HOISINGTON — The Hoisington High School wrestling team took third place on Friday at the Cardinal Corner Classic.
The Cardinals scored 174.5 points to finish behind first-place Great Bend (210) and second-place Concordia (194).
“Overall, I think we wrestled pretty well,” Hoisington head coach Dan Schmidt said. “We had a few kids that will help us down the road that wouldn’t wrestle on Friday, but we handled ourselves very well.
“I was really proud of our conditioning. We had some kids that really stuck in there and competed in every match.”
Hoisington, which is ranked No. 8 in Class 3-1A in the latest Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association poll, was led by Chance Demel, who took first place in the 145 weight class, and Brady Moore, who finished in first place in the 285 class.
“Both of those kids wrestled extremely well,” Schmidt said. “Demel was in a pretty good field. There was a kid from Concordia that is expected to do well this year.Chance handled him very well.
“Moore went through each round as well. He did very well in his weight class. I was pleased with how those kids competed.”
Demel is ranked No. 6.
The classic featured nine high school teams, including Oakley, Thomas More Prep-Marian, Larned, Cimarron, Garden Plain and Lakin.
“It was a very tough tournament,” Schmidt said. “It was a pretty tough field. You know, Great Bend has an excellent team this year. Concordia has a good team, too. There were other teams that didn’t have a great team, but really had some great talent.
“Some of the smaller schools don’t have enough wrestlers to really compete as a team, but there were some with defending state champions that really wrestled well.”
Cody Batt finished in second place in the 220 weight class, and is ranked No. 4 in the state.
Brandon Ball competed in the 120 weight class, finishing in second place behind returning Class 5A state champion Chris Burley, who competed in the 112 weight class last season.
“I was really pleased with Brandon Ball,” Schmidt said. “He probably had the toughest field out there. (Brad Hake of Concordia) is a state champion, and he’s ranked No. 4 in 4A. Brandon beat him and then had to wrestle the returning state champion from Great Bend.
“Anytime you get those two in a match, it is a lot of fun to watch. I think that with a little more experience and a little more seasoning, he can close the gap. Burley set a standard for him. Chris is such a fun kid to watch wrestle.”
Freshman Lexi Sanders finished in fourth place in the 126 weight class.
Hoisington wrestles again on Jan. 5, when the Cardinals host the Mid-Central Activities Association meet.
Larned’s Lewis
claims first place
Larned wrestler Brenden Lewis finished in first place in the 132 weight class on Friday.
Lewis lead an Indians team that finished in sixth place with 78.5 points.
Larned will return to Hoisington on Jan. 5 for the MCAA meet, which will include Hoisington, Thomas More Prep-Marian, Sublette, Lyons and Stafford.
— Kevin Price
HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING
Cardinal Corner Classic
At Hoisington
Friday
Team standings
1. Great Bend, 210; 2. Concordia, 194; 3. Hoisington, 174.5; 4. Oakley, 142; 5. Thomas More Prep-Marian, 85; 6. Larned, 78.5; 7. Cimarron, 73.5; 8. Garden Plain, 46; 9. Lakin, 27.5
Hoisington results
106 — Landon Harmon, fifth place
120 — Brandon Ball, second place
126 — Lexi Sanders, fourth place
132 — Bryce Boxberger, fifth place
145 — Chance Demel, first place
152 — Matt Manka, second place
160 — Dylan Bell, fourth place
170 — Hagen Hanzlick, third place
182 — Avery Urban, sixth place
195 — Cayton Janousek, second place
220 — Cody Batt, second place
285 — Brady Moore, first place
Larned results
120 — Zakk Perez, seventh place
126 — Gage Stude, fifth place
132 — Brenden Lewis, first place
145 — Dalton Hoch, fourth place
152 — Jeromy Bartz, seventh place
160 — Skyler Hoch, sixth place
170 — Caulon Brooks, fifth place
182 — Nick Warrick, seventh place
220 — Kaiden Reed, fifth place
