With so much packed into a wrestling week – boys and girls teams competing in tournaments halfway across the state, followed by a side trip to Oklahoma State to watch the collegiate powerhouse Cowboys – something was bound to not go perfectly.
 
But after taking their lumps at other tournaments this season, Garden City’s boys did more than enough last Friday and Saturday to secure a convincing victory against several highly ranked teams from across the state in the Newton Tournament of Champions.
 
The Buffaloes, led by senior Matthew Long’s title at 120 pounds, tallied 202.5 points, 31 more than reigning Class 4A champion Rose Hill. Seven Garden City wrestlers finished in the top eight of their respective weight classes, helping the Buffalo boys complete a TOC team sweep after Garden City’s girls won at Newton two days earlier.
 
Long, last year’s 6A runner-up 120, scored an impressive 19-4 technical fall in his title match over previously unbeaten freshman Roman Tuttle of Southeast of Saline. Three other Garden City finalists settled for second, including top-ranked 113 pounder Braydon Pacheco, who forfeited to Goddard’s Jayden Grijalva because of an injury.
 
“It was a pretty good weekend,” Garden City first-year head coach Paul Lappin said. “(Saturday) felt like a little bit of a letdown. We didn’t wrestle well that day, and it drove the home the importance of wrestling well on Day 2. We’ve got to get back to the drawing board.”
 
Still, the Buffs came up with enough quality individual performances to overtake Rose Hill for the top spot in the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association’s all-class rankings.

It started with Long, who reached the finals with a trio of pins and a technical fall to set up his first meeting with Tuttle, a newcomer who pinned third-seeded Lou Elsten of Free State and second-seeded Braxton Moody of Valley Center.
 
Trailing 4-3 after the first period, Long pulled away with an onslaught of back points in the second and third.
 
“I’d heard of him and watched him, and he looked good,” Long said of Tuttle, who fell to 11-1. “He really looked like he knew how to wrestle. It was an exciting matchup for me and I was really pumped.”
 
Said Lappin: “Matt did what he does. He’s relentless on top. Once he got on top, he kind of broke him down a little bit and we felt pretty good. We got some turns and broke the kid.”
 
While Long’s performance wasn’t unexpected, the Buffs were thrilled by senior Saben Herrera’s run to the 150-pound final. Herrera, the No. 7 seed, defeated past state medal winners Logan Lagerman of Manhattan and Salina Central’s Jase Adam before falling to top-seeded Emerson Tjaden of De Soto in the championship.
 
“Saben Herrera had a great tournament,” Lappin said. “He knocked off a couple studs just to make the finals. He opened some eyes. He’s not a sleeper anymore.”
 
Senior David Holguin also reached the finals, losing to Goddard’s Preston Hagel by pin in the first period. Sophomore Pace Plankenhorn was third at 106, pinning 4A’s top-ranked Samson Whitted of Rose Hill in his final match.
 
The Buffs also got a fourth-place finish from senior Logan Avalon at 144, while freshman James Hill was seventh at 165.
 
Lappin said the decision to hold Pacheco out of the finals was precautionary and expected him to return soon. While it was part of a less-than-perfect Saturday, the Buffs were still upbeat as they boarded for Stillwater to watch OSU battle West Virginia in a dual of nationally ranked teams.
 
“It was a fun experience,” Long said. “Since the season began, we’ve been going to tournaments and getting our butts kicked a little bit.
 
“That’s what we needed so when we come to tournaments like this and later for state, we have the tools that we need and understand what it takes to do good.”