They’ve owned the state’s No. 1 ranking since the start of the season. But the Rose Hill Rockets were eager to add some extra credibility to the label.
Their performance at the 61
st Newton Tournament of Champions last Friday and Saturday did just that.
“Throughout the season, we’ve gone to Valley Center, we’ve gone to Augusta, we’ve gone to Douglass and beaten teams like Newton and Valley Center,” Rose Hill junior Adam Bilby said. “But we haven’t seen these top-notch teams like Manhattan and Maize yet. Beating them here really validates that and really proves we deserve to be No. 1 in all classes.”
Rose Hill wrestlers collected 11 medals, including Bilby’s first-place hardware at 126 pounds, and scored 189 points to win the 33-team tournament by nine points over Manhattan. Rose Hill is the top-ranked team in the Kansas Wrestling Coach Association’s Class 4A rankings; Manhattan holds the No. 1 spot in 6A.
Bilby, No. 1 in all classes at 126, capped his title run with a 10-5 decision over Seneca (Mo.) freshman Brant Laughlin and improved to 19-0. His path included an 11-4 decision over Manhattan sophomore Cameron Coonrod, 6A’s No. 2-ranked wrestler.
“It means a lot,” Bilby said. “I came here in sixth grade, watching all those guys in the finals – guys like (Newton’s) Logan Treaster and other good ones like that. It’s been my dream to win this since I was a kid.”
With 132-pound junior Johnny Leck and 138-pound junior Damon Ingram also reaching the finals, Rose Hill displayed some of the depth that helped it become the second straight 4A program to win the TOC after Andale’s victory a year ago. Leck took his first loss in 15 matches this season when Washburn Rural’s Easton Broxterman, the reigning 6A champion at 113, pinned him early in the second period.
Ingram fell to 15-1 with an 8-4 loss to reigning 5A 138-pound champion Adam Maki of Andover. Ingram had beaten Maki earlier this season at the Valley Center December Pools tournament and the Augusta Invitational.
“This weekend is the toughest tournament we’ve been to, maybe the toughest tournament we’ll go to all year,” Rose Hill coach Chris Saferite said. “We won, but yet there’s still matches we’ll go back and look at and come Monday, we’ve got to get back in the practice room and get better for the next one.”
Rose Hill has nine wrestlers ranked in 4A, with Bilby, Leck and 215-pound senior Cole Rogers holding the top spots in their respective classes. After finishing seventh, fourth and second at state the last three seasons, the Rockets will be taking aim at their first title in program history next month.
“We have our kids club and we have the program that kind of gets these kids started, and then they get to high school and we just compete from there,” Saferite said. “It doesn’t matter who we wrestle or what size of school. We just want to go compete and see where we’re at.”
The Rockets face another stern test Thursday when they host a double dual with 6A No. 2 Maize and 5A No. 7 Salina Central.
Andale's Owen Eck, right, was named the Newton TOC's most outstanding wrestler for the second straight year.
ANDALE’S ECK RECLAIMS TOC OUTSTANDING WRESTLER HONOR
Some unwanted time off hasn’t appeared to affect Andale senior Owen Eck all that much.
Eck, a three-time state champion who has signed with Oklahoma, missed the first month of the wrestling season while healing from a broken collarbone he sustained in a Class 4A football playoff game against Scott City. On Saturday, he won his second straight tournament and repeated as the most outstanding wrestler recipient at the Newton Tournament of Champions.
“It’s a fun tournament to be at,” said Eck, who defeated Hutchinson’s Kade Smith with a 21-6 technical fall to capture the 157-pound title. “It’s a tough tournament with all the 5A and 6A schools and us being 4A. But it’s fun to compete with some of the best schools in the Wichita area.”
Eck secured his second TOC title on a takedown with 57 seconds remaining against Smith, 5A’s fourth-place finisher at 150 a year ago. Only one of Eck’s nine matches has gone the distance, an 8-2 decision over Abilene’s Tucker Cell at the Salina South Invitational in a battle of the top two-ranked wrestlers in all classes at 157.
“I just need to work on getting back into shape and fine-tuning everything and enjoying my last couple months,” Eck said. “I’m getting close to 100 (percent). I’m not quite there yet.”
Maize's Ronan Wunsch, right, battled through a rib injury at the Newton TOC to improve his season record to 32-0.
MAIZE’S FLORES, WUNSCH STAY UNBEATEN
It wasn’t easy, but Maize’s upper-weight senior duo of Ayden Flores and Ronan Wunsch kept their season records unblemished with Newton Tournament of Champions titles.
Flores, last year’s Class 5A champion at 215 pounds, improved to 31-0 on Saturday with a 3-1 decision over Jace Renfro, a sophomore from Seneca (Mo.), in the TOC’s 190-pound title match. Wunsch followed with a pin in the final second against Valley Center’s Dai’Mont Mucker in a battle of 215-pound unbeatens in which the Eagle standout battled through a rib injury to run his mark to 32-0.
Maize's Ayden Flores is 31-0 and ranked No. 1 at 190.
“We argue with each other about who has the better record and right now he has one more win than I do,” Flores said. “We go back and forth, but we push each other to make sure we both stay undefeated.”
Facing Renfro for the first time, Flores scored a late first-period takedown and added an escape early in the second, but had few other opportunities.
“He came out with a good gameplan and wrestled me well,” Flores said.
Wunsch used all of his injury time after aggravating a rib injury during his match against Mucker. Tied at 2 late in the third period, Wunsch scored a reversal and got the pin with one second remaining.
