SMOKY VALLEY — The Hoisington High School wrestling team was about 14.8 seconds away from finishing the season undefeated in duals.
The Cardinals closed out their season with wins over Marion 51-24 and Hillsboro 71-9, but host Smoky Valley beat Hoisington, which is ranked No. 5 in Class 3-1A in the latest Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association poll, 39-31, on Thursday.
It was the second straight year that Smoky Valley was the only blemish on the Cardinals’ dual record.
“We were up 19-18 after the (160-pound weight class), so we thought we were in the drivers’ seat,” Hoisington head coach Dan Schmidt said. “Cayton Janousek (195) was up 12-2 with 3.8 seconds left when Smoky Valley pinned him. Hagen Hanzlick was up 7-0 when he got pinned. There was probably about 11 seconds left in the second period for him.
“They taught us a lesson. We can’t let up when we’re up six or eight points. We have to stay focused when we wrestle at regionals.”
Schmidt said that he was still pleased with how the season went.
“The team has had a very memorable year,” Schmidt said. “We finished 12-1 in duals and were in the top four of all tournaments wrestled. We were team champions of four different tournaments.
“This senior class went undefeated as freshman. They only lost one dual in each of the last three years, and the worst part is each of those losses were ones we thought we could have won. They could have been undefeated for their entire high school career, but that just goes to show how tough it is to go undefeated in high school.”
Hoisington had four wrestlers finish undefeated on Thursday night — Brandon Ball, who is ranked No. 4 in 120, Chance Demel, who is ranked No. 6 in 145, Matt Manka (152) and Brady Moore (285).
“They all look like they are ready to make a very strong run in post season action,” Schmidt said. “We had some other kids that really showed they can be very dominating at times on Thursday night. Hagen Hanzlick (170), Eric Hellerud (182), Cayton Janousek (195) and Cody Batt (220) all wrestled that way, too.”
Hellerud is ranked No. 4 182, Janousek is ranked No. 5 in 195 and Batt is ranked No. 4 in 220.
Next action for the Cardinals will be the Class 3-1A regional wrestling tournament being held on Friday and Saturday at Russell.

                                                                                           — Kevin Price

HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING

At Smoky Valley

Thursday

Team results
Hoisington 51, Marion 24; Hoisington 71, Hillsboro 9; Smoky Valley 39, Hoisington 31

Hoisington results
106 — Landon Harmon lost to Beretta Janzen, Marion; lost to Brandon Archuleta, Smoky Valley
113 — Hilario Rosales lost to Kaden Sare, Smoky Valley
120 — Brandon Ball def. Eric Regner, Marion; def. Jon Carey, Hillsboro; def. Mason Kerns, Smoky Valley
126 — Lexi Sanders lost to Alex Wolf, Smoky Valley
132 — Bryce Boxberger lost to Brayden Putter, Marion; def. River Cecil, Hillsboro; def. Aaron Taylor, Smoky Valley
145 — Chance Demel def. Zac Dvorak, Marion; def. Cody Delk, Hillsboro; def. Jake Ryals, Smoky Valley
153 — Matt Manka def. Jesse Meier, Hillsboro; def. Kyle Ryan, Smoky Valley
160 — Dylan Bell lost to Colten Johnson, Marion; lost to Tanner Jones, Hillsboro; lost to Spencer Bird, Smoky Valley
170 — Hagen Hanzlick def. Kyle Palic, Marion; def. Cody Craney, Hillsboro; lost to Lars Peterson, Smoky Valley
182 — Eric Hellerud def. Zac Lewman, Marion; lost to Weston Loder, Smoky Valley
195 — Cayton Janousek def. John Nordquist, Marion; def. Jarod DeMott, Smoky Valley
220 — Cody Batt lost to Evan Slater, Marion; def. Brix Brickley, Smoky Valley
285 — Brady Moore def. Tyrell Theissen, Hillsboro