 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) |
February 4, 2012
Caskey and Hood win gold at Silver Lake!
The Wildcats hit the mats Saturday and faced off against some key Kansas Class 4A teams in the Silver Lake Invitational. Four of our wrestlers placed in the top-6 of this 18-team tournament, leading the Wildcats to an overall 9th place finish as a team. St. James Academy captured the team title, followed by Salina South and the Prairie View.
Two seniors captured gold medals this weekend. Austin Hood went 4-0 with 3 falls to take 1st at 126 lbs. In the finals, Hood defeated Baldwin’s Bryce Shoemaker, a 2010 state champion, for the third time this season, by a score of 6-2. Austin Caskey entered the tournament as the #6 seed, but in a key quarterfinals match-up, he upset the #3 seed who had pinned him just a week earlier. In the semi-finals, his Osawatomie opponent had to injury default, putting him in the finals. Oddly enough, Caskey’s finals opponent was also forced to injury default, giving him the gold medal, his first of the season.
Junior Cullen Hood (120 lbs.) had a great showing in his first tournament back after being injured in early January. In the semi-finals, Cullen dropped a 1-0 decision to the eventual champion, but bounced back with a pair of dominating wins to take 3rd. Junior Curtis Lemke is also coming on strong at the end of the season, taking 5th place at 152 lbs. Lemke wrestled a state-ranked opponent from Class 5A to a 7-4 decision, but had a good run through the backside of the bracket. Junior Austen Scott (132 lbs.) had some great matches but came up short this weekend, going 1-2. Also competing for the Wildcats were freshmen Austin Huber (113 lbs.) and Shea Cox (bumping up to fill in at 160 lbs.). Both Huber and Cox went 0-2.
The “Championship Series” begins next week as the Wildcats travel to Paola High School for the Frontier League Tournament. The seven league schools will compete in a dual format, going head-to-head with each school. League champions, both team and individual, will be determined by overall head-to-head record.
Individual Results:
113 lbs. – Austin Huber (fr.) 0-2
120 lbs. – Cullen Hood (jr.) 2-1, 1 fall, 3rd place
126 lbs. – Austin Hood (sr.) 4-0, 3 falls, 1st place
132 lbs. – Austen Scott (jr.) 1-2
145 lbs. – Austin Caskey (sr.) 3-0. 1st place
152 lbs. – Curtis Lemke (jr.) 3-2, 1 fall, 5th place
160 lbs. – Shea Cox (fr.) 0-2
Team Placing: 9th out of 18 teams
Next Competition: Frontier League Duals (February 10-11, 2012)
Wildcat Wrestling 