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Chieftain wrestling takes 3rd in Holton

By Justin Nutter - | Jan 24, 2012

Despite being bitten by the injury bug in recent weeks, the Tonganoxie High wrestling team has shown its ability to succeed in a tournament setting. Such was the case one again when the Chieftains competed in the Gerald Sadowski Holton Wildcat Invitational last Saturday.

Even with a pair of regular starters out of the lineup, Tonganoxie managed a third-place finish with a team score of 173 points. The Chieftains, who finished behind Class 6A Andover Central and 5A Gardner-Edgerton, finished first among five 4A schools in the tournament field. They beat out tournament host Holton by 36 points.

“We didn’t really have our full roster, but Gardner is ranked No. 3 in 6A and Andover Central is returning state champ,” coach Jeremy Goebel said. “I felt really good about the kids overcoming some bumps and bruises. I thought they did a real god job up and down lineup from start to finish.”

Junior Joe Wolf and senior Ryan Lynch, who have combined for 34 wins this season, were out of the lineup with injuries. They were replaced by senior Anthony Baker and junior Gus Dent, respectively. Baker went 3-2 and took fifth the 132-pound class to improve his season record to 5-4. Dent, who saw his first varsity action of the season, went 0-2 in the 170-pound class.

“We tell our kids ‘you never know when you’ll be called upon to step in and fill a role, so you’ve always got got be ready,'” Goebel said. “Those two did a good job of responding to that.”

The Chieftain head coach added there could be additional lineup changes down the road in an attempt to keep everyone healthy for next month’s league and regional meets.

Sophomore Clayton Himpel and freshman Asher Huseman both earned individual titles. Himpel (28-4) went 4-0 in the 113-pound class while Huseman (24-5) went 4-0 in the 138-pound class.

Others to record top-five finishes included senior Matt Soetaert, freshman Dalton Tavis, senior Caleb Himpel, sophomore Luke Carey, sophomore Zeke Kissinger and junior Ty Barton.

The Chieftains will return to the mat when they compete in the Baldwin Invitational on Saturday.

“It’s a great tournament,” Goebel said. “Most kids get up to five matches that day. It’s changed a little bit in the format of teams competing. There are a lot more 4A teams there. That should help us get a little higher seeding if we can go out there and get a couple victories against teams in our regional.”

Top 10 team results

  1. Andover Central — 235

  2. Gardner-Edgerton — 182.5

  3. Tonganoxie — 173

  4. Holton — 137

  5. Shawnee Heights — 95

  6. Lansing — 90

  7. Pratt — 82.5

  8. Doniphan West — 71

  9. Sabetha — 66

  10. Pleasant Ridge — 62

THS individual results

Tourney, Overall (Tourney finish)

106 pounds — Connor Yates, 0-2, 5-11 (N/A)

113 — Dalton Tavis, 2-2, 22-8 (Fourth)

120 — Clayton Himpel, 4-0, 28-4 (First)

126 — Caleb Himpel, 3-2, 16-8 (Fourth)

132 — Anthony Baner, 3-2, 5-4 (Fifth)

138 — Asher Huseman, 4-0, 24-5 (First)

145 — Adam Thomas, 1-3, 16-7 (Sixth)

152 — Matt Soetart, 4-1, 23-10 (Third)

160 — Luke Carey, 3-2, 13-14 (Fourth)

170 — Gus Dent, 0-2, 0-2 (N/A)

182 — Julius Coats, 1-2, 16-12 (Sixth)

195 — Thomas Miller, 2-3, 10-13 (Sixth)

220 — Zeke Kissinger, 3-2, 22-11 (Fifth)

285 — Ty Barton, 2-2, 14-13 (Fifth)