Eudora Tournament of Champions
December 12-13, 2014
Since the Eudora Tournament of Champions changed to its current 2-day format with many of the top teams in the state, the Wildcats have struggled to make an impact. This weekend, however, the LHS wrestling team took to the mats and delivered a strong performance. Out of 25 teams, Mill Valley ran away with the title, racking up 332.5 team points. In second was Baldwin with 275.5 and in third was Maize South with 248. The Wildcats came in at 6th place with 177 points, just seven points behind DeSoto.
Junior Anders Vance led the team with a championship at 285 lbs. Vance begin the tournament in a pool of six, dropping his first two matches. However, the tournament format enabled him to rattle off six straight wins for the championship, five of those wins by pin and one of them an overtime victory against the #2 ranked wrestler in Kansas Class 4A. Right behind Vance was sophomore Mason Koechner, who finished in 3rd place at 220 lbs. Koechner notched seven pins, one of which was against the #3 ranked wrestler in the state. Freshman Ryan Adams finished in 4th place at 138 lbs., with his only losses coming from a state-ranked wrestler and a senior who is a three-time state qualifier. Sophomore Nathan Keegan finished 6th place in a tough bracket at 120 lbs., and senior Brenton Wrigley finished 6th place at 195 lbs. Freshman Thad Hendrix, in his first tournament of the season, knocked off the #4 seed in overtime and ended up with 7th place at 106 lbs.
Senior Zach Knox was 1-2 at 132 lbs., his two losses coming against state qualifiers from last season. Sophomore Connor Green was 1-2 at 145 lbs., and sophomore Ben Hupp was 1-4 at 160 lbs. A pair of juniors were 1-2 in their pools: Jordan Crowder at 170 lbs. and Jimmy Dolan at 182 lbs. Freshman Tucker Batten was 0-3 at 126 lbs., and junior Zach Jones was 0-5 at 152 lbs. LHS was open at 113 lbs., as starter David Bindi was forced to sit out with a concussion.
Louisburg had several notable feats this weekend. The team finish was the highest we’ve ever placed since Eudora became the 2-day Tournament of Champions. Koechner had the most pins in the least amount of time (7 pins at 14:34) of all wrestlers in the tournament. Finally, LHS had the 5th most team pins with 19 pins.
Next week, the Wildcats will take to the mats at Tonganoxie. Last season, we finished in 2nd place at the Randy Starcher Memorial Invitational at Tonganoxie, and this year we’re looking to take that finish a step higher.
Individual Results:
106 lbs. – Thad Hendrix (fr.) 2-3, 7th place
113 lbs. – open
120 lbs. – Nathan Keegan (so.) 2-6, 6th place
126 lbs. – Tucker Batten (fr.) 0-3
132 lbs. – Zach Knox (sr.) 1-2
138 lbs. – Ryan Adams (fr.) 3-3, 1 fall, 4th place
145 lbs. – Connor Green (so.) 1-2
152 lbs. – Zach Jones (jr.) 0-5
160 lbs. – Ben Hupp (so.) 1-4, 1 fall
170 lbs. – Jordan Crowder (jr.) 1-2, 1 fall
182 lbs. – Jimmy Dolan (jr.) 1-2
195 lbs. – Brenton Wrigley (sr.) 4-3, 3 falls, 6th place
220 lbs. – Mason Koechner (so.) 7-1, 7 falls, 3rd place
285 lbs. – Anders Vance (jr.) 6-2, 5 falls, CHAMPION
Junior Anders Vance, 285, earns the Wildcats’ first individual championship at Eudora
Team Placing: 6th out of 25 teams (177 points)
Next Competition:
Tonganoxie Invitational (December 20, 2014)
Wildcat Wrestling 