By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
PARK CITY -- Granted, Friday's Class 5A state boys wrestling tournament didn't end the way Shawnee Heights coach Chad Parks and his team wanted it to, with the T-Birds going 1-5 in their place matches.
But what the T-Birds accomplished up until that point at Hartman Arena, with six underclassmen taking home state medals, left Parks already looking forward to next season.
Shawnee Heights, which finished sixth as a team, got fourth-place finishes from 106-pound sophomore Tyler Lincoln (37-5), 120 junior Brock Ferguson (39-5), 160 junior Caden Walker (37-2) and 182 junior Preston Hartman (37-8) while junior Garrett Peery (36-7) finished fifth at 220 and junior Cole Manrose (31-14) took sixth at 170.
"We have six placers, which ties the most we've ever had, and that means we have six returning state placers next year,'' Parks said. "We didn't graduate anybody, so that's good.''
And overall, Parks was pleased with his team's performance on the day.
Shawnee Heights junior 160-pounder Caden Walker suffered his first two losses of the season in Friday's 5A wrestling tournament, but still finished fourth. [Submitted]
"The No. 1 thing that we assess our kids on is, 'Will you go out and battle?' '' Parks said. "We don't practice for no reason, so will you go out and battle, and every kid went out and battled today.
"They left it on the mat and that's the No. 1 thing we ask of them. Can you wrestling smarter in situations? Can we be technical in more situations? 100 percent, but overall we wrestled good.''
Shawnee Heights junior Preston Hartman finished 4th in the 5A state wrestling tournament at 182 pounds. [Submitted]
Heights' Walker went into the state meet with a perfect 35-0 record, but dropped a 9-0 semifinal major decision to eventual runner-up Cayleb of Atkins of Goddard.
Walker, who improved from sixth as a sophomore to fourth at state, bounced back with a victory to reach the third-place match before dropping a 16-3 major decision to Maize sophomore Connor Padgett.
"I had a game plan going into today and didn't really wrestle how I wanted to wrestle and obviously you can see the outcome of that last match, but I'll just come back next year and work on what I need to work on,'' Walker said.
Like his coach, Walker sees good things ahead for the T-Birds.
"We've got a whole lineup coming back and hopefully we take all 14 next year and we get all 14 to place next year,'' Walker said. "That's what we're hoping for.
"We've just got to come back next year and work harder.''
In addition to the six state medalists, Heights 132-pounder Ty Lewis and 195-pounder Sean Wunder both qualified for state, going 0-2 on the day.
Seaman had three state qualifiers, with Justin Kruse (113), Kyle Adams (126) and Hunter Reno (170) all losing both their state matches.
CLASS 5A BOYS STATE WRESTLING
Team scores
Goddard 179, Maize 124.5, Mill Valley 109, St. Thomas Aquinas 96, Arkansas City 65, Shawnee Heights 60, Great Bend 54, Newton 52, Blue Valley Southwest 52, Bonner Springs 49, Bishop Carroll 47, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 38, Lansing 37, Valley Center 28, Andover 27, Turner 21, Hays 17, Salina South 16, Salina Central 14, Andover Central 11, Eisenhower 10, St. James Academy 10, Emporia 4, Leavenworth 4.
Individual results
106 -- 1. Nick Treaster, Newson; 2. Kaden Spragis, Great Bend; 3. Dillon Cooper, Mill Valley; 4. Tyler Lincoln, Shawnee Heights; 5. Levi Glover, Goddard; 6. Tobius Kriner, St. Thomas Aqjuinas.Individual results
113 -- 1. Nakaylen Shabazz, Maize; 2. Eddie Hughart, Mill Valley; 3. Jayden Miller, Goddard; 4. Avery Wolf, Great Bend; 5. Landry Root, Andover; 6. Ethan Cool, Bonner Springs.
120 -- 1. Bubba Wright, Kapaun-Mt. Carmel; 2. Kael Pappan, Arkansas City; 3. Daniel Gomez, Maize; 4. Brock Ferguson, Shawnee Heights; 5. Colin Bybee, Newton; 6. Trevor Andrew, Bonner Springs.
126 -- 1. Alyeus Craig, Valley Center; 2. Hayden Mills, Blue Valley Southwest; 3. Clayton Bowers, Maize; 4. Harley Zimmerman, Hays; 5. Elix Hernandez, Salina Central; 6. Angel Miranda, St. James Academy.
132 -- 1. Zachary Wessley, Goddard; 2. Jevin Foust, Arkansas City; 3. Jordan Habben, St. Thomas Aquinas; 4. Camden Padgett, Maize; 5. Camden Maestas, Lansing; 6. Slade Adam, Salina Central.
138 -- 1. Wyatt Weber, Great Bend; 2. Cruz Lara, Bonner Springs; 3. Cayden Hughbanks, Maize; 4. Carson Dulitz, Mill Valley; 5. Gabe Maki, Andover; 6. Isaiah Holmes, Goddard.
145 -- 1. Jerrson Fisher, Goddard; 2. Brett Umentum, Blue Valley Southwest; 3. Ayden Flores, Maize; 4. Johny Akin, St. Thomas Aquinas; 5. Cassius Vanderpool, Bonner Springs; 6. Xerarch Tungjaroenkul, Emporia.
152 -- 1. Jace Fisher, Goddard; Dylan Elmore, St. Thomas Aquinas; 3. Byron Kirkwood, Turner; 4. Haydar Touffaha, Andover; 5. Wyatt Bahm, Arkansas City; 6. Cameron Bowyer, Valley Center.
160 -- 1. Trig Tennant, Arkansas City; 2. Cayleb Atkins, Goddard; 3. Connor Padgett, Maize; 4. Caden Walker, Shawnee Heights; 5. Matthew Morrell, Bishop Carroll; 6. Tristan Mercado, Leavenworth.
170 -- 1. Nolan Craine, Goddard; Nathan Fury, Kapaun Mt. Carmel; 3. Jacob McLain, Lansing; 4. Andrew Husband, Bishop Carroll; 5. Mason Levin, Eisenhower; 6. Cole Manrose, Shawnee Heights.
182 -- 1. Jared Simma, St. Thomas Aquinas; 2, Logan Davidson, Goddard; 3. Hunter Trail, Bishop Carroll; 4. Preston Hartman, Shawnee Heights; 5. Brandon Jeffries, Salina South; 6. Cameron Robinson, Turner.
195 -- 1. Brodie Scott, Mill Valley; 2. Kaden Glass, Goddard; 3. John Hubbel, Blue Valley Southwest; 4. Broc Eastman, Bishop Carroll; 5. Sean Garroll, St. Thomas Aquinas; 6. Logan Buchanan, Newton.
220 -- 1. Caiden Casella, Mill Valley; 2. Michael Casemwent, Maize; 3. Dylan Ward, Lansing; 4. Bronx Wood, Andover Central; 5. Garrett Peery, Shawnee Heights; 6. Gavin Meyers, Hays.
285 -- 1. Ethan Kremer, Mill Valley; 2. Tony Caballero, Bonner Springs; 3. Danny Carroll, St. Thomas Aquinas; 4. Rio Gomez, Newton; 5. Harry Spencer, St. James Academy; 6. Kayson Dietz, Salina South.
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