HAYS – The Hoxie Indians remained the current kings of Class 3-2-1A , capturing a fifth straight team championship and producing four individual champions at the state meet in Gross Memorial Coliseum. 

Hoxie’s championship matches were highlighted by dramatic wins from Duncan Bell, Easton Nickelson and Etson Moreno, and punctuated by a dominant title defense from Sam Watkins. 

The Indians finished with 192 points to clear second-place Norton by 46 points and secure the five-peat. It was Hoxie's 15th team state championship in program history. 

“The team wrestled really well. They had a really good weekend,” Hoxie first-year head coach Ryan Etherton said. “Nothing ever goes perfect, so you have some you always feel for. But they’ve put in a lot of hard work and they earn what they get. They’ve done an awesome job this year.”

The championship round got off to a tough start for Hoxie with losses by two-time reigning champion Ian Giancola at 120 and senior Kash Schiltz at 126. But Moreno’s win at 150 started a streak of four straight championship wins. 

The victories from Bell and Nickelson came in two of the most memorable matches of the tournament. 

In his 165-pound title match against Atchison County’s Max Bottorff, Bell won with a buzzer-beater. 

Trailing 4-3 in the closing seconds, it looked like time was about to expire on Bell’s bid to become a back-to-back state champion, but Bell pulled off a miraculous finish.

He grabbed Bottorff’s legs and drove through for a takedown with just a second left, giving him a 6-4 decision. 

“I knew it was close," Bell said. “To be honest, when I had his legs and I was driving through, I thought time was going to be up before I took him down.

“It was crazy. I was more shocked than anything. After (last year’s state final match) I was all over the place, jumping off the walls. This one, I was just super shocked. I didn’t even really hug my coaches, I was still so shocked.”

Bell, the 157-pound title winner last year, ended his senior season with a 41-1 mark. 

“That’s just Duncan for you,” Watkins said of Bell’s late-match heroics. “I have to work my butt off to take him down in practice, even with my size. He’s a great scrambler.”

“My mom, especially when I was younger, she used to call me the comeback kid,” Bell said. “So I had to go out that way.”

Not long before his match, Bell saw his younger sister, Josie Bell, join her three brothers as a state champion. Drew Bell was a three-time state champ while Dayton Bell won as a senior. 

Josie defeated Norton’s Isabella Garrity by a 5-4 decision to win the 125-pound title. Check back to KSHSAA Covered for more on Josie Bell’s title.

“When Josie won, we didn’t lose again,” Duncan Bell said. “I was super pumped for her.”

Nickelson followed Bell with an epic 175-pound tilt against familiar foe Dayton Stephen from Hill City. 

The match was locked at 4 before Nickelson and Stephen exchanged reversals in the third period, keeping it tied at 6 with under 30 seconds left. 

Nickelson popped out from under Stephen for an escape with 18 seconds left. After a blood stoppage, the match was restarted with 14 seconds and a mad scramble ensued.

Nickelson fought off Stephen to hold on for a 7-6 decision to become a first-time champion as a senior. He powered through a knee injury that also bothered him in a thrilling 2-1 overtime win over Teron Kraft in the semifinals. 

“I was just doing it for my team, I ultimately wanted to be a state champion as an individual and as a team,” said Nickelson (35-2). “That’s what I was thinking of.”

“He’s one of the grittiest people I know,” Watkins said of Nickelson. “He really showed it. I’m trying to warm up, and I see that kid battling like that, it hypes you up. What an exciting couple matches he’s had. And to battle through his knee injury, he had the grit and will power to get it done.”

Etherton agreed. 

“He’s got the heart of a warrior,” he said. “He hurt his knee in the quarterfinals pretty bad. I didn’t even know how much he’d be able to do, but he just pushes through it and guts it out. It was pretty awesome to see him finish it off.”

Stephen (45-5) suffered a significant cut on his head that required several blood stoppages. Nickelson and Stephen embraced after the grueling battle. 

After watching his football teammates Bell and Nickelson pull out thrillers at the wire, Watkins took care of business quickly to defend his 190 title. 

Watkins pinned Ellsworth’s Keegan Urbanek in 25 seconds to finish his senior season at 42-1.

“I’d say the biggest thing was just experience,” Watkins said. “I’ve been here before. You do it enough, it gets a little easier and it’s not such a foreign feeling. I was comfortable. I had seen (Urbanek) before and I knew he wrestled hard. Luckily, I was able to go out there and get a pin.”

Watkins is headed to the University of Nebraska-Kearney to continue his wresting career. 

“It’s exciting,” Watkins said. “Obviously I’m going to miss high school. The tradition that Hoxie has, I’m going to miss it a lot. You’ve got so many people in the town supporting you. 

“Kearney’s going to be a good place to call home for the next four years. I’m excited to get better.”

“Sam is a really hard worker,” said Etherton, who took over the program this year following Mike Porsch's retirement as Hoxie coach. “His positioning has improved a ton. He’s really getting himself prepared to head off to Kearney next year and I think he’s going to do great things there. He’s really honing his abilities and working on areas he needs to improve. He’s just got an amazing work ethic.”

Moreno completed a remarkable season of improvement by becoming a first-time champ as a senior. Like Bell and Nickelson, he came through clutch late in his match. 

With his 150-pound bout with Lyons’ Jace Grizzle still tied at 1, Moreno grabbed a leg and tripped Grizzle to the mat for a takedown with about 25 seconds for the decisive points on the way to a 4-2 decision. 

“Last year, I took a hard loss in the blood round of regionals,” Moreno said.  “That just broke me. Broke me so hard. I cried so much that night.

“I was not about to let that happen again. Every day after that, I just went into the wrestling room and just grinded. Ian, Kash, those guys helped me a lot, and everybody in the Hoxie community.”

Moreno closed his senior season with a 37-7 mark. 

“Etson, mentally, was able to take another step,” Etherton said. “He got more confidence. He put a lot of time working in the summer with the guys at Next Level and that helped him a ton. He works really hard and he’s got great partners to work with. He’s got a great mindset and started to get more confidence in himself, more confidence in his abilities. It really helped him make the next step.”

“I honestly didn’t expect me to be here at the top,” Moreno said.  “It feels great.”

Giancola’s bid for a third straight championship was denied by Southeast of Saline freshman Roman Tuttle, who handed Giancola a 13-1 major decision loss in the 120 title match. It was the lone setback of the season for Giancola, a junior who finished 30-1. 

Schiltz came up short in the 126 title match against Norton’s Derek Clydesdale, who avenged his regional loss to Schiltz with a 3-1 decision for the championship. 

Other medalists for Hoxie included Chase Meyer (third at 132) and Bradyn Wilson (fourth at 113). 

“It was a good tournament for all of us,” Watkins said. “We wrestled great as a team. I feel like we all really peak this time of the year, which is what you’re always looking for.”