Panthers battle, lose to Buffaloes
BY JIM MISUNAS
In a battle of stateranked wrestling wrestlers, Great Bend’s No. 5 ranked Gage Fritz provided the highlight of the night with a dominating 17-2 victory. Fritz (145) rolled to an easy victory over Garden City’s No. 5 ranked Eli Hernandez.
The fate for the Panthers’ No. 2 state-ranked Drew Liles was a sad finish, losing on an injury to Garden City’s No. 4 ranked Diago Hernandez.
Just 1:26 into the match, Hernandez sprinted off the match when Liles’ elbow was apparently dislocated. Liles earned the cheers of the enthusiastic Panther crowd when EMS personnel transported him off the mat after a 25-minute delay.
No. 5 ranked Garden City won eight of 14 matches for a hard-fought 42-28 Western Athletic Conference wrestling victory. No. 1 Jacob Holt (132), No. 2 Silas Pineda (120), No. 2 Refugio Chairez (285) and No. 6 Alex Rodriguez (195) allposted victories.
The Panthers sprinted to a 17-0 lead when No. 4 George Weber (138), Fritz (145) and No. 6 Alex Randolph cruised to victories. Weber pinned Josh Janas in 4:30. Randolph pinned Jared Arellano in 3:39.
But Garden City swept five of the next six matches.
Panther Eli Witte (182) won 7-2 over Cole Thompson. Panther Jacob Meeks (170) nearly earned a hard-fought comeback victory, but lost 7-5 after earning thirdperiod back points against Jacob Sims.
Wyatt Weber (106) pinned Brecken Ralston in 52 seconds. Carsyn Schooler (126) won 2-1 in overtime over Erik Dominquez for the Panthers’ final victory.
GARDEN CITY 42, GREAT BEND 28
138—George Weber, GB pinned Josh Janas, GC, 4:30
145—Gage Fritz, GB def. Eli Hernandez, GC, 17-2
152—Alex Randolph, GB pinned Jared Arellano, GC, 3:39
160—Andrew Garcia, GC pinned Owen Ridgeway, GB, 3:52
170—Jacob Sims, GC def. Jacob Meeks, GB, 7-5
182—Eli Witte, GB def. Cole Thompson, GC, 7-2
195—Alex Rodriguez, GC pinned Andrew Wettengel, GB, 2:54
220—Tyler May, GC pinned Ever Chavez, GB, 3:25
285—Refugio Chairez, GC, forfeit
106—Wyatt Weber, GB pinned Brecken Ralston, GC, 0:52
113—Silas Pineda, GC pinned Avery Wolf, GB, 1:40
120—Diago Hernandez, GC def.Drew Liles, GB, injury, 1:26
126—Carsyn Schooler, GB def. Erik Dominguez, GC, 2-1, OT
132—Jacob Holt, GC def. Jeffrey Spragis, GB, 5-2
GARDEN CITY JV 43, GREAT BEND 27
106—Kaden Spragis, GB pinned Carlos Ramons-Reyes, GC, 2:14
120—Austin Moore, GB pinned Alejandro Janas-Alvarez, GC, 4:14; John Szot, GB pinned Oscar Mejia, GC, 0:52
126—Orion Craig, GC pinned Brennan Schaffer, GB, 4:09; Sebastian Rodriguez, GC pinned Moore, GB, 4:13; Ben Dunlap, GC pinned Schaffer, GB, 0:39
132—Bre Ridgeway, GB pinned Anjie Serrano, GC, 0:49; Steven Sellers, GC pinned Skylar Burkes, GB, 2:42; Skylar Burkes, GB def. Julian Martinez, GC, 4-3
138—Salvador Barintas, GC def. Ryan Nicholson, GB, 14-4; Alonso Marquez, GC pinned Nicholson, GB, 4:32
145—Jaden Escamilla, GC def. Quinn Hoffman, GB, 6-4
160—Dan Janas, GC pinned Jade Poe, GB, 4:26