Chieftain wrestlers narrowly miss taking team title at Pleasant Ridge
Tonganoxie couldn’t hold onto its lead at the Pleasant Ridge Tournament near Easton, but the Chieftains did finish strong in the finals and placed second with 131.5 points, just behind host Pleasant Ridge. The Rams won their tournament with 136.
“I think the kids should be proud about bringing a trophy home,” THS coach Jeremy Goebel said about the second-place finish. “A lot of them wrestled really well.”
Travis Adcox and Matt Brock each placed first at the meet, as each wrestler improved to 16-2 on the season.
“They’re steamrolling through this first half of the year,” Goebel said about the duo. “And I hope that steam engine goes all the way through February. They’re both putting in excellent seasons. They’re working hard and doing a lot of great things.”
Senior Jonathan Ferris performed well also.
Ferris improved to 8-2 on the season after placing second at Pleasant Ridge.
“I thought he provided some good senior leadership,” Goebel said. “I think that was his first finals match.”
Rob Shlicht and Kevin Hamm each placed third, while Steve Davis finished fourth.
Tonganoxie went 4-2 in the finals.
“We were down going into the finals, and we had a good finals round,”
Goebel said. “It’s probably the best finals round since I’ve been here.”
Unfortunately, when Tonganoxie’s completed its final round competitions, Pleasant Ridge still had three to go.
“Our destiny was kind of left in another team’s hands, which as a coach I don’t like that,” Goebel said. “I’d rather control my own destiny.”
Goebel also praised performances by freshmen Jeremy Eliot, E.J. Fields and D.J. Lindsay, and senior Ben Langston. All four are rookies on the high school team. Langston is in his fourth year of school, but in his first as a wrestler.
Saturday’s tournament was Tonganoxie’s final competition before winter break. THS returns to the mats Jan. 4 with dual matches at Basehor-Linwood and Jan. 6 at the Louisburg Invitational.
“One thing I hope they take from finishing second at this tournament is hey, we have a little taste of it now and we want to keep that. We want to reach this pinnacle week in, week out as a team.”
The break should give wrestlers a chance to fine-tune skills heading into 2007.
“I just think with a young team, we have to keep after it and keep working hard,” Goebel said. “Repetition will develop results. As a young team, we just need to get reps in and clean up some areas that we were having troubles with. And refine areas we’re having success on the mat.”
THS splits duals at SFT
In Kaw Valley League dual action Thursday in rural Carbondale, THS lost to Santa Fe Trail, 48-27, and defeated Perry-Lecompton, 45-37. The Chieftains improved to 4-3 on the season. After losing in the KVL dual tournament earlier this month to SFT, 63-18, the Chieftains bounced back for a much tighter contest. On Thursday, 18 of the Chargers’ points came from open weights. THS improved to 4-3 on the year in dual competition.
Individual records
Jon Harris 4-6
Tyler Heckman 0-4
Justin Crotty, 1-2
Rob Schlicht 4-10
Kevin Hamm 9-5
D.J. Lindsay 2-4
Blaize Oeschlaeger 2-3
Jake Rains 2-4
Matt Brock 16-2
Sean Gippner 2-3
Travis Adcox 16-2
Jeremy Eliot 4-7
Jonathan Ferris 8-2
Nathan Stauch 0-2
Matt Ditty 4-11
Tabitha Carroll 0-7
Zach Langston 3-4
Wyatt Coffin 8-10
Zach Kaigan 0-2
Jeremie Maus 2-1
Dylan Young 1-1
Steve Davis 8-8
E.J. Fields 4-5
Ben Langston 3-8