HAYS — In two straight years, Hoisington High School’s Brandon Ball has won a Class 3-1A state wrestling title — albeit in different weight classes.
The 126-pounder beat Norton’s Alec Hager by a 10-2 major decision in the final match.
“Ball continues to be unbelievable,” said Cardinals head coach Dan Schmidt, whose team finished seventh overall. “There was no point in any of his matches where it looked like we wouldn’t win it. You know, we didn’t do as well as we’d hoped as a team, but we’ve got a state champion. You got to have fun with that.”
Ball earned a 9-0 major decision over Phillipsburg’s Mason Bannister, and pinned Cherryvale’s DJ Cook on Friday to advance to the semifinal round.
A 2-0 decision over Alex Kough of Scott City moved Ball into the final match.
“He beat that kid from Scott City, and I think everyone knew that was really the final match,” Schmidt said. “Kough is pretty special.”
The Cardinals’ seventh-place finish fell short of their expectations, according to Schmidt.
“We were disappointed,” Schmidt said. “We thought we should’ve done better. There were a number of matches where we lost to kids we’ve beaten earlier in the season, but that’s what makes the state tournament so special. It’s a one-time thing. You have to be able to compete. It just wasn’t our week.”
Senior Chance Demel captured third place at 145.
“Demel was probably the second-best wrestler at his weight class,” Schmidt said. “We ran into an issue where he wrestled (Regan) Lambott in the semifinal. Lambott got upset last week, so he was in our corner of the bracket.
“I don’t think there was a person in the room that wasn’t paying attention to that match.”
After a pair of pins in Friday’s competition, Demel fell to Lambott of Rossville — a 14-5 major decision.
“Here’s Demel, who hasn’t been taken down all year long, and he took us down seven times,” Schmidt said. “Lambott is just a special kid.”
Demel rebounded in the consolation bracket’s semifinals, beating Mo Rojas of Ellsworth 6-1.
A 16-0 technical fall over Norton’s Cody Ellis earned Demel his third-place finish.
With the exceptions of Landon Harmon (113) and Darwin Brickley (285), both of whom went 0-2 at the state meet, Hoisington’s state qualifiers won their first matches.
It was the second round on Friday night that gave the Cardinals fits.
“The thing is, wrestling can be a sport of momentum,” Schmidt said. “Norton got a big upset right off the bat and got eight kids (into the semifinal round). We thought we started the same way with Ball winning and Demel winning.
“(Hagen) Hanzlick was up (in his quarterfinal match at 182), and we made a mistake. Before we knew it, he was down two points, and we couldn’t make it up.”
The second round snowballed from there.
“Avery Urban (195) was up against (Harrison) Gilliland in the second round, and he was looking good,” Schmidt said. “He made a little mistake and got rolled onto his back. We were pinned.
“(Cayton) Janousek was ahead 5-1 when (Channing Fortin) got up, making it 5-2. We got called for a penalty, making it 5-3, and we got a little nervous. Then we get pinned with 22 seconds left.”
— Kevin Price
HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING
Class 3-1A state
wrestling tournament
Friday-Saturday
At Hays
Gross Memorial Coliseum
Team scores
1. Norton, 129.5; 2. Hoxie, 97; 3. Plainville, 83; 4. Scott City, 68; 5. Atchison County, 62.5; 6. Oberlin, 60; 7. Hoisington, 58.5; 8. Marysville, 52; 9. Rossville, 49; 10. Fredonia, 44.5; 11. Phillipsburg, 42; 12. Smith Center, 40; 13. Chaparral, 35; 14. Herington, 35; 15. Caney Valley, 34; 16. Russell 31; 17. Ellsworth, 30; 18. Silver Lake, 29; 19. Chase County 27.5; 20. Pleasant Ridge, 27; 21. Lyons, 27; 22. Douglass, 26; 23. Doniphan West, 26; 24. Sacred Heart, 26; 25. Riley County, 25.5; 26. Beloit 25; 26. Halstead, 25; 26. Oakley, 25; 29. Central-Burden, 24; 30. St. Marys, 23.5; 31. Sedgwick, 22; 32. Republic County, 21; 33. Cherryvale, 20; 34. Rawlins County, 19.5; 35. Rock Hills, 18; 36. Sabetha, 17; 39. Burlington, 16; 39. Cimarron, 16; 39. Ellis, 16; 39. Marion, 16; 39. Onaga, 16; 44. Council Grove, 15; 44. Wakeeney, 15; 46. Centralia, 13; 47. SE-Saline, 12; 48. Leoti, 10; 49. Mission Valley, 9; 49. Eureka, 9; 51. Maur Hill, 8; 52. St. Francis, 7; 52. Sublette, 7; 54. Hill City, 6.5; 55. Bennington, 6; 55. Horton, 6; 55. Hillsboro, 5; 55. Sylvan-Lucas, 5; 55. Riverside, 5; 60. Holcomb, 4; 60. Lakin, 4; 60. Wabaunsee, 4; 60. Wellsville, 4; 64. Bluestem, 3; 64. Oskaloosa, 3; 64. Sterling, 3; 67. Erie, 2; 67. West Elk, 2; 67. South Gray, 2; 67. Pleasanton 2.
Individual results
Semifinals
106 pounds — Caysean Campbell, Norton, def. Chris Deters, Maryville, 9-5; Kyle Witmer, Phillipsburg, def. Cale Rogers, Smith Center, 3-0.
113 — Josh Goepfert, Marysville, def. Troy Juenemann, Oberlin, 5-1; Trey Francka, Chase County, pinned Alex Cavanaugh, Silver Lake, 1:10.
