SALINA — A pair of Iola High wrestling stalwarts saw their careers come to an end this weekend.
Seniors TJ Taylor and Trent Jones were joined by junior Wyatt Westervelt at the Class 4A Wrestling Tournament.
While none of the three earned state medals — Taylor and Westervelt bowed out one match short of placing in the top six — each finished the year with plenty to boast about.
Taylor, wrestling at 132 pounds, went 1-2 at state. He was pinned in the opening round by eventual state champion Tucker Sell of Abilene at 4 minutes, 17 seconds, before knocking off Brody Lindenman of Winfield, 8-2.
Taylor, a three-time state qualifier and three-time Pioneer League champion, saw his career end with a 7-1 defeat at the hands of Cannon Carey of August.
Taylor ended the season with a 29-8 record.
JONES, another three-time state qualifier and three-time league titleist, fell, 6-2, to Dayton Fraser of Eudora in the opening round, and 5-2 to Talyn Pfizenmaier of Clay Center, 4-2, in consolation play.
Jones ends with a 26-6 record.
Westervelt, in his first-ever state action, fell via first-round pin to Jared Ferguson, in the 195-pound bracket opener.
He responded by edging Brady Weker of Scott Community, 8-7.
Westervelt’s state competition concluded in his next match, an 11-1 loss to Wyatt Harris of Tonganoxie.
Westervelt ended the year with a 23-13 record.
HUMBOLDT’S wrestling season ended at the Class 3-2-1A meet in Hays, with a trio of wrestlers competing at the state competition.
Andrew Watts, at 285 pounds, opened the competition by pinning Marysville’s Garrison Craig at 1:39, before falling in the quarterfinal round to eventual state runner-up Jacob Carver of Rossville with a second-period pin. Watts’ season then ended with a loss to Justin Miller of Oskaloosa in the consolation round. He finished with a 26-6 mark. The two wrestlers who defeated Watts had a combined record of 66-11 on the year.
Dakota Slocum, 182 pounds, also went 1-2 over the weekend. He fell to Mason Gottschalk of Ellis with a first-period pin in the opener before rebounding to pin Jacob Keunzi of Sabetha at the 4:29 mark.
Conner Dinkel of Hill City pinned Slocum in the second consolation round to end the Cub junior’s season at 14-11.
Humboldt freshman Cole Mathes, 152 pounds, ended with a 24-11 record. He lost in the first round to Jonathan Renyer of Sabetha with a 14-6 decision, and then was pinned by Luke Fischer of Larned in the consolation round.
