2012-13 Season Award Winners!

Congratulations to all of the Wildcat Wrestlers for an outstanding season. Thank you all for your hard work, your great attitudes, and the fond memories. This is a great start to a new tradition for Louisburg High School wrestling, and I’m proud of you all!

Here are the award winners for the 2012-13 season:

Varsity Letter-winners
Seniors: Curtis Lemke, Austen Scott, Blaise Staver, and Dylan York
Juniors: Ben Powers
Sophomores: Shea Cox, Sean Dennis, Austin Huber, Zach Knox, Cooper Skeem, and Brenton Wrigley
Freshmen: Jacob Bolton, Parker Cates, Bradley Trageser, and Anders Vance

Team Awards
Wrestler of the Year: Curtis Lemke
Wildcat of the Year: Ben Powers
Workhorse Award: Zach Knox
Newcomer of the Year: Sean Dennis
JV Wrestler of the Year: Jacob Mitchell

KWCA Awards
Curtis Lemke – Academic All-State, Honorable Mention
Regional Wrestlers – Team Academic Championship, 1st Team (3.338 GPA)

Miami County Republic Tri-County Spotlight Team
Sean Dennis (152 lbs.) – Honorable Mention

2013 Season Banquet Rescheduled!

2013 Louisburg Wildcats

Wrestling Banquet RESCHEDULED!

When: Tuesday, April 2 at 6:30 pm
Where: LHS Cafeteria
Cost: Nothing!

Dessert Banquet—each family bring one dessert to share
What is provided: Drinks, plates, napkins, and cutlery
Dress: Wrestlers wear nice pants and nice shirts (ties are optional)

Due to the oddly-timed snowfall, we have to reschedule the 2013 wrestling banquet. Instead of asking everyone to prepare a dish or entrée for the rescheduled date, we are now going to do a dessert banquet.

Please plan to make enough of your dessert dish to feed your own family, plus 3-4 others, to share with other families. Please RSVP ASAP!

You can contact Coach Bovaird at (913)424-0999 or by email at bovairdr@usd416.org.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

4A Regionals

Wildcats’ season ends at regionals

February 15-16, 2013

For the first time since 2007, the Wildcats end their season without any state qualifiers. In a stacked regional tournament, three wrestlers came one match away, but in the end, the competition was too tough. Chanute won the tournament with 164 points, followed by Fort Scott and then Prairie View. League rival Paola finished in 9th place with three state qualifiers. Louisburg was 15th with no state qualifiers.

For the second year, sophomore Austin Huber (120 lbs.) was one match away from qualifying for the state tournament. Huber had a tough draw, facing the #1 seed in the quarterfinals and losing 2-8. One the backside, he won a tight 1-0 match before falling to the 3rd seed in the consolation semifinals. Senior Austen Scott (132 lbs.) made a great run at a state berth, but despite winning three matches, came up short in the end. Scott had two pins and a revenge win against a Paola opponent. Junior Ben Powers (138 lbs.) was drawn into the bracket to face the #1 seed right off the bat, but he then won two straight matches (one of them being a revenge win from the first meet of the season) before losing to a Frontenac wrestler. Sophomore Sean Dennis (152 lbs.) had really come on strong at the end of the season, making it to the consolation semifinals, but couldn’t overcome his Prairie View opponent, losing by fall.

Senior Curtis Lemke (145 lbs.) ended up having perhaps the toughest bracket in the tournament. In a very deep weight, Lemke lost a heartbreaker in the first round, but bounced back to earn a quick pin in the next round. On his road to state, he would have to face three familiar faces: one whom he’d beaten earlier in the year and two more who had already beaten him in previous meets. Lemke gave his next match everything he could, but he got caught on his back and pinned, ending his season much earlier than anyone would have liked. Seven other LHS wrestlers stepped on the mats, hoping to qualify for state. Freshman Parker Cates (113 lbs.), sophomore Zach Knox (126 lbs.), sophomore Shea Cox (160 lbs.), sophomore Cooper Skeem (170 lbs.), sophomore Brenton Wrigley (182 lbs.), freshman Bradley Trageser (220 lbs.), and freshman Anders Vance (285 lbs.) all went 0-2 at regionals.

Louisburg walked away from the regional tournament without any state qualifiers, but ultimately they were able to keep their heads raised high. The majority of the varsity squad was either freshmen or sophomores, and many of them were only first- or second-year wrestlers. In the off-season, the Wildcats have a lot of work to do, but with the intensity, pride, and faith that the wrestlers possess, next season is already looking promising!

