While it might seem like hyperbole at times, the claim that winning a championship at the Newton Tournament of Champions is tougher than winning a state title has plenty of trush behind it.
 
Case in point, Washburn Rural.
 
Fresh off capturing the program’s first Class 6A state title in 2021, the Junior Blues had a loaded roster looking to repeat. Which they did.
 
But the path to that team championship in 2022 did not include a team title at Newton. Making its first appearance at the prestigious mid-season tournament, not only did Rural not win it, the Junior Blues didn’t even finish in the top three in the team race.
 
Rural took fourth, finishing behind Newton, Goddard and Blue Valley Southwest.
 
In the years since, Rural has posted a number of top-five team finishes, but hadn’t reached the pinnacle. Until last Saturday.
 
Ranked No. 3 in Class 6A going into the tournament, Rural enjoyed a big weekend. Finishing the tourney with 10 placers in the top eight of their weight classes and putting two in the finals, Rural bested the 37-team field. The Junior Blues finished with 167.5 points, edging Class 6A No. 1 Maize by two points for their first Newton title.
 
“We’ve had some pretty good teams come here,” Rural coach Josh Hogan said. “This is my fifth year as coach and we’ve come here every year and gotten third, gotten fourth, so I know the level of competition that’s here. I thought the kids did great.
 
“We’ve been working a lot on our fundamental positioning, the things that we can do right all the time, and the boys did a lot of that this weekend. It paid off in a lot of tight matches.”
 
Rural didn’t end up with an individual champion at the tourney, its best showings runner-up finishes from Brodye Kocher-Munoz at 150 pounds and Jadyn Baum at 215. Kocher-Munoz dropped a 7-2 decision to Andale’s Tristen Cox in his championship match while Baum fell 4-0 to Salina Central’s Cooper Reves.
 
A week earlier, Baum had lost to Reves – a two-time state champion and the 5A No. 1 – by a 10-1 count at the Seaman Duals. In the rematch, the two battled through a scoreless first period and Reves only led 1-0 going into the final period before getting a takedown with eight seconds left to clinch the victory.
 
“That’s a tough kid, probably one of the best kids in the state that he wrestled,” Hogan said of the Baum-Reves rematch. “To go out there and have all the offense on our side and be attacking the whole match really put Jadyn in position to win.
 
“We wrestled him last week at Seaman and it was not a very close match. To have it go this way – especially on a big stage, where sometimes it’s hard to tie all that stuff together – it was probably the best I’ve ever seen Jadyn wrestle. And I’ve been watching him wrestle since he was about 7 years old.”
 

 
Cox used takedowns in each of the first two periods to control his match with Kocher-Munoz, who only managed two second-period escapes.
 
In addition to the runner-up finishes, Rural also got a third from Cooper Stivers at 138, fourth from Ryder Harrison at 120 and Landen Kocher-Munoz at 144, a fifth from Kaiden Marshall at 285, sevenths from Andrew Peterson at 113 and Gavin Homeyer at 190 and eighths from Hayden Broxterman at 106 and Brenner Beninga at 175.
 
“Of the five years I’ve been coaching, this is our deepest team,” Hogan said. “That goes a long way at these tournaments. You’ve got to have kids who are willing to scrap at every weight, and we’ve got kids who are really buying in to what we’re putting down.”
 

