Tickets Punched: Smith Center wins Beloit regional

The Class 3-2-1A Beloit regional featured zero ranked teams. However, the regional had a high number of elite competitors, including three undefeated wrestlers with Minneapolis’ Tyson Villalpando, Rock Hills’ Zane Colson and Ell-Saline’s Nick Davenport. Five wrestlers are ranked first: Smith Center’s Jaden Atwood, Colson, Villalpando, Hoisington’s Wyatt Pedigo and Davenport at 138, 152, 182, 195 and 220, respectively.

Several teams, notably Smith Center and Minneapolis, have been ranked high this season and captured tournaments. Minneapolis was notably once ranked second in 3-2-1A. As well, Hoisington has consistently been a top-three program, including a state runner-up the last two years and four in the past seven.

Smith Center captured the crown with 143 points, while Hoisington was second at 119, Beloit third at 115.5 and Minneapolis fourth at 108. Belleville-Republic County, who has quietly enjoyed a nice year with junior 285-pounder Eyann Zimmerman, was fifth with 102 points.

At 106, Beloit sophomore Mason Fuller (17-10) won the title by technical fall over Hoisington sophomore Quentin Boxberger. Minneapolis freshman Gage Carlson was third and Republic County’s Jonathan Dyke took fourth.

At 113, Smith Center junior Colton Shoemaker, ranked second in the state, moved to 31-4 and won by injury default against Stockton’s Markeis Spiller in the finals. For third place, Bennington senior Isaac Richie defeated Ell-Saline’s Seth Schneider. Shoemaker is 31-4, the only qualifier with more than 20 wins. Richie was seeded seventh and his plus-3 seed-place difference was the field’s largest.

At 120, Minneapolis senior Austin Roth took first with a 7-3 decision against Republic County sophomore Kaleb Talkington. Roth is 25-8, Talkington stands at 32-6. Phillipsburg’s Aaron Lenker (21-6) was third and Lyons’ Dominic Davis was fourth.

At 126, Phillipsburg’s Jacob Sisson, a defending state champion and ranked first earlier this winter, captured the title with a fall in 2:41 against Ellsworth’s Tyson Hall. Sisson improved to 26-5 while Hall fell to 27-15. Smith Center senior Joe Stocker (18-15) defeated Minneapolis’ Dayton Randall for third place.

At 132, Beloit’s Tate Kadel has been one of the classification’s better freshmen and improved to 32-6 with a win by fall in 3:51 against Lyons’ Chris Goans (22-3). For third, Phillipsburg’s Austin Niblock (25-9) defeated Stockton’s Trenton Howell, 3-0. Kadel tied for first with four pins.

Class 138 was easily the best in the field. Minneapolis senior Tristan Hauck was ranked No. 2, and Smith Center junior Jaden Atwood was ranked first. Hauck (35-2) won 8-2 in the finals against Atwood (32-8). Lyons senior Irlick Moreno (24-10) defeated Salina-St. John’s Military sophomore Holden Smart (8-10) by fall in 2:46.

At 145, Lincoln junior Chantz Vath (33-3) defeated Southeast of Saline freshman Matthew Rodriguez (24-2) by a 5-0 decision. Vath is ranked sixth. Hoisington junior Dayne Yott (15-7) took third over Ellsworth junior Morgan Kelley.

At 152, Rock Hills’ Colson improved to 35-0 and defeated Smith Center junior Jacob Conrad (25-17) by fall in 4:30. St. John’s Military junior Dominic Holthaus improved to 25-3 and defeated Republic County’s Andrew Hubert for third/fourth. Smart and Holthaus will be the last SJM qualifiers as SJM has announced it is closing after 131 years. Smart had moved from Fort Collins, Colo. and Holthaus was a JV wrestler last year.

At 160, Southeast of Saline’s Rudy Rodriguez captured the title with a fall in 3:57 against Sterling’s Dylan Stewart. Rodriguez has been ranked second at 160 and improved to 30-2. Stewart is 26-11. In the third place match, Smith Center junior Aaron Moss defeated Logan’s Matt Kirkendall. Logan is one of the state’s smallest schools and co-ops with Phillipsburg. Moss is 25-15, and Kirkendall is 22-17. He is the only Logan wrestler.

At 170, Hoisington’s Joshua Ball continued his success and moved to 36-5. In the finals, he pinned Bennington’s Layne Wilton in 1:12 in a slight upset. Wilton was ranked sixth. He dropped to 30-9. In the third place match, Smith Center senior Ethan Peterson (23-17) defeated Phillipsburg’s Jeremiah Minkler (20-15) by fall in 3:32.

At 182, Villalpando improved to 29-0 with a 3-1 victory against Southeast of Saline sophomore Sterling Harp (25-4). In the third place match, Smith Center’s Brell Spiess (26-16) defeated Beloit freshman Braden Burks.

At 195, Hoisington’s Wyatt Pedigo continued his dominance with a fall in 1:59 against Beloit senior River Paul. Pedigo is 35-1, and Paul is 30-7. Southeast of Saline’s Colby Beer defeated Republic County’s Mason Simmons, 6-3. Beer is 27-9, and Simmons stands at 21-10.

At 220, Davenport stayed perfect at 36-0 with a fall in 5:59 against Beloit junior Creighton Johnson (31-8). For third place, Stafford senior Laithen Shocklee (28-7) won by fall against Sylvan-Lucas sophomore Tra Barrientes (28-13).

At 285, Republic County’s Zimmerman, ranked fourth, moved to 36-4 in his junior year. He defeated Hoisington junior Riley Philbern (27-11) for the title in a 43-second fall.
Ellsworth junior Tyler Walford, who defeated Zimmerman at the North Central Activities Association league meet, took third at 30-3 after being upset by Philbern in the championship semi-finals. Phillipsburg’s Rylan Hays (20-13) was fourth. Zimmerman tied for first with four pins and had the least pin time in 4 minutes and 19 seconds.

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