Individual Results:
106 lbs. – open
113 lbs. – Parker Cates (fr.) 0-2
120 lbs. – Austin Huber (so.) 1-2
126 lbs. – Zach Knox (so.) 0-2
132 lbs. – Austen Scott (sr.) 3-2, 2 falls
138 lbs. – Ben Powers (jr.) 2-2, 1 fall
145 lbs. – Curtis Lemke (sr.) 1-2, 1 fall
152 lbs. – Sean Dennis (so.) 2-2, 1 fall
160 lbs. – Shea Cox (so.) 0-2
170 lbs. – Cooper Skeem (so.) 0-2
182 lbs. – Brenton Wrigley (so.) 0-2
195 lbs. – open
220 lbs. – Bradley Trageser (fr.) 0-2
285 lbs. – Anders Vance (fr.) 0-2

Team Placing: 15th out of 15 teams

Frontier League Duals

Huber, Dennis, and Wrigley lead Wildcats at League

February 8-9, 2013

The Wildcats came away with two dual victories and three league runners-up at the 2013 Frontier League Duals. The team title came down to Baldwin and Spring Hill facing off. Ending with a tie score, the champion was determined to be Baldwin, who had more pins than Spring Hill. Paola was in 3rd, followed by Ottawa in 4th. Louisburg finished 5th ahead of DeSoto and Eudora.

Sophomores Austin Huber (120 lbs.), Sean Dennis (152 lbs.), and Brenton Wrigley (182 lbs.) each finished the weekend with records of 5-1. Huber had two wins by fall, while Dennis had two wins by fall and one by technical fall. Wrigley won one match by fall and notched a couple of key decisions. Senior Curtis Lemke (145 lbs.) had hoped to improve on his league runner-up finish from last season, but couldn’t overcome opponents from Paola and Spring Hill. Lemke finished in 3rd place. Sophomore Zach Knox (126 lbs.) looked strong this weekend, losing to the eventual champion from Baldwin by a score of 6-9. Knox nearly had him pinned, but he ended up in 4th place.

Freshman Parker Cates (113 lbs.), senior Austen Scott (132 lbs.), and freshman Anders Vance (285 lbs.) all earned key pins for the Wildcats. Vance’s pin came at the end up the DeSoto dual, securing us a team victory. Junior Ben Powers was 1-5 at 138 lbs., and freshman Bradley Trageser was 2-4 at 220 lbs. Sophomores Shea Cox (160 lbs.) and Cooper Skeem (170 lbs.) also represented the Wildcats at the league tournament.

The Frontier League Duals is the first step in the championship series. Next week, the Wildcats travel to Pittsburg for the 4A Regional Tournament. The top four placers in each weight class qualify for the 4A State Tournament in Salina.

Individual Results:
106 lbs. – open
113 lbs. – Parker Cates (fr.) 2-4, 1 fall
120 lbs. – Austin Huber (so.) 5-1, 2 falls, 2nd place
126 lbs. – Zach Knox (so.) 3-3, 1 tech fall, 4th place
132 lbs. – Austen Scott (sr.) 2-4, 1 fall
138 lbs. – Ben Powers (jr.) 1-5
145 lbs. – Curtis Lemke (sr.) 4-2, 1 fall, 3rd place
152 lbs. – Sean Dennis (so.) 5-1, 2 falls, 1 tech fall, 2nd place
160 lbs. – Shea Cox (so.) 0-6
170 lbs. – Cooper Skeem (so.) 0-4
182 lbs. – Brenton Wrigley (so.) 5-1, 1 fall, 2nd place
195 lbs. – open
220 lbs. – Bradley Trageser (fr.) 2-4
285 lbs. – Anders Vance (fr.) 1-5, 1 fall

Dual Results: (2-4 record)
Ottawa 43, LHS 26 (L)
Baldwin 53, LHS 24 (L)
LHS 45, Eudora 33
Spring Hill 63, LHS 9 (L)
LHS 37, DeSoto 36
Paola 63, LHS 18 (L)

Team Placing: 5th out of 7 teams

Next Competition:
4A Regionals @ Pittsburg (February 15-16, 2013)

Silver Lake Invitational

Knox finishes 6th at Silver Lake

February 2, 2013

In a field of tough competition, including several top-ranked schools from 4A and 5A, the Wildcats had a lot of obstacles in the way of having a successful weekend. In round 1, after the first ten weights had been wrestled, LHS was actually in first place as a team, but the other teams quickly caught up and passed us. Louisburg finished the tournament in 15th place out of 18 teams. St. James won the tournament, followed by Seaman and Salina South.

Sophomore Zach Knox (126 lbs.) went 2-3 on the day, knocking off two state qualifiers before falling to 6th place. In the first round, Knox won by tech fall over a state qualifier from Doniphan West, and he won by fall against another state qualifier in the quarterfinals. Junior Ben Powers had a strong day, nearly sneaking in to the top-6 at 138 lbs. Powers won a 5-3 decision and then score a tech fall before losing 7-10 in the consolation quarterfinals. Sophomore Sean Dennis (152 lbs.) filled in on varsity and ended up nearly placing. Dennis won two matches by fall.

