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Wrestlers rebound, take fourth at KVL

By Shawn Linenberger - | Feb 18, 2004

Bonner Springs wasn’t a kind venue a week ago for the Chieftain wrestling team.

Three duals became three losses for Tonganoxie as they dropped head-to-head decisions to Mill Valley, Bonner Springs and Lansing.

The BSHS gymnasium suddenly became the friendly confines three days later at the Kaw Valley League Meet.

Tonganoxie advanced four wrestlers into championship matches and four grapplers into the consolation finals.

On Saturday, THS finished fourth with 146.5, well ahead of Mill Valley, which placed sixth with 109.

Bonner Springs, meanwhile, won the title with 174 and Lansing took second with 162.

Ross Starcher led the team with another gold medal after defeating Santa Fe Trail’s Travis Eden, 5-3, in the 145-pound division.

He now is 36-2 and holds the school record for wins in a season. Starcher broke James Hartshorn’s record of 33 set last year when Hartshorn finished sixth in the state tournament.

Chad Starcher reached the finals Saturday as well, but THS coach Jeremy Goebel kept his senior out of the finals because of a reoccurring shoulder injury. Chad now is 18-4. He returned to the mats after missing roughly three weeks with shoulder problems.

Jerry Hartshorn also had an impressive league meet, storming his way to the finals before losing to Bonner Springs’ Danny Gardner, 6-4, in the title match. Hartshorn now is 20-15 on the season.

Josh Maxon also nearly managed a gold medal. Maxon dropped his finals match against Lansing’s Ryan Civils just more than a minute into the contest, but improved to 19-14 on the season.

“I thought our kids wrestled awesome,” Goebel said. “I think that was the best we wrestled since I’ve been here.”

In consolation finals, Garrett Palmer (24-7), Matt Weyer (17-6) and Aaron Adcox (23-6) all placed third in their classes, while Alan Bauerly (16-17) finished fourth after being pinned late in the first period in the 275 division.

The Chieftains now will enter crunch time with a Class 4A regional beginning Friday in Hiawatha. The two-day tournament will determine how many THS grapplers can advance to the state tournament Feb. 27 and 28 in the Kansas Coliseum in Wichita.

Goebel hopes his team can build on Saturday’s successes. The Chieftains were pinned just five times at the league meet.

“Like I told them, if we can stay off our back, we’ll stay close,” Goebel said. “We’re starting to make our uphill climb.”

Team scores

1. Bonner Springs 174

2. Lansing 162

3. Santa Fe Trail 160.5

4. Tonganoxie 146.5

5. De Soto 135.5

6. Mill Valley 109

7. Basehor-Linwood 88

8. Piper 62

9. Perry-Lecompton 41