Vance leads Wildcats to strong finish at Eudora!

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)

White Team victorious at the Purple-White Scrimmage!

4th Annual Purple-White Scrimmage

2 December, 2014

Keeping the tradition going, the Wildcats unofficially kick-started the season with the 4th Annual Purple-White Scrimmage. Thirty-nine wrestlers took to the mat Tuesday evening to give our home crowd a show in a formal intersquad dual to determine who will represent LHS at the varsity level. Wrestlers also engaged in matches to determine the ranking in each weight class and exhibition matches to give them invaluable mat experience.

Ultimately, the White Team prevailed 66-45. The White Team is currently 3-1 against the Purple Team since the scrimmage’s inception in the 2011-12 season.

Although there were several pins on the evening, there were also many exciting match-ups. Winning a 7-0 decision at 145 lbs., freshman Will Ridley defeated sophomore Connor Green for the varsity spot. Sophomore Nathan Keegan edged freshman Kyle Allen at 120 lbs., and senior Zach Knox won a tough 6-4 decision against sophomore Dylan Meyer at 132 lbs. Senior Brenton Wrigley defeated junior Jimmy Dolan for varsity at 182 lbs. In other varsity wrestle-offs, sophomore Ben Hupp pinned Dillin Roberts in an exciting come-from-behind match at 160 lbs. Sophomore Mason Koechner pinned junior Bradley Trageser at 220 lbs., and junior Jordan Crowder pinned junior Marshall Rooney at 170 lbs. Uncontested for varsity positions were freshman Thad Hendrix at 106 lbs., sophomore David Bindi at 113 lbs., freshman Tucker Batten at 126 lbs., freshman Ryan Adams at 138 lbs., junior Zach Jones at 152 lbs., and Anders Vance at 285 lbs. Senior Joey Goode was to face off against sophomore Nathan Allen at 195 lbs., but a concussion suffered at practice prevented Goode from being able to wrestle.

The Wildcats feature several returning lettermen from last season. Bindi was 21-14 at 106, Knox was 27-15 at 126, and Goode was 13-9 at 195. Bindi, Meyer, Knox, and Wrigley were all one match away from qualifying for state in 2014. Other letterwinners in 2014 include Dolan, Jones, Roberts, Trageser, Vance, and Koechner. Senior Nephi Rodriguez, Hupp, Keegan, and sophomore Owen Staver also won varsity matches last season.

For the fourth year, we’ve been proud to welcome back several figures from Louisburg High School Wrestling history. This season we had the honor to have Shawn Crossley (’98), Dereck Kerr (’00), Justin Kircher (’00), and Jesse Myers (’00) serve as honorary coaches. Crossley was a 3-time state qualifier, sported an 83-31 career record, and was the 1998 Senior Wrestler of the Year. Kerr was a 4-time state qualifier, a 2-time Frontier League champion, and had an 80-28 career record. Kircher was a 2-time state qualifier for the Wildcats. Myers was a 3-time state qualifier, a regional champion, a 2-time Frontier League champion, and had a 63-21 career record. All four were members of the 1997 team that was undefeated Frontier League Duals champions and the 1998 team that won the Frontier League Tournament. That team was also 12-1 in duals and won team titles at Spring Hill, Louisburg, and Prairie View. Crossley and Kerr coached the White Team to its third straight victory in the Purple-White series.

The Wildcats officially begin the season with a home dual against Osawatomie on Thursday, December 4. The varsity then takes to the mats Saturday, December 6 at the Fort Scott duals where we’ll face off against Anderson County, Blue Valley Southwest, Fort Scott, Paola, and Shawnee Mission West. That same day, JV will compete at the Blue Valley North JV Tournament.

Varsity Challenge Matches:
120 lbs. – Nathan Keegan (Purple) def. Kyle Allen (White) dec. 6-4
132 lbs. – Zach Knox (Purple) def. Dylan Meyer (White) dec. 8-6
145 lbs. – Will Ridley (Purple) def. Connor Green (White) dec. 7-0
160 lbs. – Ben Hupp (White) def. Dillin Roberts (Purple) wbf
170 lbs. – Jordan Crowder (Purple) def. Marshall Rooney (White) wbf
182 lbs. – Brenton Wrigley (White) def. Jimmy Dolan (Purple) dec. 6-2
220 lbs. – Mason Koechner (White) def. Bradley Trageser (Purple) wbf

Ranking Matches:
132 lbs. – Jaylen Boileau (White) def. Sierra Sullivan (Purple) wbf
145 lbs. – Chris Turner (Purple) def. Jacob Mitchell (White) wbf
160 lbs. – Kylan Harper (White) def. Jud Deering (Purple) wbf
160 lbs. – Leland Koehn (White) def. Kain O’Keefe (Purple) wbf
182 lbs. – Lyndon Smith (White) def. Billy Rose (Purple) wbf
220 lbs. – Nephi Rodriguez (Purple) def. Matthew Rison (White) wbf

Exhibition Matches:
106 / 120 lbs. – Thad Hendrix (Purple) def. Alec Maler (White) wbf
113 / 120 lbs. – David Bindi (White) def. Nathan Keegan (Purple) dec. 6-4 OT
132 / 145 lbs. – Garrett Caldwell (Purple) def. Jaylen Boileau (White) wbf
138 / 152 lbs. – Ryan Adams (White) def. Zach Jones (Purple) wbf
160 lbs. – Owen Staver (Purple) def. Zac Meyer (White) wbf
182 lbs. – Austin Raetzel (White) def. Billy Rose (Purple) wbf
195 / 220 lbs. – Josh Vickrey (White) def. Nathan Allen (Purple) wbf
220 / 285 lbs. – Anders Vance (White) def. Bradley Trageser (Purple) wbf

Next Competitions:
Thursday, Dec. 4: Osawatomie Dual @ HOME, 6:30pm (Varsity and JV)
Saturday, Dec. 6: Ft. Scott Duals, 9:00am (Varsity)
Saturday, Dec. 6: Blue Valley North JV, 8:00am (JV)