By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
In a marquee boys wrestling matchup between Class 6A's No. 1-ranked Garden City and No. 3-ranked Washburn Rural, the Buffaloes prevailed 49-27 in Thursday night's dual at Rural.
Washburn Rural two-time state champion Easton Broxterman won a 15-0 technical fall in Thursday's home dual against Garden City. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But Junior Blues coach Josh Hogan knows that the experience of squaring off with one of the state's premier teams early in the season will only help his team moving forward.
"That's what I just told the boys in the circle there,'' Hogan said. "We train to beat people that are better than us so any time we get a chance to wrestle people that are quote, unquote better than us or maybe actually better than us we'll take our swings.''
Rural had three reigning or former state champs in its lineup but Hogan said Thursday's experience could be particularly valuable for the newcomers and up-and-comers for the Junior Blues.
"Some of the guys that dropped matches tonight were definitely in position to be able to win a match or capable of winning a match, but it's a big environment,'' Hogan said. "Things can get a little scrambled in the brain of a teenager when they've got everybody in the crowd watching them and hooping and hollering.
"Ultimately it will help prepare us for these type of situations that are still yet to come.''
Washburn Rural defending state champion Kristjan Marshall (top) recorded a pin in Thursday's home dual against Garden City. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Thursday's dual started with the 150-pound match due to random draw, and after defending 6A champion and top-ranked Kristjan Marshall picked up a second-period pin for Rural at 157 to tie the match 6-6, Garden City won eight of the next nine matches to build a commanding 49-12 lead. The Junior Blues' lone win during that stretch was a forfeit to Rural sophomore 190-pounder Jadyn Baum.
Junior Landen Kocher-Munoz, a former Class 6A state champion and a two-time state finalist, registered a win by major decision Thursday night against Garden City. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Rural's No. 4-ranked 132-pounder Cooper Stivers, No. 1-ranked 138-pounder Landen Kocher-Munoz and top-ranked 144-pounder Easton Broxterman swept the last three matches of the night, but the Junior Blues were unable to make up the early deficit.
Stivers recorded a first-period pin while former state champ Landen Kocher-Munoz took a 13-5 major decision and Broxterman registered a 15-0 technical fall over Logan Avalon in a match that pitted two-time state champ and three-time state finalist Broxterman against No. 2-ranked Avalon.
Broxterman, who will wrestle for Army in his collegiate career, was coming off a rare loss in last weekend's multi-state Council Bluffs Classic but dominated Thursday's match from the get go.
"That was a little bit of a rough match,'' Broxterman said. "It was kind of hard to get going and obviously it didn't go our way team score-wise but I went out and got it done.
"It wasn't pretty, but it works out fine in the end.''
Broxterman agreed with his coach that Thursday's dual will benefit the Junior Blues in the long run.
"We know what we have to work on,'' he said. "We were getting turned in like every match and we can't have that coming into the big postseason tournaments. They're a really good team and obviously they just put a pretty good whipping on us, but we'll fix it.
"We're a lot better than that, that's for sure.''
Thursday's dual was made possible due to the fact that Garden City could stop in Topeka on the way to Kansas City, Mo. where both the Buffaloes and Junior Blues will compete in this weekend's Kansas City Stampede at Bartle Hall.
GARDEN CITY 49, WASHBURN RURAL 27
(In order matches were wrestled)
150 -- Saben Herrera, GC, dec. Brodye Kocher-Munoz, WR, 11-9; 157 -- Kristjan Marshall, WR, pinned Isaac Guerrero, GC; 165 -- JT Hill, GC, pinned Brenner Beninga, WR; 175 -- Evan Mesa-Mcdermott, GC, pinned Aidan Newberry, WR; 190 -- Jadyn Baum, WR, winner by forfeit; 215 -- David Holquin, GC, pinned Kaiden Marshall, WR; 285 -- Braden Hill, GC, pinned Dallas Koelling, WR; 106 -- Pace Plankenhorn, GC, pinned Collin Rezac, WR; 113 -- Brayden Pacheco, GC, pinned Ethan Koci, WR; 120 -- Matt Long, GC, pinned Ryder Harrison, WR; 126 -- Zach Long, GC, maj. dec. Walker Doyal, WR, 10-1; 132 -- Cooper Stivers, WR, pinned Adriel Sanchez, GC; 138 -- Landen Kocher-Munoz, WR, maj. dec. Romeo Garcia, GC, 13-5; 144 -- Easton Broxterman, WR, winner by 15-0 tech. fall over Logan Avalon, GC.
