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Chieftains finish fifth

By Shawn Linenberger - | Feb 14, 2007

Tonganoxie High wrestlers had their sights on improving on a fifth-place preseason Kaw Valley League dual meet finish.

In Saturday’s KVL postseason meet, held at Mill Valley in Shawnee, the Chieftains again finished in the middle of the conference race, taking fifth with 91 points. Lansing, which won the preseason finals with a championship win against Santa Fe Trail, once again finished as the top team. The Lions scored 176 and won their first postseason KVL tournament since 1996.

The Chieftains advanced six wrestlers to the championship or consolation finals, including Cameron Adcox, who won the 275-pound division title with a pin against Santa Fe Trail’s Charles Schively.

Adcox held his own against Schively and then pinned him midway through the second period.

After losing to Schively a few weeks ago at the Baldwin tournament, Adcox responded with a big win.

Asked to sum up in one word how he felt after his championship match, Adcox needed two words — one of which technically might not be a word.

“Exhaustingly excited,” Adcox said. “I just went all out against him.”

Adcox also defeated Mill Valley’s Tyler Hancock on Saturday, as the junior pushed his record to 12-5 overall this than he in the heavyweight class.

“I’m giving up about 30 pounds to each of these heavyweights and it feels good to overcome it,” Adcox said.

While Adcox was exuberant about his league title, another Chieftain wrestler was dejected after a tough championship match.

Matt Brock, Tonganoxie’s winningest wrestler this season, overcame a 5-0 deficit in his 130-pound match against Bonner Springs’ Rodger Riedel. Brock led 6-5 late in the match, but with less than 20 seconds left in the third, Riedel started to take down Brock as they headed out of bounds. The referee awarded Riedel two points and he took home a league title.

“I thought I had him,” Brock said.

Brock breezed through his first two opponents, pinning Lansing’s Jacob Hansen in 31 seconds and Piper’s Kevin Palmer in 18. He will enter Class 4A regional action Friday in Holton with a 35-4 record.

“I just want to do good and go to state if I can,” Brock said.

Other top placers included Wyatt Coffin, Kevin Hamm and Steve Davis, all of whom placed third. Hamm competed at 112, Coffin at 160 and Davis at 171.

Coffin improved to 18-20 after defeating Chad Mauzey in the consolation finals. Coffin went 2-1 on the day, but he was shooting for 3-0. His lone loss was to Lansing’s Grant Hinkley.

“My main goal was to beat that Lansing kid,” Coffin said. “I did stupid stuff and didn’t get what I wanted.”

Still, Coffin is eyeing a good run at regionals later this week.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” Coffin said. “The last two years I won two matches and had been just shy (of advancing to state). Hopefully I’ll win that third one.”

Travis Adcox, another of Tonganoxie’s top wrestlers, did not compete at the KVL meet. He had been nursing an injured knee, but will not wrestle at the Holton regional because he was ruled academically ineligible for the tournament, THS coach Jeremy Goebel said. Adcox finished the season with a 23-4 record.

Regional time

Class 4A regional action will begin at 2 p.m. Friday at Holton High School, 901 New York Ave., in Holton. The tournament will conclude Saturday, with matches beginning that day at 9 a.m. The top four wrestlers in each class will advance to state, which will be held Feb. 23 and 24 in the Bicentennial Center in Salina.

Clay Center will be the favorite at this year’s regional. The Tigers are ranked No. 1 in 4A. Other teams competing along with Clay Center, Holton and Tonganoxie are: Atchison, Basehor-Linwood, Concordia, Hiawatha, Royal Valley, Bishop Ward, Marysville, Perry-Lecompton, Hayden and Wamego.

Holton at-a-glance

The Holton regional will have plenty of state-ranked wrestlers competing. Here’s a list of those grapplers:

  • 103 — 4. Weller, Piper.
  • 112 — 6. Ribelin, Royal Valley.
  • 119 — 2. Dooley, Concordia; 3. Anderson, Clay Center.
  • 125 — 5. Bowser, Clay Center.
  • 135 — 6. Olson, Wamego.
  • 145 — 3. Lucero, Royal Valley.
  • 152 — 6. Carlson, Hiawatha.
  • 160 — 2. Allen, Clay Center.
  • 189 — 1. Rush, Clay Center.
  • 215 — 5. James, Clay Center, 6. Johansen, Hiawatha.

KVL meet team scores

1. Lansing, 176; 2. Santa Fe Trail, 165, 3. Mill Valley, 154; 4. Bonner Springs, 92; 5. Tonganoxie, 91; 6. Perry-Lecompton, 77; 7. Piper, 60; 8. Bishop Ward, 39; 9. Basehor-Linwood, 22.5.

Tonganoxie individual records

Jon Harris 9-15

Rob Schlicht 12-17

Justin Crotty 6-6

Kevin Hamm 24-10

DJ Lindsay 5-9

Blaize Oelschlaeger 8-10

Jake Rains 6-7

Matt Brock 35-4

Travis Adcox 25-4

Sean Gippner 4-12

Nick Irick 0-2

Jeremy Elliot 11-17

Jonathan Ferris 18-14

Nathan Stauch 2-8

Zach Langston 12-6

Jeff Price 6-8

Tabitha Carroll 3-15

Matt Ditty 7-23

Wyatt Coffin 18-20

Zach Kaigain 3-3

Jeremie Maus 9-3

Dylan Young 1-5

Steve Davis 19-15

Derek Parrett 17-14

Cameron Adcox 12-5