Tickets Punched: Garden City regional features tight team race

Though some regional tournament starts were delayed by “Old Man Winter,” all tournaments will wrap by the end of the day Saturday and the field will be set for next weekend’s state tournaments.

Regional host sites included Garden City High School and Blue Valley High School (Overland Park) in class 6A; Bonner Springs and Arkansas City in class 5A; Chanute, Smoky Valley (Lindsborg), Paola and Pratt in class 4A; and Beloit, Fredonia, Rossville and Trego Community (WaKeeney) in class 3-2-1A.

In classes 5A and 6A regionals featured 36 total schools each and the top eight placers in each weight class qualified for state. Class 4A includes 59 total schools and 3-2-1A has wrestlers representing 89 total schools. At those regionals the top four placers in each weight class qualified for state.

State competition takes place next weekend, February 22-23, with classes 5A and 6A wrestling at Hartman Arena in Park City, class 4A at Tony’s Pizza Event Center in Salina and 3-2-1A at Fort Hays State University’s Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays.

6A West, Garden City Regional

The Garden City regional featured a balanced team race with each of the top four teams scoring at least 200 points. Derby came away with the regional title with a score of 229.5 followed by Manhattan with 220.5 points, Washburn Rural with 210 and Garden City in fourth place with 201.5 team points.

Washburn Rural sophomore Bishop Murray continued his undefeated season winning the 106 pound championship in a thrilling 7-5 overtime victory against Dodge City freshman Damian Mendez. Haysville freshman Dylan Sheler used a second period pin of Lawrence freshman Kevin Honas to earn third place. Derby sophomore Cody Woods pinned sophomore Germany Washington from Wichita West and Wichita Southeast freshman Wilson Amani pinned Gardner-Edgerton sophomore Dean Marshall to round out the state qualifiers at 106.

Haysville senior Kale McCracken used a 3-1 decision over freshman Easton Taylor of Manhattan to remain unbeaten on the season and win the 113 pound regional title. Washburn Rural junior Caleb Douglas took third place after Garden City junior Silas Pineda sustained an injury. Gardner-Edgerton freshman Collin Smith needed a 4-2 overtime victory to take fifth place over Lawrence sophomore Logan Farrell and Lawrence Free State’s Trey Shanks scored a 3-2 decision over Wichita South’s Zachary Trenkamp to take seventh.

Garden City junior Diago Hernandez recorded a 6-4 victory over Dodge City senior Couy Weil to earn the 120 pound regional title while Washburn Rural sophomore Bowan Murray scored an 11-2 major decision over Manhattan junior Tate Sauder in the third place match. Hutchinson’s Braxton Edwards pinned Gardner-Edgerton’s Lucas Anderson and Haysville’s Elissio Martinez pinned Junction City’s Blayne Danford to round out the eight qualifiers at 120.

At 126 Lawrence Free State junior Lou Fincher needed overtime to secure a 3-2 victory over Garden City freshman Erik Dominguez in the championship match. Derby junior Bryce Wells defeated Dodge City sophomore Danny Rojas 6-5 for third place. A pair of 7-6 decisions delivered fifth and seventh place respectively for Washburn Rural’s Gavin Collins and Gardner-Edgerton’s Carlos Gaeta. Junction City’s Zane Thornton and Manhattan’s Tucker Brunner round out the qualifiers in sixth and eighth place respectively.

Garden City junior Jacob Holt needed a 6-4 decision over Derby sophomore Cason Lindsey to win the 132 pound title and freshman Blaisen Bammes took a 2-0 win over Lawrence Free State sophomore Caleb Streeter for third. Gardner-Edgerton’s Brayden Ratcliffe beat Washburn Rural’s Nick Vincent and Haysville’s Derek Sheler downed Wichita South’s Colin Mertes for the final four spots.

