Not surprisingly, THS senior Matt Brock (140) finished 4-0 Saturday, 189-pound senior Steve Davis went 3-1 and junior Jeremy Elliott (160) won three matches and dropped one.

But a pair of freshmen also finished 3-1. Caleb Himpel (119) and 103-pounder Adam Thomas each recorded three individual victories for the Chieftains.

Goebel said Thomas, who is 13-9 on the season, has done a nice job of setting the table for THS at duals by kicking things off with a Chieftain victory.

“Adam’s a great starter for us,” Goebel said, noting Thomas’ success often has given THS momentum. “You’ve got to be the one that turns everything on and gets the stage set for the rest of your teammates.”

The coach said the frosh, whose only loss Saturday came against Louisburg’s Austin Hood, ranked second in Class 4A, is getting better with experience.

“He’s improving week in and week out,” Goebel said of Thomas, “and that’s important.”

The Chieftains, who have been a bit banged up with sophomores Vinnie Angell and Justin Soetaert out for the season and junior Austen Holloway missing the Louisburg tourney with a right knee injury, had some holes plugged in the lineup nicely, Goebel said.

A 189-pound freshman, Jonas Myers stepped in for Holloway at the 215 class and went 2-2. Freshman Anthony Baker competed well at 125, going 1-3. Their coach said every underclassman who wrestled at Louisburg would benefit from the experience.

“It was good exposure for them,” Goebel said. “I thought all those young kids that got put in the lineup this week performed very well. As a coach, you don’t expect them to go out there and get every ‘W.’ You just want them to compete for six minutes and all those young kids did that.”

In duals, the Chieftains picked up a 46-36 victory against Blue Valley North and a 77-6 win against Bishop Ward. Platte County (Mo.) outscored Tonganoxie, 66-6, while Louisburg slipped past THS, 39-34. Despite the .500 mark, Goebel said the tourney was a good experience.

“I think it was great exposure for us to wrestle Platte County, a powerhouse from Missouri, but I think what happened this past weekend is going to benefit us this coming week,” Goebel said, referring to the two-day Basehor-Linwood tournament beginning on Friday at noon.

Facing the talented Platte County squad proved challenging. Only Thomas, victorious against Austin Dewey, and Brock, who defeated Jason Bamenn (a returning Missouri Class 2 state medalist), 5-2, picked up individual wins against PCHS. Davis’ only loss came against Platte. The same was the case for Elliott, who lost to Collin Wittmeyer, a defending Missouri state champion.

Goebel said the Chieftains need to pull off some upsets against talented squads such as Platte.

“The one thing we’ve been preaching to them after that tournament … is we have to beat the individuals we’re not supposed to,” the coach said, “and that’s got to start happening from here on out.”

THS will be competing Friday and Saturday at the Basehor-Linwood tournament.

Chieftain W-L records

Overall, at Louisburg

Vinnie Angell, 4-1

Anthony Baker, 4-5, 1-3

Riley Banks, 4-5, 1-3

Matt Brock, 20-2, 4-0

Robert Brotherton, 4-1

Mark Columbel, 2-6, 0-2

Justin Crotty, 7-10

Steve Davis, 17-2, 3-1

Jeremy Elliott, 19-5, 3-1

Gage Gardner, 2-3

Kevin Hamm, 14-8, 2-2

Tyler Hand, 7-7, 1-3

Jon Harris, 12-8, 2-2

Caleb Himpel, 9-10, 3-1

Austen Holloway, 7-4

Jason Husing, 0-2

Hunter Lohr, 8-10

Eric Lucas, 2-4

Joao Martins, 2-11

Jeremie Maus, 13-5, 2-2

Jonas Myers, 7-2, 2-2

Blaize Oelschlaeger, 2-2

Justin Soetaert, 2-0

Hank Sommers, 2-17, 0-4

Shane Starcher, 5-6

Adam Thomas, 13-9, 3-1

Derrick Wright, 0-4