 
OTHER BOYS WRESTLING STANDOUTS

• After missing the first part of the season with an injury, Southeast of Saline’s Roman Tuttle made a triumphant return to the mat at the Newton Tournament of Champions, capturing the title at 120 pounds. Tuttle, who captured a Class 3-2-1A state championship last year as a freshman, had only had four days of practice going into the tournament, but was nothing short of dominant. He won all five matches via technical falls, including a 17-1 win over Class 5A No. 1 Wade Stubbs of Newton in the title match. Teammate Brody Chambers, last year’s 285 3-2-1A state champion, finishes runner-up at Newton, losing 3-1 to Blue Valley Southwest’s Ben Traw (No. 1 in 5A) in the finals.
• Jefferson West’s Osiris Unruh captured 285-pound titles at both the Aaron Patton Tournament at Wellsville and the St. Marys Tournament last week. Unruh moved to 10-0 with six pin wins, five of those in the first period.
• Abilene’s Murphy Randolph claimed the 150-pound title at the Bobcat Classic at Basehor-Linwood, improving to 20-1 on the season. Randolph took a tight 11-9 decision over Shane Oswald of Hickman (Mo.) in the finals.
• Nemaha Central’s Harry Langill improved to 20-1 in winning the 126-pound title at the Aaron Patton Invitational, pinning Prairie View’s Ryan Nickell in the finals. Langill came back two days later and won the title at the St. Marys Invitational, pinning Maur Hill’s Jaxson Vice in the finals.
• Prairie View had a champion at Wellsville in Gunner Vannamon, who won at 120, while Burlington’s Tate Stahl was the 132 champion, Osawatomie’s Caden Peterson won at 138 and Iola’s Kydane Loving won at 144.
• Manhattan’s JV took the team title at St. Marys, led by four individual champions -- Tucker Werth (120), Ilex Disney (138), Jonathan Jordan (165) and Hunter Flagg (175).
• Other champions at St. Marys included Onaga’s Jesse Miller (113), Silver Lake’s Sam Bruntz (132), Wabaunsee’s Sawyer Ibarra (144), Osage City’s Colton Collins (150) and Doniphan West’s Brenner Lowe (190) and Gabe Johnson (215).
• Riley County had two individual champions at the Jayhusker Invitational in Marysville with Tanner Rhoton winning at 113 and Nathan Hammond winning at 175. Other champions included Rock Creek’s Braxton Roberts (106), Beloit’s Brogan Monty (138), Marysville’s Keagan Warders (150) and Sabetha’s Curtis Fitzgerald (165).

 
GIRLS WRESTLING STANDOUTS

• After missing last season with an injury, Manhattan’s Kayla Cramer made a big statement that she’s back among the top contenders at 130 pounds this year, winning the bracket at the Newton Tournament of Champions. In the title match with Wichita Northwest’s Nayelli Carter, Cramer took a quick 3-0 lead, but gave up a reversal and back points and trailed 7-3 early in the third period before taking Carter to her back and pinning her with 1:26 left in the period to take the title. Manhattan also got a title from Sophie Hoeme at 140 pounds with Hoeme pinning Newton’s Ryah Bristol in the finals. The Indians also got a second from Alayna Slifer (135) and third from Tierra Young (145) and took second in the team standings to Garden City.
• Jefferson West’s Sophie Waters won her 100th career match on her way to taking the 115-pound title at the Aaron Patton Tournament at Wellsville.
• Other champions at Wellsville included Santa Fe Trail’s Kennedy Portlock (100), Wellsville’s Olive Dubois (125), West Franklin’s Mya Crabtree (135), Rossville’s Madelyn Wonnell (145), Iola’s Zoie Hesse (190) and Onaga’s Emmarsyn Fordham (235).
• Silver Lake claimed the team title at the St. Marys Invitational, scoring 140 points to edge runner-up Shawnee Mission Northwest by 7.5 points. The Eagles got individual titles from Kamiryn Clark at 100, McKenna Harris at 135 and McKayla Connor at 155.
• In addition to her title at Wellsville, Fordham also took the 235 crown at St. Marys to improve to 15-0. Onaga also got a title from Andi Wegman at 105.
• Other champions at St. Marys included the host Bears’ Taylee Poppelreiter (110), Riley County’s Kinsey Loecker (120), Maur Hill’s Emma Vice (125) and Hollie Finneran (140), Oskaloosa’s Makinley Daniels (130), Burlingame’s Eva Wyatt (170) and Doniphan West’s Layla Kuhnert (190).
• Clay Center captured the team title at the Jayhusker Invitational at Marysville with 196 points. The Tigers had three individual champions – Choe Rott (110), Josey Weller (120) and Evellyn Farley (130).
• Rock Creek had four individual champions at the Jayhusker with Liliauna Nold (115), Megan Ryan (140), Dakoda Moeller (155) and RaeLynne Wilson (170) bringing home titles.
• Other champions at the Jayhusker included Sabetha’s Paityn Daily (190) and Marysville’s Karleigh Throm (125).
• Chapman’s Kambree Obermeyer claimed the 115-pound title at the Best of West Tournament in Wichita while teammate Alyssa Calovich was the 125 champion. Calovich also won her 100th career match last week.