Iola and Humboldt High School wrestlers hit mats

CANEY — Two area wrestling teams competed in the Kansas-Oklahoma tournament this past weekend in Caney. Iola High School tied for sixth in the team competition with a trio finishing third in their classes. Humboldt High School came in 11th with two wrestlers earning top-three finishes.

“This was our first big tournament of the year,” said IHS head coach Jason Bates. “The boys wrestled well and we found areas we need to work on. Everything leading up to the league tournament and regionals is practice.”

Results follow:

In the 120 lb. weight class, IHS’ Damian Wacker finished in fifth with a 5-4 record. Wacker lost in the semifinals to Pittsburg High School’s Gabe Beaman. Wacker lost his consolation match to Parsons High School’s Chris Smith via pinfall. In the fifth-place match, Wacker valiantly rallied back to defeat Cherryvale High School’s Dalton Morrill via pinfall.

In the 126 lb. weight class, IHS’ Xander Sellman finished sixth and went 4-6. Sellman didn’t make it into the bracket after five consecutive losses in the round-robin portion. In his fourth-round match, Sellman lost via technical fall to Labette County High School’s Darin McWorter.

In the 132 lb. weight class, IHS’ Korbin Cloud was winless, going 0-8 and losing the seventh-place match to Columbus High School’s Cade Saporito via pinfall. 

TJ Taylor finished 5-3 and took second place in the 138 lb. weight class. Taylor took the quarterfinal and semifinal matches by storm. In the quarterfinals, Taylor defeated Fredonia High School’s Joel Dutton in quick order, earning the pinfall victory 17 seconds into the round. In his semifinal matchup, Taylor once again had a quick match, defeating Bartlesville High School’s Juan Carranza in less than a minute. Taylor stumbled in the finals when he ran into undefeated Quinten Heady from Erie High School. Taylor lost that match via pinfall late in the match, almost taking Heady the distance.

In the 152 lb. weight class, IHS’ Trent Jones went 7-1, with his only loss coming in the final round to Bartlesville’s Duke McGill via pinfall two minutes into the match. Jones’ semifinal match saw him go up against HHS’ Cole Mathes. The two went the distance, with Jones winning via a 5-0 decision. Jones defeated Independence High School’s Adam Bruce via pinfall 39 seconds into their quarterfinal match.

In the 195 lb. weight class, IHS’ Wyatt Westervelt went 3-5, losing in the finals to Pittsburg’s Jaquan Augustin via a 2-1 decision. In his quarterfinal match, Westervelt defeated Jayhawk-Linn High School’s Hunter Holt via pinfall. In the semifinals, Westervelt defeated Parsons’ Wyatt Curtis via pinfall in less than a minute.

“Wyatt had a great showing this weekend,” Bates said. Wyatt placed in his first varsity tournament and made it to the finals. I’m happy with how he did.”

River Kaufman went 3-3 and finished sixth in the 220 lb. weight class. Kaufman’s run ended in the semifinals, losing to Bartlesville’s Adyn Peugh via pinfall 1:41 into the match. From there, Kaufman lost in the consolation match to Columbus’ Isaac Sharp. In the fifth-place match, Kaufman lost via medical forfeit to Parsons’ Aaron Gharmalkar.

In the 285 lb. weight class, IHS’ Dominic McGee went 5-5 and finished in sixth. McGee lost his semifinal match to HHS’ Andrew Watts via pinfall less than a minute into the match. McGee also lost his fifth-place match to Coffeyville High School’s Kainen White via sudden victory.

Watts took second place in the 285 lb. weight class. Watts suffered a rare loss in the finals to Wellington High School’s Hagan Wright. Wright was undefeated during the event and pinned Watts a little over three minutes into their match. Watts won both his quarterfinal and semifinal matches via pinfall in 1:48 combined.

HHS will wrestle at Fredonia on Thursday. IHS will be back in action on Friday when the Mustangs travel to Carbondale to compete at Santa Fe Trail High School.