“I knew he was hurt before the match,” Flores said of his teammate, who took third in 5A at 190 last season. “He was a little nervous, but I just talked to him, told him you’re a stud, you know you got this. We’re friends with Mucker and it’s cool to see your friends wrestle each other.”
After helping Maize win the 5A team title last season, Flores and Wunsch flipped weights this season as the Eagles moved up to 6A. Flores weighed considerably less than many of his opponents a year ago.
This year has presented a different twist.
“I haven’t wrestled many of these guys before except back in kids club,” Flores said. “It’s kind of funny to see us back together with each other again.”
OTHER BOYS WRESTLING STANDOUTS
· Goddard freshman Oscar Guana handed Derby’s Jayden Grijalva his first loss of the season to win an action-packed 106-pound final at Newton. Guana (17-4) fell behind early, but scored a takedown and near fall in the second period to get back into the match. Gijalva (20-1) rallied to force overtime, but Guana used a takedown with 19 seconds left in the extra period for a 13-11 victory.
· Valley Center’s Aiden Shields captured the Newton TOC 120-pound title with a 6-2 decision over Newton’s Lucas Kaufman. It was just the second loss of the season for Kaufman, the reigning 5A champion at 113.
· Pratt junior Taye Wilson pushed his season record to 23-0 with a 13-4 decision over Newton’s Keon Edwards in the Newton TOC 165-pound final. Wilson is the reigning 4A champion at 150.
· Salina Central sophomore Cooper Reves won the 175-pound title at Newton to improve his season record to 25-1.
· Wrestling up in weight class due to a teammate’s injury, Newton senior Marcel Gonzalez won the Newton TOC 285-pound title with a 3-2 ultimate tiebreaker victory over Andover Central’s Dawson Rodd. Gonzalez avenged a loss to Rodd at the Douglass Invitational.
· Connor Herman’s third-period pin over Herington’s Peyton Taylor in the 285-pound title match helped host Halstead edge Bluestem by one point (135-134) for the Halstead Invitational boys title. Clayton Considine finished second at 126 for the Dragons, who had seven top-four finishers.
· Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s Omari Elias notched his 100
th career victory at his home tournament, the Duwane Miller Invitational. Elias’ performance helped the Crusaders finish second to Great Bend in the dual meet format.
Newton's Avery Hinojos, left, became the first Railer to win a Newton TOC girls title.
HINOJOS HAPPY TO WIN HOME TOURNAMENT
Avery Hinojos had already won wrestling tournaments. Just not the one in her hometown.
The Newton sophomore changed that last Thursday, defeating Tonganoxie’s Autumn Wilson 6-1 to capture the 110-pound title at the third annual Newton Tournament of Champions.
Hinojos became the first Railer to win a girls title in the TOC’s brief history.
“I really looked forward to this tournament because I get to wrestle in front of my friends and family,” said Hinojos, who climbed to No. 3 in the all-class rankings after her victory. “It’s really exciting for me to win this tournament.”
Hinojos, who missed a state medal by one victory as a freshman, has positioned herself to contend this season. The TOC title improved her season record to 17-2, with her only losses coming to Rose Hill’s Ryleigh Page, who is No. 2 at 105, and Dodge City’s Ashley Alonso, No. 2 at 110.
Hinojos was the runner-up to Alonso at Basehor-Linwood’s Ladycat Classic. Her list of victories include a 10-2 major decision over two-time state champion Amara Ehsa of Derby in early December.
Hinojos’ TOC title path included first-period pins over Emporia’s Chloe Steele and Derby’s Lauren Horton. Against Wilson, Hinojos scored in each period en route to the victory.
“I just kept trying to not get tired because she got tired pretty quickly,” Hinojos said. “I was working on my shots and making sure I didn’t stall. I didn’t want to get caught.”
OTHER GIRLS WRESTLING STANDOUTS
- Winfield sophomore Abby Brenn knocked off previously unbeaten and top-ranked Hayleen Martinez of Liberal with a pin midway through the second period to win 190-pound division at the Best of the West tournament in Wichita. Brenn emerged from a bracket with five state-ranked wrestlers to improve to 21-1.
- Wichita North’s Xitaly Meraz won the Best of the West 115-pound title, edging Olathe Northwest’s Megan Vasquez 5-2 in the finals. Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s Vy Le-Do gave the Greater Wichita Athletic League another title at 125, pinning Wichita West’s Ariyana Norphlet in the finals.
- Andover’s Olivia Randle won the Best of the West 140-pound title, pinning Blue Valley’s McKinzie Ross in the second period of their title match.
- Rose Hill senior Ryleigh Page pinned Newton freshman Brookelyn Treaster in the third period to win the Newton Tournament of Champions 105-pound title. Page improved to 14-1.
- Derby’s Trinity Williams improved her season mark to 8-0 by winning the Newton TOC 235-pound title. Williams pinned Emporia’s Alexa Castillo late in the first period of their title match.
- Halstead’s Callyn Divine improved to 18-0 and earned the most outstanding wrestler honor after winning the 130-pound title at the Halstead Invitational. Divine pinned Harper Andrews of tournament champion Eudora to win her weight class. Kahlyn Davis (125 pounds) and Brooklyn Foster (135) also won titles for Halstead.
- Augusta’s Jill High notched her 100th career victory at the Bluestem Jamboree. High, a senior, is ranked No. 2 in all classes at 125 pounds.