THS boys wrestling dominates Baldwin Invitational
The Tonganoxie High boys wrestling team racked up five gold medals and placed in every weight division on its way to a commanding team title Saturday at the Baldwin Invitational.
THS won in convincing fashion, scoring 258 points, nearly 100 points ahead of the runner-up. Wamego placed second with 163.5.
Junior Braeden Moore (26-1) at 132 defeated Labeette County sophomore Cason Wyrick by fall (1:08), while freshman Brady Martin (29-7) also won gold at 144 after pinning Burlington senior Tucker Williams (29-1) in the second period (3:30). Martin handed Williams his first loss of the year.
Junior Noah Bailey (28-5) won 150 with a pin of Ottawa senior Joel Brown (23-8) in the third period (5:20), while senior Wyatt Harris (11-3) got his gold medal at 175 after defeating Perry-Lecompton senior Christian Conklin (24-7) by fall in the second period (2:56).
Senior Hunter Benedict (27-7) won gold at 215 against Holton junior Dalton Roush (21-8) by decision, 5-2.
Freshman Brodie Starcher (11-14) placed third at 106 after pinning Burlington freshman Ryan Hoyt (14-4) in the first period (1:39), while senior Jordan Boswell (6-13) finished seventh at 113. He defeated Wamego freshman Hayden Wolf (5-11) by technical fall in the fourth period (15-0).
Freshman Clayton Crookham (14-15) took fifth at 120 against Baldwin junior (20-9) in major decision, 13-5. Fellow freshman Dax Duffett (8-13), at 126, lost to Buhler senior Jayce Spencer (18-10) by decision, 11-10.
Sophomore Emmett Crookham (18-11) at 138 defeated THS junior Jack Wensel (3-2) by fall (2:40) in a battle of teammates.
Junior Gannon Sonntag (12-9) at 157 defeated Santa Fe Trail junior Hunter Tantaros (11-9) by decision, 4-0.
Junior Colton Brusven (21-6) brought home silver at 165. He placed second after losing to Holton senior Jayden Fletcher (30-2) by decision, 8-2.
Senior Rocco Gehring finished seventh at 190 after defeating Osawatomie senior Seth Carrow, 17-8 by fall (2:29).
And freshman Gavin Rhoads (15-13) placed fourth after losing to Hayden sophomore Hunter Diederich (6-3) by pin (0:42).
Tonganoxie has its final dual of the season Thursday. The Chieftains will travel to Holton to take on the Wildcats. The dual is set to start at 6 p.m. On Wednesday, Feb. 8, the squad will compete in the Frontier League meet at Bonner Springs. That meet starts at 3 p.m.
After that, it’s regionals and then state for the Chieftains.