| 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) |
Curtis Lemke (junior, 152 lbs.) works a stack. Photo by Maggie Perkins.
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 2011-12 season:
Varsity Letter-winners
Seniors: Austin Hood, Austin Caskey, Colton Rommel
Juniors: Cullen Hood, Curtis Lemke, Kyle McLellan, Austen Scott
Sophomores: Ben Powers
Freshmen: Austin Huber, Zach Knox,
Team Awards
Wrestler of the Year: Austin Hood
Wildcat of the Year: Austin Caskey
Workhorse Award: Ben Powers
Newcomer of the Year: Austin Huber
JV Wrestler of the Year: Zach Knox
Champions
Austin Hood: Eudora Tournament of Champions, Louisburg Wildcat Classic, Blue Valley Northwest Husky Invitational, Baldwin Invitational, Silver Lake Invitational, 4A Regionals, 4A State
Austin Caskey: Silver Lake Invitational, Frontier League Tournament
Other Honors
40-Match Winner: Austin Hood (40-0)
30-Match Winner: Austin Caskey (38-14)
20-Match Winner: Cullen Hood (20-6), Kyle McLellan (25-10)
KWCA Awards
Austin Caskey – Academic All-State, Honorable Mention
Austin Hood – Academic All-State, Honorable Mention
Austin Hood – 4A Senior Wrestler of the Year
Andy Brown, Louisburg Herald – Mediaperson of the Year
Kansas City Metro Classic Metro Classic All-Star Dual
Austin Hood – 126 lbs. (wbf 2:51 over J. Krout, Winnetonka)
Miami County Republic Tri-County Spotlight Team
Austin Hood (126 lbs.) – 1st Team, Wrestler of the Year
Austin Caskey (145 lbs.) – 2nd Team
Kyle McLellan (220 lbs.) – 2nd Team
Cullen Hood (120 lbs.) – Honorable Mention
February 17-18, 2012
Wildcats sending 3 to 4A State in Salina!
Although the season came to an early end for many of the Wildcat Wrestlers, the 4A Regional Tournament in Fort Scott was scene to many highlights of the Louisburg program. Three wrestlers qualified for the 4A State Tournament in Salina next week, and several others came close to making it into the top-4. LHS finished in 6th place as a team in the 15-team field; Pittsburg brought home the Regional championship, followed by Prairie View, Chanute, Fort Scott, and Paola.
Leading the pack was senior Austin Hood, our lone regional champion at 126 lbs. Austin kick-started his bid for a 3rd consecutive state title with a pin and two technical falls. In the finals, Austin was leading his Fort Scott opponent 14-1 when he secured the fall. Junior Cullen Hood (120 lbs.) also made the championship finals, where he saw a familiar face in Prairie View’s Kaleb Konitzer. Midway through the second period, Konitzer caught Cullen in a funk move, reversing him and scoring nearfall. In the third period, Cullen fought for a takedown, but couldn’t pull it off, losing by a 7-0 decision. After a dramatic Friday evening, senior Austin Caskey (145 lbs.) had a rough road to a state berth. Caskey dropped a heart-breaker in overtime to a Prairie View opponent and would have to beat the #2 seed to make it to the top-4. In a tight battle, Caskey pulled out a 6-5 victory over his Independence opponent. In the consolation finals, he ran into a hard-hitting opponent from Coffeyville and lost by fall to take 4th.
Several other Wildcats had good opportunities and came close, but ultimately came up short in their goals to qualify for state. Freshman Austin Huber (113 lbs.) earned a revenge win against a Prairie View opponent in the consolation quarterfinals. In his next match, he dropped a close 3-1 decision to a wrestler from Independence. Junior Curtis Lemke (152 lbs.) won two matches before falling in the consolation quarterfinals to a Parsons opponent. Junior Kyle McLellan began the tournament as the #3 seed, but in the championship quarterfinals he suffered a concussion that knocked him out of the tournament. McLellan had a great chance of placing in the top-4. Junior Austen Scott (132 lbs.) gave his Paola opponent fits in the consolation quarterfinals. He nearly earned a defensive pin a couple of times, but lost 6-3. Freshman Shea Cox finished his season bumping up to 160 lbs. to fill in for the team; he drew a tough opponent in the first round, but on the back side, he had a great match against a Fort Scott opponent. Cox scored the first takedown in the match, but got caught in a reversal and was pinned in the second period.
The Wildcats’ season culminates next weekend with the 4A State Tournament at the Salina Bicentennial Center. Wrestling begins Friday at 10:00am. Matches will continue throughout the day on four mats and by the end of the day, the 2012 state finalists will have been determined. Saturday, matches begin at 9:00am and we will see who all earns state medals by the end of the day. This is a historic opportunity for Louisburg Wrestling, as senior Austin Hood will be competing for his third state title. Austin is the school’s first 4-time state medalist and is already the school’s only 2-time state champion. All three qualifiers have had outstanding seasons, regardless, and they could use as much support as possible as they battle for state medals!
Individual Results:
113 lbs. – Austin Huber (fr.) 1-2
120 lbs. – Cullen Hood (jr.) 3-1, 2 falls, 2nd place
126 lbs. – Austin Hood (sr.) 4-0, 2 falls, 2 tech falls, 1st place
132 lbs. – Austen Scott (jr.) 0-2
145 lbs. – Austin Caskey (sr.) 3-2, 1 fall, 4th place
152 lbs. – Curtis Lemke (jr.) 2-2, 1 fall
160 lbs. – Shea Cox (fr.) 0-2
220 lbs. – Kyle McLellan (jr.) 0-1, injury default
Team Placing: 6th out of 15 teams
Next Competition: 4A State Tournament (February 24-25, 2012)
Wildcat Wrestling 