BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
PARK CITY — Great Bend's Wyatt Weber made sure there was a double state championship celebration.
Great Bend's No. 3 ranked Kaden Spragis (42-7, 120) shocked Newton's No. 2 ranked A.B. Stokes 11-9 to capture the 126-pound wrestling championship. Spragis had upset Mill Valley's No. 1 ranked Dillon Cooper to reach the finals. Stokes edged Spragis 3-1 in last week's regional final. Spragis downed Blue Valley Southwest's Evan Richardson 16-1 and St. James' Mio Cregan 16-1.
Two matches later, Great Bend's No. 1 ranked Wyatt Weber (43-3, 138) edged Newton's Colin Bybee (28-9) 1-0 in a rematch of last week's 5A regional final. Weber joined Chris Burley (2011, 2013) as Great Bend’s second two-time boys state champion.
Spragis had lost to Stokes 3-1 and 5-0 earlier in the season. He trailed 7-2 when Stokes scored two takedowns and a near fall. But Spragis turned the momentum with an escape and near fall to trail 7-5 after a wild first period. Spragis escaped, earned a takedown and near fall for a 10-8 lead.
"This is the best match I've ever because I won a state championship. I wrestled my match,," Spragis said. "I prepared to wrestle Stokes again and it paid off."
Great Bend coach Nathan Broeckelman said Spragis was focused on wrestling his style.
"It was a great match where both wrestlers gave it their all," he said. "Kaden focused on scoring points. Kaden showed his senior mental toughness. He ktp his cool."
Weber's championship was nerve-racking with both wrestlers electing to play it cautious. It barely worked out when Bybee nearly scored a last-second takedown.
"I wrestled smart," said Weber, who earned a second-period escape. "I felt comfortable the whole time."
Broeckelman said Bybee is a quality wrestler.
"Collin was close to a takedown. He's a good wrestler," he said. "Wyatt is usually more aggressive. But he got the job done and pulled it out."
Great Bend placed fifth with 101.5 points. Perennial state champion Goddard (190.5) finished ahead of Blue Valley Southwest.
Weber reached the championship match when No. 3 ranked Arkansas City's Jevin Foust was disqualified for biting after leading 8-3. Foust will be disqualified from the meet. Weber pinned Spring Hill's Avery Bartek (0:56) and Andover's No. 5 ranked Adam Maki (3:13). Weber pinned Bonner Springs' No. 1 ranked Cruz Lara (1:20) to capture last year's 138-pound title.
No. 4 ranked Avery Wolf (39-11, 126) lost a 6-5 heartbreaker against Mill Valley's No. 2 ranked Maddox Casella in the semifinals. St. Thomas Aquinas' Kaden Allen downed Wolf 12-2 for third place. Wolf pinned Blue Valley Southwest's Karter Moore (1:33), edged Goddard's Dan Helmers 4-3 and beat Carroll's Brady Duling 5-3.
Great Bend's other state qualifiers Cooper Liles, Jace Schartz (26-22, 145) and Skyler McMullen (23-21, 152). Matthew Johnson, Brody Schnoebelen (32-19, 195), and Keyven Schroeder (22-15, 220) lost first-round matches and won second-round matches.
Liles (22-15, 132) placed fifth with an injury victory over Maize High's Keton Patterson. Johnson (30-21, 182). Blue Valley Southwest's Nate Kays pinned Johnson (2:02) for fifth place. Johnson defeated Lansing's Elijah Mathis (4:43); Emporia's Davian White 11-7 and Andover's Raul Silva (2:42). Kapaun-Mt. Carmel's Nathan Fury dropped Johnson (1:19) into the fifth-place match.
