Baldwin Invitational
January 30, 2015
The Louisburg wrestling team brought home more medals than ever before from the Baldwin Invitational Tournament. Three teams dominated the 17-team event. Abilene took the championship with 215.5 points, followed by Baldwin (185) and Smoky Valley (141.4). Louisburg finished in 10th place overall with 110 points. The difference between 10th and 5th place ended up being just 18 points. This was the Wildcats’ best performance at the BIT since entering the tournament in 2012.
Brenton Wrigley, Mason Koechner, and Anders Vance go for a combined 12-3, each wrestler taking 3rd in his respective weight class after losing to top-ranked wrestlers in the semifinals. Photo courtesy of Alicia Vance.
Three upper-weights lead the Wildcats with 3rd place finishes. Senior Brenton Wrigley took 3rd at 195 lbs. after losing an overtime semi-finals match to the eventual champion. Sophomore Mason Koechner, who rebounded from a semifinals loss at 220 lbs., and junior Anders Vance, who fell in the semifinals at 285 lbs., also took 3rd place in their respective weight classes. Wrigley’s lone loss was to the #3 ranked wrestler from Baldwin. Koechner was trailing by two points against the #5 ranked wrestler from Smoky Valley and had a cradle locked up when he slipped and was pinned. Vance dropped a tough match to the #2 ranked wrestler from Wamego. Sophomore Nathan Keegan took 5th place at 113 lbs., earning a pin and a major decision along the way. Senior Zach Knox lost a tough match to an Osawatomie opponent to take 6th place at 132 lbs. Junior Bradley Trageser, wrestling unattached at 285 lbs., came out and took 6th place in his weight class. Freshman Ryan Adams faced some tough opposition, earning 2 pins en route to a 7th place finish. His final match was a revenge win against Tonganoxie.
Three Wildcats earned a win on the day but didn’t place. Freshman Thad Hendrix was 1-2 at 106 lbs., freshman Tucker Batten was 1-2 at 126 lbs., and junior Jordan Crowder was 1-2 at 170 lbs. All of their wins were by pin. A pair of juniors and a pair of sophomores also represented LHS at Baldwin: junior Chris Turner at 145 lbs., junior Dillin Roberts at 152 lbs., sophomore Ben Hupp at 160 lbs., and sophomore Lyndon Smith at 182 lbs. LHS was open at 120.
Vance brought home a nice honor in addition to his 3rd place medal. Vance was given the Gorriarian Award, a traditional award given to the wrestler in the tournament with the most pins in the least amount of time. He recorded 4 pins in a time of 9:53. Knox was also recognized with earning 3rd fastest pin of the tourney at 0:13.
After the Wildcats take a week off of competition, our next meet will be the Frontier League Duals, hosted by Eudora. Last year, we went 2-4 to take 5th place in the league. Anders Vance is looking to improve on his 3rd place finish from 2014 and Brenton Wrigley is looking to improve on his 4th place finish.
Individual Results:
106 lbs. – Thad Hendrix (fr.) 1-2, 1 pin
113 lbs. – Nathan Keegan (so.) 3-2, 1 pin, 1 major, 5th place
120 lbs. – open
126 lbs. – Tucker Batten (fr.) 1-2, 1 pin
132 lbs. – Zach Knox (sr.) 2-3, 1 pin, 6th place
138 lbs. – Ryan Adams (fr.) 3-2, 2 pins, 7th place
145 lbs. – Chris Turner (jr.) 0-2
152 lbs. – Dillin Roberts (jr.) 0-2
160 lbs. – Ben Hupp (so.) 0-2
170 lbs. – Jordan Crowder (jr.) 1-2, 1 pin
182 lbs. – Lyndon Smith (so.) 0-2
195 lbs. – Brenton Wrigley (sr.) 4-1, 2 pins, 3rd place
220 lbs. – Mason Koechner (so.) 4-1, 3 pins, 3rd place
285 lbs. – Anders Vance (jr.) 4-1, 4 pins, 3rd place
285 lbs. – Bradley Trageser (jr.) 2-3, 2 pins, 6th place (unattached)
Team Placing: 10th place out of 17 teams (110 points)
Next Competition: Frontier League Duals (February 13-14, 2015)
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