120 — Logan Bowen, Atchison County, def. Macrae Migchelbrink, Atwood, 9-6; James Jurgens, Scott City, pinned Branson Addington, Norton, 3:33.
126 — Alec Hager, Norton, pinned Clint Rogers, Smith Center, 5:32; Brandon Ball, Hoisington, def. Alex Kough, Scott City, 2-0.
132 — Dayton Dreher, Oberlin, def. Andrew Beck, Centralia, 7-3; John Risewick, Norton, def. Cody Calhoon, Maur Hill, 9-1.
138 — Brogan Humphrey, Fredonia, def. James Landoll, Marysville, 13-3; Greg Tooley, St. Marys, def. Michael Dusin, Phillipsburg, 11-1.
145 — Tagen Lambotte, Rossville, def. Chance Demel, Hoisington, 14-5; Nic Johnson, Sedgwick, def. Cody Ellis, Norton, 4-1.
152 — Alex Thibault, Halstead, pinned Kade Brown, Oberlin, :58; Regis Weiss, Russell, def. Nick Reesor, Rossville, 5-4.
160 — Dylan Wiesner, Plainville, def. Taylor Schuetz, Atchison County, 6-1; Calvin Ochs, Hoxie, def. Bowe Behymer, Beloit, 16-1.
170 — Jared Johnson, Pleasant Ridge, def. Derek Bayless, Caney Valley, 20-9; Nick Wuthnow, Sacred Heart, def. Jason Berkgren, Oakley, 11-5.
182 — Gavin Grater, Riley County, def. Zach Gienger, St. Francis, 18-3; Clay Cosand, Rock Hills, def. Levi Huneke, Sabetha, 4-3.
195 — Brandon Salmans, Hoxie, def. Kaleb Gillis, Horton, 10-3; Harrison Gilliland, pinned Easton Sommer, Mission Valley, 2:13.
220 — Kane Washington, Hoxie, def. Lucas Engel, Norton, 5-2; Ryker Greenbaum, Douglass, def. Channing Fortin, Oberlin, 3-2.
285 — Bradey Chard, Plainville, pinned Cody Cooper, Rossville, 4:52; Clay Wilcox, Chaparral, pinned Mychal Kolterman, Onaga, 5:02.
Medalist round
Fifth-place matches
106 — Rogers, Smith Center, def. Nieswonger, Leoti, 10-6.
113 — Ross, Norton, def. Juenemann, Oberlin, 7-5.
120 — Schaefer, Silver Lake, def. Schottler, Lyons, 4-3.
126 — Dieckmann, Atchison County, pinned Arnold, Lyons, 2:03.
132 — Beck, Centralia, def. Calhoon, Maur Hill, 5-2.
138 — Landoll, Marysville, def. Tallent, Norton, 14-9.
145 — Rojas, Ellsworth, def. Desair, Plainville, 6-3.
152 — Reesor, Rossville, def. Duwe, Chaparral, 5-4.
160 — Kropp, Scott City, def. Sherman, Fredonia, 4-3.
170 — Staples, Wakeeney, def. Shaughnessy, Cimarron, 10-2.
182 — Huneke, Sabetha, def. Gienger, St. Francis, 3-1.
195 — Anderson, Council Grove, def. Sommer, Mission Valley, 5-3.
220 — Fortin, Oberlin, def. Ochampaugh, Russell, 3-1.
285 — Cooper, Rossville, def. Hoffman, Atchison County, 1-0.
Third-place matches
106 — Nienke, Ellsworth, def. Deters, Marysville, 17-2.
113 — Lowell, Republic County, pinned Cavanaugh, Silver Lake, 2:39.
120 — Migchelbrink, Rawlins County, def. Addington, Norton, 5-1.
126 — Kough, Scott City, def. Rogers, Smith Center, 10-1.
132 — Melcher, Herington, def. Stafford, Caney Valley, 4-3.
138 — Biddle, Central-Burden, def. Dusin, Phillipsburg, 8-1.
145 — Demel, Hoisington, def. Ellis, Norton, 16-0.
152 — Younger, Ellis, def. Brown, Oberlin, 10-7.
160 — Behymer, Beloit, def. Schuetz, Atchison County, 12-1.
170 — Bayless, Caney Valley, def. Berkgren, Oakley, 9-4.
182 — Yergey-Dible, Hoxie, def. Atwood, Smith Center, 3-1, OT.
195 — Gillis, Herington, def. Speer, Doniphan West, 3-1.
220 — Farthing, Burlington, def. Engel, Norton, 4-2.
285 — Kolterman, Onaga, def. McEachern, Scott City, 3-2.
Championship matches
106 — Witmer, Phillipsburg, def. Campbell, Norton, 5-3.
113 — Francka, Chase County, def. Goepfert, Marysville, 4-0.
120 — Jurgens, Scott City, def. Bowen, Atchison County, 8-4.
126 — Ball, Hoisington, def. Hager, Norton, 10-2.
132 — Risewick, Norton, def. Dreher, Oberlin, 8-7.
138 — Humphrey, Fredonia, def. Tooley, St. Marys, 5-3.
145 — Lambotte, Rossville, def. Johnson, Sedgwick, 20-8.
152 — Thibault, Halstead, def. Weiss, Russell, 7-3.
160 — Ochs, Hoxie, pinned Wiesner, Plainville, 1:44.
170 — Wuthnow, Sacred Heart, def. Johnson, Pleasant Ridge, 7-5.
182 — Grater, Riley County, def. Cosand, Rock Hills, 9-4.
195 — Salmans, Hoxie, def. Gilliland, Plainville, 16-4.
220 — Washington, Hoxie, def. Greenbaum, Douglass, 3-2.
285 — Wilcox, Chaparral, def. Chard, Plainville, 2-1, OT.