5A STATE WRESTLING PARK CITY
TEAM SCORES—1—Goddard 190.5; 2—Blue Valley SW 168.5; 3—Newton 147.5; 4—Maize High 128.5; 5—Great Bend 101.5
STATE FINALS—106—No. 1 Schwartz, VC def. No. 2 Kaufman, Newton, 6-4; 113—No. 1 Treaster, Newton def. No. 2 Glover, Goddard, 4-1; 120—No. 3 Spragis, GB def. No. 1 Stokes, Newton, 11-9; 126—No. 1 Wright, KMC def. No. 2 Casella, Mill Valley, 3-0; 132—No. 1 Mills, BVSW def. No. 2 Zimmerman, Hays, 8-5; 138—No. 1 Weber, GB def. No. 2 Bybee, Newton, 1-0; 145—No. 1 Tungjaroenkul, Emporia def. No. 2 Maki, Andover, 3-1; 152—No. 1 Fisher, Goddard def. No. 2 Habben Aquinas, 16-3; 160—No. 1 Elmore, Aquinas def. No. 2 Umentum, BVSW, 2-1; 170—No. 1 Padgett, Maize def. No. 2 Levin, GE, 1:14; 182—No. 2 Saunders, Goddard def. No. 1 Flores, Maize, 5-2; 195—No. 1 Glass, Goddard def. No. 2 Carroll, Aquinas, 6-3 220—No. 1 Meyers, Hays def. No. 6 Forsyth, BVSW, 5-2; 285—No. 2 Dietz, SS def. No. 1 Caballero, Bonner Springs, 3-2
GREAT BEND RESULTS
120—No. 3 Kaden Spragis, GB def. Richardson, BVSW, 16-1; Spragis def. Creagan, St. James, 16-0; Spragis def. No. 1 Dillon Cooper, Mill Valley; 1ST—Stokes, Newton (21-1) vs. Spragis (41-7)
126—No. 4 Avery Wolf, GB def. Moore, BVSW, 1:33; Wolf def. Helmers, Goddard, 4-3; No. 2 Maddox Casella, Mill Valley def. Wolf, 6-5; Wolf def. Duling, Carroll, 5-3; 3RD—Kaden Allen, Aquinas def. Wolf (39-12), 12-2
132—Hughart, Mill Valley def. Cooper Liles, GB, 11-2; Liles def. Shields, Lansing, 2:27; Liles def. Miranda, St. James, 10-5; Liles def. Little, Seaman, 4-2; Hughart, Mill Valley def. Liles, 2-0; 5TH—Liles (22-16) def. Patterson, Maize, injury
138—No. 1 Wyatt Weber, GB def. Bartek, Spring Hill, 0:56; Weber def. No. 5 Maki, Andover, 3:13; Weber def. No. 3 Jevin Foust, Ark City, DQ; 1ST—Weber (42-3) vs. Bybee, Newton (28-8)
145—No. 4 McAlister, Mill Valley def. Jace Schartz, GB, 1:37; Schartz def. Waggerman, Aquinas, 5-2; Schartz def. Hogan, Salina Central 17-2; Kaufman, Newton def. Schartz (26-22), 3:47
152—No. 2 Habben, Aquinas def. Skyler McMullen, GB, 10-1; McMullen def. Freeland, Shawnee Heights, 16-10; Turner, KMC def. McMullen (23-21), 15-6
182—No. 5 Douglas, Mill Valley def. Matthew Johnson, GB; Johnson def. Mathis, Lansing, 4:43; Johnson def. White, Emporia, 11-7; Johnson def. Silva, Andover, 2:42; Fury, KMC def. Johnson, 1:19; 5TH—Kays, BVSW def. Johnson (32-21), 2:02
195—Laurie, BVSW def. Brody Schnoebelen, GB, 1:06; Schnoebelen def. Marks, KC Turner, 8-0; Eastman, Carroll def. Schnoebelen (32-19), 4:35
220—Spencer, St. James def. Keyven Schroeder, GB, 3:30; Schroeder def. Rainey, DeSoto, 0:51; Wood, Andover Central def. Schroeder (22-15), 2:22
