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Grapplers finish 12th at Goodland

By Shawn Linenberger - | Dec 21, 2005

Talk about four hectic days.

The Tonganoxie High wrestling team competed in duals against Santa Fe Trail and Piper last Thursday in Tonganoxie. Those matches ended about 8:30 p.m.

A half-hour later, the team boarded a bus bound for Goodland in western Kansas for a two-day tournament.

The Chieftains were supposed to head home Saturday after the tournament concluded, but stayed another night because of severe winter weather.

Subsequently, wrestlers didn’t return to Tonganoxie until about 5 p.m. Sunday.

In the process, Tonganoxie went 1-1 on Thursday at home and 1-7 at Goodland.

The Chieftains defeated Leoti in Goodland, but fell to Norton, Scott City, Hill City, Buhler, Dodge City and Oakley, along with Skyview, a Colorado school.

THS finished 12th out of 14 teams at the tournament.

“Everybody won a match, which was good, even our JV kids,” THS coach Jeremy Goebel said. “I think they had fun and saw some good wrestling and competed well.

“We did better than last year.”

Last season, the Chieftains had three eventual state qualifiers compete at Goodland — Garrett Palmer, Hunter Samuels and Ross Starcher.

Although this year’s squad again had its share of losses, Goebel saw improvement in his young team. And, experience at a difficult meet, such as the Goodland Tournament, will only help the Chieftains more when the postseason comes around in February, Goebel said.

“That we can win at a tournament that tough is golden,” Goebel said.

Kevin Hamm was Tonganoxie’s top wrestler during that three-day stretch of competition. Hamm finished 7-4 in 11 duals in the 103-pound division. Travis Adcox also had a winning record from Thursday to Saturday. He finished 6-5 at 140.

Beau Waters went 4-7, but had 17 takedowns during that stretch.

“He did awesome on his feet,” Goebel said.

Overall, Goebel again was pleased with his team’s effort at a difficult tournament.

“The kids wrestled tough,” Goebel said. “They had a lot of heart.

“That tournament will benefit us in the long run.”

Garden City won the tournament, while Goodland placed second and Norton was third.

In the home dual competition, Tonganoxie went 1-1 against Kaw Valley League foes.

Santa Fe Trail defeated THS, 65-9, but the Chieftains bounced back with a 60-15 victory against Piper. Tonganoxie won several matches by forfeit against Piper, but Ryan Stockman, Josh McCutchen and Hamm won by pin. Brock lost by pin and Steve Davis lost by decision.

Against SFT, Davis scored six points by pin and Brock scored three by decision. Last season, SFT held Tonganoxie scoreless in their regular-season dual.

The Chieftains will return to the mats Jan. 5 with a dual at De Soto. The team also will compete Jan. 7 at the Piper junior varsity tournament, Jan. 9 in a varsity dual at Perry-Lecompton and Jan. 11 in a junior varsity dual at Mill Valley. The Tonganoxie Invitational will be Jan. 14.

Tonganoxie individual records Thursday through Saturday
Kevin Hamm 7-4
Jon Harris 1-2
Beau Waters 4-7
Matt Brock 3-8
Ryan Stockman 3-8
Jacob Ferris 3-8
Travis Adcox 6-5
Shane Banks 4-7
Wyatt Coffin 4-7
Josh McCutchen 2-7
Shawn Roberts 1-2
Trey Brumbaugh 1-2
Steve Davis 1-8
A.J. Demaranville 2-7
Shawn Sivyer 1-8
Derek Parrett 1-1
Jeff Frank 5-6