Beloit Invitational celebrates 50 years of excellence

Team Champion: Blue Valley Southwest, 261.5 points

Individual Champions:

106: Trent Clements, Chanute

113: Hayden Mills, Blue Valley Southwest

120: Tyler Voss, Colby

126: Brett Umentum, Blue Valley Southwest

132: Weston Becker, Blue Valley Southwest

138: Dylan Weimer, Hoxie

145: Brandon Madden, Blue Valley Southwest (Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament)

152: Daniel McMullen, Blue Valley Southwest

160: Parker Winder, Chanute

170: Seth Nitzel, Blue Valley Southwest

182: Brayden Dillow, Chanute

195: Garron Champoux, Marysville

220: John Hubbel, Blue Valley Southwest

285: Tra Barrientes, Sylvan-Lucas (Lincoln Co-op)

Find complete results on the Track Wrestling website here.

Read yesterday's Day 1 recap of the tournament below:

Notable results and match-ups after day one, this is a brief rundown of a loaded tournament, numerous great matches featuring some of the state's top wrestlers may not be mentioned, also, these wrestlers face opponents across multiple classifications and win-loss may not indicate how tough their strength of schedule has been this season. In short, this is an outstanding tournament with many of the state's top wrestlers.

106: Chanute junior Trent Clements and Clay Center senior Rhett Koppes are both into the semi-finals and appear headed for a championship match-up that would feature two wrestlers yet to lose to a Kansas opponent this season. Koppes is unbeaten while Clements' lone loss is to a wrestler from Oklahoma.

113: Blue Valley Southwest's Hayden Mills will face Concordia's Jordan Anquish in one semi-final and Chanute's Kolton Misener will face Republic County's Jonathan Dyke in the other. All four wrestlers have four losses or less on the season.

120: Colby sophomore Tyler Voss, who has lost just twice on the season, pinned his way to one semi-final with Falls in :38 seconds and :54 seconds.

126: In one of the most anticipated pair of semi-finals Abilene's Will Stroda will face unbeaten Kaleb Talkington of Republic County and Hoxie's Drew Bell will face Blue Valley Southwest's Brett Umentum. The four wrestlers have combined for seven total losses on the season with no individual with more than three losses on the year. 

138: The semis include three wrestlers who have combined for four total losses so far this season. Hoxie's Dylan Weimer (one loss) will face Chanute's Trent Davis (two losses) and Marysville's Joey Bockin (one loss) will face Blue Valley Southwest's Ethan Cronk (26-6).

145: Blue Valley Southwest's Brandon Madden is into the semis and on track for his fourth consecutive trip to the tournament finals.

152: Hoxie's Aidan Baalman pinned his way to one semi-final in 2:18 and 2:16 and has just two losses on the season.

160: One semi-final features a pair of three-loss wrestlers in Chanute's Parker Winder and Republic County's Andrew Hubert.

170: Missouri wrestling commit Seth Nitzel (Blue Valley Southwest) remained unbeaten after a first round bye and a pin of Riley County's Deon Barnes.

182: This is a pair of loaded semi-finals. Concordia's Hunter Schroeder will face Plainville's Jordan Finnesy in one semi and Blue Valley Southwest's Jackson McCall will face Chanute's Brayden Dillow in the other. Schroeder and Dillow are unbeaten and Finnesy has just one loss. McCall has four losses but is the second ranked wrestler in an ultra-tough 5A classification. Finnesy, a defending 3-2-1A state champion, defeated 3-2-1A's top-ranked Brennan Walker, a Beloit sophomore to make the semis.

285: 3-2-1A's top-ranked Creighton Johnson, a Beloit senior, will face third ranked Tra Barrientes of Sylvan-Lucas Unified (which co-ops with Lincoln) in one semi while the other will feature 3-2-1A's second ranked Eyann Zimmerman against Clay Center junior Logan McDonald, the fourth ranked wrestler in 4A. Johnson is unbeaten, while Barrientes an Zimmerman each have one loss.

Read our original preview of the tournament below:

The 20-team Beloit Invitational celebrates its 50th year this weekend. The tournament is known for its excellent tradition and elite individuals and squads. This winter, the competition’s gold anniversary again has a stacked field that includes Hoxie (No. 1 in 3-2-1A), Chanute (No. 1 in 4A), and Blue Valley Southwest (No. 2 in 5A).

The field features Abilene, Beloit, Blue Valley Southwest, Chanute, Clay Center, Colby, Concordia, Hill City, Holcomb, Hoxie, Lincoln, Marysville, Minneapolis, Oberlin, Republic County, Riley County, Salina South, Silver Lake, Smith Center and Stockton, according to the Beloit Call. Beloit, a seven-time team state champion, will commemorate various wrestlers and moments from the tournament. Action starts at 2 p.m. Friday, and 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

Beloit coach Andy Niemczyk, who has led the Trojans since 1986, has paced the program to a No. 2 ranking in 3-2-1A. Republic County stands fifth, and Hill City eighth. Marysville is third in 4A, and Clay Center is tenth.

Blue Valley Southwest is the three-time defending tournament champions. However, the last five team titles have all been closely contested. The top teams at Beloit have usually done well at state.

In ’14, Chanute won with 218.5 points, while BVSW was second at 156. The following winter, Chanute had a tournament-high 191 points and bested runner-up Colby by 5.5 points.

In ’16, Colby won the title with 169, 7.5 ahead of Abilene. In the last three years, BVSW’s winning margins have come by 4.5, seven and 14 points. Marysville has finished second all three seasons. Last year, BVSW eventually earned third in 5A and Marysville won 4A, both the top showings in school history. Colby finished third at Beloit and earned 3-2-1A runner-up.