Garden City sophomore Josh Janas got an 8-4 win over Dodge City junior Garrett Edwards for the 138 pound championship. Haysville sophomore Nathan Bowen lost to Edwards 2-1 in the championship semi-finals but used an 8-0 major decision over Derby senior Kobe Grijalva to earn third place. Manhattan’s Jacob Mitchell defeated Junction City’s Matthew Whitton in the fifth place match and Hutchinson’s Izaiah Delvalle downed Washburn Rural’s John Vincent for seventh.

At 145 Lawrence Free State senior Elijah Jacobs scored a third period pin of Washburn Rural junior Cole Wells. Derby senior Cooper Ross would avenge his 5-2 championship quarterfinal loss to Marcelino Otero with a 3-2 decision over the Dodge City sophomore in the third place match. Manhattan’s Darius Island-Jones slipped by Liberal’s Carlos Mora 5-4 for fifth place and Wichita West’s Brandon Fiedler would get a pin of Garden City’s Elijahblu Ruiz-Hernandez for seventh.

At 152 Derby senior Crew Squires would need overtime to down Haysville senior Luke Bowen 2-1 in the championship match and Hutchinson senior Patrick Graebner decisioned Manhattan junior Daron Island-Jones 3-2 for third. Junction City sophomore CJ Neuman scored a 2-1 decision over junior AJ Rodriguez of Gardner-Edgerton for fifth and Washburn Rural’s Dalton Sparling pinned Garden City’s Jared Arellano for seventh.

University of Nebraska wrestling commit Bubba Wilson of Manhattan earned the 160 pound title with a 16-5 major decision over Malachi Karibo of Wichita South. Dodge City’s Jason Taylor took third with a 2-1 decision over Andrew Garcia of Garden City. Samuel Rushin (Wichita West), Taidon Wills (Derby), Jake Brunton (Washburn Rural) and Easton Zapien (Liberal) round out the final four qualifiers.

Oklahoma State wrestling commit Cade Lindsey scored a 15-0 technical fall victory over Manhattan’s Quincy Saddler in the 170 pound title match while Wichita West’s Quentin Saunders pinned Lawrence Free State’s Joey Eddis in :33 seconds for third. Hutchinson’s Levi Allen pinned Topeka’s Caemen Blake for fifth and Garden City’s Jacob Sims beat Sadiki Smith of Junction City 4-2 for seventh.

Derby’s Triston Wills, also an Okie State commit, won the 182 pound title with an 8-2 win over Washburn Rural junior Gavin Carter. Manhattan’s Stephen White got a second period pin of Lawrence Free State’s Devin Beers in the third place match. Ammean Soureshjani of Wichita Southeast pinned Caden Rodriguez of Gardner-Edgerton for fifth place and Wichita West’s Jerome Ragin decisioned Dodge City’s Julian Galindo for seventh.

Washburn Rural senior Preston Williams scored a 9-6 decision over Garden City junior Alexavier Rodriguez to win the 195 pound title and Derby’s Bryce Westmoreland took third over Haysville’s Brycen Schroeder after Schroeder sustained an injury. Westmoreland lost to Schroeder 3-1 in the championship quarterfinals. Junction City’s Terrance Adeleye, Manhattan’s Robert Houston, Wichita East’s Deriek Thomas and Dodge City’s Armando Montreal round out the final four qualifiers.

Manhattan’s Christian Schlepp used a 3-2 decision over Wichita North’s Jackson Stroud to win the 220 pound title. Stroud survived back-to-back 5-4 decision to get to the final before suffering the one-point loss at the hands of Schlepp. Haysville’s Garin Williams beat Hutchinson’s Tristan Geddes 3-1 for third while Derby’s Tyler Allen also used a 3-1 decision over Wichita West’s Mario Perez in the fifth place match. Washburn Rural’s Caden Cress pinned Garden City’s Tyler May for seventh.

Dodge City’s Evan Darville decisioned Garden City’s Refugio Chairez 7-3 for the 285 pound title and Lawrence’s Ejae Jewsome got an 8-3 victory over Derby’s Ronnie Washington in the third place match. Haysville’s Jacob Beehler, Wichita South’s Payton Collins, Washburn Rural’s David Hucks and Manhattan’s Damion Ilalio round out the qualifiers at 285.

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