Freshman Parker Cates (113 lbs.), senior Austen Scott (132 lbs.), and senior Curtis Lemke (145 lbs.) all went 1-2 on the weekend. Cates and Scott each won a match by fall. LHS was also represented by sophomores Austin Huber (120 lbs.), Shea Cox (160 lbs.), and Brenton Wrigley (182 lbs.), as well as by freshmen Bradley Trageser (220 lbs.) and Anders Vance (285 lbs.). These guys all went 0-2, but they had some good matches and were able to compete strongly.

Next Friday and Saturday, the Wildcats travel to Ottawa for the Frontier League Duals. Participating schools include Baldwin, DeSoto, Eudora, Paola, Ottawa, and Spring Hill. Last year, fielding a team of 8 wrestlers, LHS finished 6th with a dual record of 1-5. This year, with more experience and numbers, we plan to bring home a higher finish.

Individual Results:
106 lbs. – open
113 lbs. – Parker Cates (fr.) 1-2, 1 fall
120 lbs. – Austin Huber (so.) 0-2
126 lbs. – Zach Knox (so.) 2-3, 1 fall, 1 tech fall, 6th place
132 lbs. – Austen Scott (sr.) 1-2, 1 fall
138 lbs. – Ben Powers (jr.) 2-2, 1 tech fall
145 lbs. – Curtis Lemke (sr.) 1-2
152 lbs. – Sean Dennis (so.) 2-2, 2 falls
160 lbs. – Shea Cox (so.) 0-2
170 lbs. – open
182 lbs. – Brenton Wrigley (so.) 0-2
195 lbs. – open
220 lbs. – Bradley Trageser (fr.) 0-2
285 lbs. – Anders Vance (fr.) 0-2

Team Placing: 15th out of 18 teams

Next Competition:
Frontier League Duals (February 8-9, 2013)

Wildcats earn Academic All-State Honors

The Louisburg High School wrestling program earned a big honor this season as the regional wrestlers earned 1st Team honors in the 4A Academic All-State team standings.

Each year, the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association recognizes teams that have excelled in the classroom. These LHS wrestlers, all of whom competed at regionals in mid-February, earned a team GPA of 3.338:

• 113–Parker Cates, freshman
• 120–Austin Huber, sophomore
• 126–Zach Knox, sophomore
• 132–Austen Scott, senior
• 138–Ben Powers, junior
• 145–Curtis Lemke, senior
• 152–Sean Dennis, sophomore
• 160–Shea Cox, sophomore
• 170–Cooper Skeem, sophomore
• 182–Brenton Wrigley, sophomore
• 220–Bradley Trageser, freshman
• 285–Anders Vance, freshman

Our overall team GPA (all wrestlers) was a 3.154.

Also, congrats to senior Curtis Lemke for being named Honorable Mention Academic All-State!

Academics are a huge focus of our coaching staff, and we’re very proud of how serious the team is with their roles as student-athletes.

Click here to see all Kansas 4A Academic All-State honorees.

LHS shut out at regionals

PITTSBURG — The Louisburg wrestling team ventured to the Pittsburg regional wrestling tournament Friday and Saturday, hoping to qualify at least one wrestler for the state tournament. Instead, the Wildcats left Pittsburg with an empty feeling in their stomachs as they were shut out of the state tournament for the first time since 2007. Click here to read the rest: “LHS shut out at regionals” (Andy Brown, Louisburg Herald, 2/20/13)

Wrestlers won’t be down for long

The Louisburg wrestling team left Pittsburg with an empty feeling Saturday – a feeling the program hasn’t experienced often. For only the fourth time since 1970, the Wildcats left the regional tournament with no state qualifiers. It was rough on coach Bobby Bovaird and his varsity wrestlers. Click here to read the rest: “Wrestlers won’t be down for long” (Andy Brown, Louisburg Herald, 2/20/13)

Wildcats fifth at League

OTTAWA — Youth and inexperience didn’t seem to bother the Louisburg wrestling team much Saturday at the Frontier League Tournament. The Wildcats finished the dual tournament with a 2-4 record and finished fifth, but it was the individual results that stood out the most. Click here to read the rest: “Wildcats fifth at League” (Andy Brown, Louisburg Herald, 2/13/13)

Knox sixth at Silver Lake

SILVER LAKE — Chalk it up as another learning experience for a young Louisburg wrestling team. The Wildcats, with a roster of mainly freshmen and sophomores, ventured to its second tough tournament in a row Saturday — the Silver Lake Invitational. Click here to read the rest: “Knox sixth at Silver Lake” (Andy Brown, Louisburg Herald, 2/6/13)