talent we had in the wrestling room and it’s made it such a possibility. This year, we’re going to go out and have fun, but we’re make sure we get the job done, too.”
 
While Sabetha is looking to make history, Big Seven League arch rival Nemaha Central already has. 
 
In just the program’s third year of existence and under the direction of first-year coach Andrew Beck – who was a state runner-up for Centralia during his prep career – the Thunder finished third at the Sabetha regional as a team. In doing so, the Thunder qualified the most wrestlers in program history for the state tournament with eight.
 
Keaton Rottinghaus led the effort, capturing a regional title at 106 pounds with a 17-10 decision over Sabetha’s Caleb Renyer. No other Thunder wrestler made the finals, but seven worked their way through the backside to earn state berths – Lucas Holthaus (3^rd at 120), Luis Lambrecht (4^th at 126), John Siess (4^th at 132), Reid McKee (4^th at 150), Aden Feldkamp (3^rd at 157), Abram Keim (3^rd at 165) and Holden Bass (3^rd at 285).
 
Rottinghaus, Holthaus and Keim all were state qualifiers last year.