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Down for the count

By Eric Sorrentino - | Dec 5, 2007

A.J. DeMaranville could have easily been intimidated at Saturday’s Kaw Valley League Dual Wrestling Tournament at Mill Valley High School.

During one of his five matches, DeMaranville faced Santa Fe Trail’s Jake Kober, the defending Class 4A state champion in the 215-pound weight class. The match was so physical that Kober caught DeMaranville with an elbow to the eyebrow on a duck-under maneuver that sent the Tonganoxie senior to the mat.

Blood dripped onto the mat from the cut near DeMaranville’s eyebrow. The referee stopped the match for a blood timeout.

After trainers determined the cut wasn’t severe enough for DeMaranville to take the rest of the day off, the senior toughed it out and got back on the mat.

“I was going to wrestle,” DeMaranville said. “I was going to wrestle no matter what.”

He lost that particular match, but that same toughness and persistence was visible in the other 12 THS wrestlers, who propelled Tonganoxie to a third-place team finish in the nine-team tournament.

It was an improvement from last year’s fifth-place finish in the same tournament.

Tonganoxie went 4-1 on the day with victories against Basehor-Linwood (57-22), Mill Valley (42-25), Bishop Ward (64-12) and Perry-Lecompton (48-24). The Chieftains’ lone loss was to Santa Fe Trail (39-24).

DeMaranville rebounded nicely after his match with Kober and actually won his final two matches to finish the day 2-3 individually.

THS senior Cameron Adcox was the only Chieftain to go undefeated in all five of his matches. Adcox made quick work of nearly all his opponents, including a six-point pin against Bishop Ward that ended the heavyweight match in about 20 seconds.

“He was tough and made smart decisions,” THS coach Jeremy Goebel said of Adcox. “He wrestled aggressively offensively and came to set the tone for the season.”

The Chieftains showed their depth in the presence of the eight other KVL schools. After the meet, Adcox was undefeated and seven other THS wrestlers were 4-1.

You could tell the Chieftains wanted to be in the championship match, but were satisfied with third.

“I’m speechless,” senior Travis Adcox said. “I mean, from what we were last year to what we are this year, it’s such an improvement.”

Travis Adcox, who’s the cousin of Cameron, wrestled a close match against Dennis Martins of Perry-Lecompton, which Tonganoxie defeated for third place. He prevailed, 9-8, earning Tonganoxie three points.

The Chieftains were still down, though, 18-15 at the time. It seemed the momentum of Travis Adcox’s match stuck with Tonganoxie, which registered four straight pins and took a 39-18 lead, putting the match out of reach. THS eventually won, 48-24.

What was Travis Adcox thinking in the momentum-changing match?

“The only thing I could think was defense wrestling,” he said. “When he shoots, block. I’m always waiting for that shot, just to block it. I kept moving so the ref couldn’t call a stall on me. You have to use defensive wrestling when it’s that close.”

Lansing defeated Santa Fe Trail in a tiebreaker to win the tournament.

Tonganoxie will have another shot against Santa Fe Trail on Dec. 13, when THS and SFT will be included in a double dual at Perry-Lecompton.

Before that, the Chieftains will compete in the Eudora Tournament Friday and Saturday — perhaps with a newfound confidence they gained in Shawnee.

“We have a lot of experience on the mat because a lot of these guys have been wrestling since they were freshmen,” Goebel said. “I think our maturity, leadership and tone have given us more swagger. Kids are confident.”

Team results:
1. Lansing
2. Santa Fe Trail
3. Tonganoxie
4. Perry-Lecompton
5. Basehor-Linwood
6. Piper
7. Mill Valley
8. Bonner Springs
9. Bishop Ward

Tonganoxie results:
vs. Basehor (W 57-22)
vs. Mill Valley (W 42-25)
vs. Bishop Ward (W 64-12)
vs. Santa Fe Trail (L 39-24)
vs. Perry-Lecompton (W 48-24)

Tonganoxie individual records, by weight class:
103 – Jeff Ross: 4-1
112 – Justin Crotty: didn’t wrestle
119 – Kevin Hamm: 4-1
125 – Beau Waters: 1-4
130 – Matt Brock: 4-1
135 – Jon Harris: 2-3
140 – Travis Adcox: 4-1
145 – Matt Ditty: 4-1
152 – Wyatt Coffin: 4-1
160 – Jeremie Maus: 3-2
171 – Steve Davis: 4-1
189 – Zach Kaighin: 3-2
215 – A.J. DeMaranville: 2-3
285 – Cameron Adcox: 5-0