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Riedel’s remarkable run: Tonganoxie High senior finds groove rushing ball in final season, eyes 1st wrestling title in program history

By Shawn Linenberger - | Nov 14, 2018

Shawn Linenberger

Tonganoxie High senior Korbin Riedel, seated, looks over at the THS student section while taking a quick breather after a touchdown run earlier this season as Hayden Robbins (12) and Drake Pray look on. Riedel rushed for more than 1,500 yards this season.

Dalton Bock was a crucial part of Tonganoxie’s Kaw Valley League champion football team in 2017 that finished with the first undefeated season in school history in 55 years.

That team graduated 21 seniors, but an incoming senior this season had made some preseason goals, one of which was to tie or surpass his former teammate’s mark of 1,441 rushing yards last year.

Korbin Riedel reached that goal and then some in 2018.

The THS senior originally was a slot back in the Tonganoxie offense this season, but moved back to running back in Week 3.

Riedel had modest rushing output in those first two games, both THS losses, but he got going in a Week 3 rout against Eudora.

Then came the next opponent, Bonner Springs.

It was that game that really turned the direction of the season. Down, 26-7, Tonganoxie would score 21 unanswered points and win, 28-26. The team opened the season 0-2, but rattled off seven straight victories before falling to Paola in the playoffs.

“We got some new kids in and the coaches made a change and moved me back to running back and kind of went from there after Game 2,” Riedel said. “We still were a new team finding out what we could and couldn’t do.

“We didn’t rep a lot of Wildcat the first and second game. After that, I felt like the Wildcat was clicking and we felt like we could wear some teams out with some Wildcat, so that’s what we did.”

Riedel often took those direct snaps from center in the Wildcat.

That also helped quarterback Hayden Robbins in opening up the pass game to find wide receivers and sometimes running backs out of the backfield.

Riedel finished the season with 1,531 total rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns. He also had a receiving touchdown. The backfield also had fellow senior Drake Pray, who had 402 rushing yards, and junior Cooper Cunningham, who had 167 rushing yards.

Riedel’s biggest game came in the first round of the playoffs against Chanute when he rushed for 352 yards. His previous high was 251 against Piper. Aside from 51 yards against Basehor-Linwood in Week 1 and 40 against Louisburg in Week 2, he finished with more than 100 yards each game after that, from 102 against Spring Hill to 162 against Bonner Springs.

He was surprised when he heard about his biggest ouput, that 352 yards against Chanute.

“I didn’t know until coach told me that night in the locker room,” Riedel said.

Trying to find complete high school record books can be a challenge, but Riedel quite possibly set a school record for rushing yards in a single game.

The state record is a whopping 659 yards set in 2012 when Conway Springs’ Tanner Wood racked up the number.

This season, he finished tied for 15th in the state for total rushing yards, according to Max Preps.

Cimarron sophomore Tate Seabolt also had 1,531 yards.

Kade Scott of six-man division member Pawnee Heights leads the state with 2,556 rushing yards on the season. Olathe North’s Daymonn Sanchez has 2,175 and Travis Theis, quarterback at Pratt, has 2,167.

Riedel is second in Class 4A behind McPherson senior Jace Kinnamon. His numbers probably will increase, as the Bullpups still are in the 4A state quarterfinals. He could have one or two more games to pad his stats.

As for other Tonganoxie High running backs, Cole Holloway had 1,353 yards in 11 games in 2014. His season high was 21 3 in a 58-42 season-opening victory against Lansing.

He finished his career with 2,749. Holloway went on to play at Benedictine, while Bock is now at University of Saint Mary.

Riedel finished his career with 2,416 rushing yards, including 793 as a junior.

The senior said his off season preparation wasn’t much different this year. He got in the weight room for summer workouts with his teammates as often as he could, though he did have more wrestling competitions this past summer.

“Every summer we always have a good lifting and conditioning program, so we start that pretty early in the summer,” he said.

Riedel also is a top THS wrestler. He finished last year in second place in the state in his weight class and likely will be highly ranked again in the state heading into the Class 4A state tournament come February.

Preseason practices started Monday, which gave Riedel a week to recover some bumps and bruises from the football season.

His goal is to set a big Tonganoxie record in wrestling — be the school’s first individual champion.

“I want to be the first one this year,” he said.

The four-time state champion defeated Riedel last year, so now he’s hoping it’s his turn to win that elusive top spot.

Riedel said he’s undecided on whether he to play football or wrestle in college, but he does have a handle on the academics side of it.

He’d like to get degrees in biology and kineseology and a minor in business.

He would like to eventually become a chiropractor.