Beloit is long known for its wooden bracket boards given to the victors. This weekend, BVSW senior Brandon Madden goes for his fourth Beloit championship – and an opportunity to break the school’s all-time wins record.

The competition has yielded only 10 four-time titlists. Last week, Madden helped Southwest earn second in the 57th Newton Tournament of Champions. BVSW bumped a spot from third to second in this week’s 5A rankings. Brett Umentum (24-3) and Madden (23-2) led BVSW with 28 and 27.5 points, respectively.

Umentum won at 126, Madden at 145, and Seth Nitzel (24-0) earned the Newton title at 170. Nitzel has signed with Missouri wrestling. Madden could be BVSW’s first four-time state placer this year for a school that opened in 2010.

Madden entered this year with 119 career wins and has upped to 142. Marty Verhaeghe, who has been ranked nationally for Division II Fort Hays this season, has the school mark with 143 victories. Nitzel has 123 victories.

Overall, Southwest features sophomore Hayden Mills, a defending state champion, and ranked first at 113 in 5A. Umentum is third at 126. Sophomore Ethan Cronk is third at 138. Madden is first at 145, and Nitzel is second at 170. Junior Mack Hubbel is third at 220.

Mills and Madden are defending Beloit champions. Umentum tied with two other wrestlers, including Republic County’s Eyann Zimmerman, with a tournament-best four pins in 2019.

Additionally, here is a look at several of the top other wrestlers in each weight class who are expected to compete at Beloit:

106 – Hill City sophomore Carter Underhill is sixth in 3-2-1A. Chanute junior Trent Clements is first in 4A. Concordia junior Sajen Kemling is fifth in 4A. Mills won at 106 in ’19.

113 – Class 3-2-1A has the third, fourth and fifth ranked wrestlers with Republic County sophomore Jonathan Dyke, Hill City freshman Kaleb Atkins, and Hoxie freshman Dayton Bell, respectively. Class 4A has sophomore Kolton Misener (No. 2) and Colby sophomore Aiden Cook (fifth).

120 – Class 3-2-1A has the third, fourth and fifth ranked wrestlers in the field with Smith Center senior Colton Shoemaker, Hoxie freshman Drew Bretz and Hill City sophomore Aidan Hockman, respectively. Colby sophomore Tyler Voss is fifth, and Abilene sophomore Kaleb Stroda is sixth in 4A.

126 – This is arguably the most stacked weight class. Class 3-2-1A has three ranked wrestlers with Hoxie sophomore Drew Bell (second), Republic County junior Kaleb Talkington (fourth), and Oberlin sophomore Reece Grafel (sixth).

In 4A, Abilene senior Will Stroda is third, Clay Center junior Parker Tholstrup fourth, and Marysville senior Isaac Novotny stands sixth. Last year, Stroda won at 113 and Umentum was third in Beloit. Novotny won at 120.

Talkington is seeded first at 19-0, Bell second at 21-1, Umentum third at 24-3, and Stroda fourth at 22-3.

132 – In 3-2-1A, Silver Lake junior Kai Allen, a defending state champion, is first, Hoxie freshman Derek Johnson is third, and Stockton senior Trenton Howell is sixth.

138 – Hoxie senior Dylan Weimer is first in 3-2-1A, and Marysville senior Joey Bockin is fourth. Weimer is the defending Beloit champion at 132.

145 – Oberlin senior Dawson Kempt is third, and Beloit sophomore Tate Kadel (12-3) is fourth in 3-2-1A. Marysville senior Jonny Crome is second in 4A, and Chanute senior Logan McDonald is third.

152 - Beloit junior Hunter Prochaska (13-2) is third in 3-2-1A. Hoxie junior Aidan Baalman is ranked second in 3-2-1A. Chanute senior Brady McDonald is first in 4A.

160 – Chanute junior Parker Winder is third in 4A. He is seeded first at 21-3.

170 – Oberlin junior Gavon Uehlin is fifth in 3-2-1A, and Marysville senior Noah Ackerman is first in 4A. Ackerman is 20-1 and seeded second to Nitzel.

182 – Beloit sophomore Brennan Walker (15-1) is first in 3-2-1A, Hill City junior Jayce Hamel is third, and Smith Center senior Brell Spiess is fifth. Chanute junior Brayden Dillow is third in 4A. Concordia junior Hunter Schroeder is fourth in 182. Schroeder was second at Beloit in 160 last year.

195 – Beloit sophomore Braden Burks (13-2) is third in 3-2-1A. Class 4A has the top-two wrestlers with Marysville senior Garron Champoux, and Colby junior Hagan Booi. Last year, Champoux defeated Booi by fall in 1:22 in the Beloit championship. Booi is 19-1 and seeded first, and Champoux stands at 16-2 and is seeded second.

220 – Colby senior Rowdy Farr is 18-4, and Hoxie sophomore Brandon Baker is 13-6. Marysville’s Jack Lott is 17-2, and BVSW’s John Hubbell is 18-3.

285 – Beloit senior Creighton Johnson (16-0) is ranked first in 3-2-1A. Republic County senior Eyann Zimmerman is second in 3-2-1A. Sylvan-Lucas junior Tra Barrientes, who co-ops with Lincoln, is third in 3-2-1A. Johnson defeated Zimmerman earlier this winter. Clay Center junior Logan McDonald is fourth in 4A. Last year, Zimmerman was first, and Johnson fourth.

Barrientes is 20-1, and Zimmerman is 18-1.