Sophomore Cole Mathes of the Humboldt Cubs wrestling team finished in fifth place at the Kansas Class 3A state championship in the 165-pound weight class in Hays Saturday.
He completed the chore by beginning the day taking down Russell’s Teagan Pfeifer in a 6-5 decision before he lost in a quarterfinal match to West Elk’s Creyo Koop in a 14-4 major decision.
The good thing was that Mathes was just heating up after his opening and rattled off three more victories. Mathes got Pleasant Ridges’s John McEvoy in a two-minute and 27-second fall.
The Cub then toppled Nemaha Central’s Abram Kim in a 1-0 decision. Mathes earned a spot in the consolation semi-finals but lost to Atchison County’s Bricen Lee in a major decision, 17-4.
This led Mathes to the fifth-place match against Minneapolis’ Auguston Johns in lieu of a medical forfeit which gave the Humboldt sophomore a victory and a trip to the second day of the state tournament.
