A smiling Damon Parker informs his Washburn Rural wrestlling team that the Junior Blues had locked up the Class 6A state title prior to Saturday night's championship matches. [Photo by Jeff Jacobsen/Action Images Photography]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
PARK CITY -- Saturday was Washburn Rural Day at Hartman Arena.
Not only did the Junior Blues run away with the school's first-ever Class 6A state championship by a 159.5-112 margin over Olathe North, but Rural claimed three individual state titles and a pair of runner-up finishes while having 10 state medalists.
And as dominating as that performance may have been, Rural coach Damon Parker wasn't really surprised.
"This is a loaded team and we knew that coming in here,'' Parker said. "We talked all week about winning the moments and leaving no doubt and we did not want this thing to be a squeak by and hope some people lose kind of thing.
"We wanted to come out and impose our will and we did that today.''
Washburn Rural senior 120-pounder Bishop Murray captured his third state titles while junior 113-pounder Jacob Tangpricha won his second straight championship and freshman 106-pounder Jonathan Morrison earned a gold medal in his first state tourney.
The Jjnior Blues got runner-up finishes from senior 285-pounder David Huckstep and junior 170-pounder Austin Fager while senior Bowan Murray (138) finished third, junior Nick Vincent (152) fourth, junior Aidan Boline (160) and senior Remington Stiles (182) fifth and sophomore Henri McGiven (126) sixth.
Washburn Rural wrestling's team poses for a team picture after winning the Class 6A title Saturday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Morrison, who capped a 29-3 season, started Rural's string of three straight state titles when he pinned Derby senior Cody Woods (34-6) at the 7:21 mark in overtime.
Tangpricha, the 106-pound champion as a sophomore, followed Morrison's win with a 3-1 decision over Olathe North sophomore Cael Alderman (23-3) to finish his season with a 33-2 record.
Bishop Murray (29-1) then capped Rural's three-match streak with a 9-2 decision over Lawrence junior Kevin Honas (22-4).
And while Murray was thrilled to win his third title, he said Saturday was all about the team.
"The highlight of the day is Washburn Rural wrestling,'' Murray said. "Me and all my teammates, you can't measure our heart, you can't. We have an insurmountable amount of heart in every one of our kids.
"It doesn't matter if we're way worse than them skill level-wise we're still going to give it everything we've got and we're going to pull it out because that's what we do.''
Huckstep (27-5) was the first Washburn Rural wrestler to compete in the finals, which started at 182, with the Junior Blue senior dropping a 9-4 decision to familiar foe Damian Ilalio of Manhattan. Ilalio, a senior, finished the season 32-2, with one of those losses coming against Huckstep.
Fager, a junior, dropped a 5-1 decision to 35-0 junior Blake Jouret of Olathe South in the 170 final, with Fager finishing the season 30-4.
Bowan Murray (31-4) also turned in a strong state performance for the Junior Blues, finishing third at 138 pounds.
Murray was pinned by Olathe East junior Jacob Bragg in the first round of competition (quarterfinals), but battled back to take third when he avenged his earlier loss to Bragg with a 2-0 decision.
Saturday's boys title capped a banner week for the Junior Blues, with Rural's girls winning their second straight state title on Thursday by a 100-74 margin over Wichita North.
Washburn Rural became the first Kansas school to win girls and boys state championships in the same season while Rural's boys tteam itle was the first-ever by a Topeka school.
"We like making history,'' Parker said.
CLASS 6A BOYS STATE WRESTLING
Team scores
Washburn Rural 159.5, Olathe North 112, Dodge City 106, Derby 78, Olathe South 66, Campus 61, Olathe East 57, Garden City 54, Lawrence 53, Free State 53, Manhattan 51, Blue Valley 42, Wichita Northwest 40, Gardner-Edgerton 30, Junction City 29, Blue Valley West 26, Wichita West 22, Blue Valley North 21, Shawnee Mission East 19, Olathe Northwest 16, Liberal 12, Shawnee Mission Northwest 8, Blue Valley Northwest 6.
Individual results
106 -- 1. Jonathan Morrison, Washburn Rural; 2. Cody Woods, Derby; 3. Nolan Bradley, Free State; 4. Ezekiel Witt, Junction City; 5. Casin Lawrence; 6. Andrew Honas, Lawrence.
113 -- 1. Jacob Tangpricha, Washburn Rural; 2. Cael Alderman, Olathe North; 3. Eric Streeter, Free State; 4. Jack Elsten, Lawrence; 5. Ben Darling, Blue Valley West; 6. Jantzen Borge, Manhattan.
120 -- 1. Bishop Murray, Washburn Rural; 2. Kevin Honas, Lawrence; 3. Jacob Vasquez, Olathe North; 4. Kayden Blake, Junction City; 5. Darius Shields, Free State; 6. Sam Perez, Blue Valley North.
126 -- 1. Jahir Contreras, Shawnee Mission East; 2. Joseph Triscornia, Olathe North; 3. Dylan Sheler, Campus; 4. Tate Rusher, Derby; 5. Ismael Ramirez, Dodge City; 6. Henri McGivern, Washburn Rural.
132 -- 1. Damian Mendez, Dodge City; 2. Easton Taylor, Manhattan; 3. Jacob Rymer, Campus; 4. Knowlyn Eagan, Derby; 5. Trevor Vasquez, Olathe North; 6. Jacob Bartlett, Blue Valley Northwest.
138 -- 1. Erick Dominguez, Garden City; 2. Michael Solomon, Blue Valley; 3. Bowan Murray, Washburn Rural; 4. Jacob Bragg, Olathe East; 5. Caleb Streeter, Free State; 6. Gabe Barron, Olathe North.
145 -- 1. Nathan Bowen, Campus; 2. Trey Medina, Lawrence; 3. Alec Samuelson, Olathe North; 4. Johnny Cash Thomas, Olathe South; 5. CJ Neuman, Junction City; 6. Blaisen Bammes, Manhattan.
152 -- 1. Cason Lindsey, Derby; 2. Luke Barker, Dodge City; 3. Luke Hyland, Blue Valley; 4. Nick Vincent, Washburn Rural; 5. Thomas Knudsen, Olathe South; 6. Keeghan Troutman, Gardner-Edgerton.
160 -- 1. Marcelino Otero, Dodge City; 2. Landon Wilkes, Olathe North; 3. Josh Janas, Garden City; 4. Bobby Thomas, Olathe South; 5. Aidan Boline, Washburn Rural; 6. Justin Doebele, Blue Valley.
170 -- 1. Blake Jouret, Olathe South; 2. Austin Fager, Washburn Rural; 3. Jaxson Avena, Olathe East; 4. Ruben Rayas, Dodge City; 5. Corbin Williams, Campus; 6. Noah Sharp, Olathe Northwest.
182 -- 1. Quentin Saunders, Wichita West; 2. Zack Leskovac, Olathe South; 3. Tony Rivero, Liberal; 4. Miles Wash, Derby; 5. Remington Siles, Washburn Rural; 6. Malique Washington, Olathe East.
195 -- 1. Gus Davis, Gardner-Edgerton; 2. Caden Ross, Wichita Northwest; 3. Ty Farrington, Blue Valley North; 4. Lucas Conover, Olathe Northwest; 5. Roman Loya, Dodge City; 6. Alex Allison, Free State.
220 -- 1. Mason Ross, Wichita Northwest; 2. Brooks Lowe, Blue Valley West; 3. Turner Lennard, Olathe East; 4. Santonio Turner, Dodge City; 5. Alvin Horner-Luettel, Shawnee Mission Northwest; 6. Carter Lahmeyer, Olathe North.
285 -- 1. Damian Ilalio, Manhattan; 2. David Huckstep, Washburnn Rural; 3. Sebastian Lopez, Garden City; 4. Brett Carroll, Olathe East; 5. Nicholas Herzog, Blue Valley; 6. Jorge Gallegos, Olathe North.
