By BRETT MARSHALL
The Garden City Telegram
GARDEN CITY — The momentum gained from a recent 40-35 Western Athletic Conference dual win over Dodge City was lost on Thursday night for the Great Bend Panthers wrestling team.
The Panthers were simply overmatched through the 14-match dual as Garden City, a perennial Class 6A power, rolled through coach Nathan Broeckelman’s squad, 46-18.
“It’s disappointing for sure,” Broeckelman said afterward. “We were missing one because of a skin situation at weigh-in, and another was sick, but you’ve got to wrestle with what you have and Garden was just better than us tonight.”
The Panther coach, though said he was happy with the wins his five wrestlers provided, considering they came against a couple of Garden’s 6A-ranked wrestlers.
The Panthers swept three matches featuring state-ranked wrestlers – No. 6 ranked Drew Liles (15-2) beat No. 2 state champion Silas Pineda (113); No. 3 George Weber (18-2) defeated No. 3 Kaj Perez (132); and No. 3 Gage Fritz (18-2) downed No. 5 Trey Medina.
Perhaps the most impressive victory came at 132 where George Weber dominated No. 3 6A Kaj Perez en route to a 10-3 decision, just missing a major decision by one point.
“The 132 match was certainly a big one for us as was 113 (Drew Liles over Silas Pineda, 1-0) and 145 (Alex Randolph (10-5 over Wyatt McElroy).
“We’ve just got to get tougher -- that’s what it amounts to,” Broeckelman said. “A number of our kids just aren’t winning the close ones, and we’ve got to figure that out and change that outcome.”
Another strong outing came from Gage Fritz at 152, where he outmuscled Garden’s Trey Medina in a hard-fought 7-4 decision.
“The Medina kid’s a good one for them, so that’s a good win for Gage,” Broeckelman said.
The only other win came on an injury default when Garden City’s Ian Crone suffered a knee injury against the Panthers’ Jacob Meeks in the first period.
The Panthers will return to the mat on Saturday when they travel to Wichita for the Kapaun-Mt. Carmel dual tournament.
GARDEN CITY 46, GREAT BEND 18
106—Steven Sellers, GC (7-3) pinned Brantley Baldwin, GB (3-12), 0:34.
113— Drew Liles, GB (15-2) def. Silas Pineda, GC (7-4), 1-0
120—Diago Hernandez, GC (6-4) def. Carsyn Schooler, GB (12-8), 3-2
126—Jacob Holt, GC (8-2) pinned Skylar Burkes, GB (10-10), 2:28
132—George Weber, GB (18-2) def. Kaj Perez, GC (6-4), 10-3
138— Eli Ruiz-Hernandez, GC def. Braxton Schooler, GB (7-11), 12-2
145— Alex Randolph, GB (11-9) def. Wyatt McElroy, GC, 10-5
152—Gage Fritz, GB (18-2) def. Trey Medina, GC (4-6), 10-5
160—Jacob Sims, GC pinned Hoffman, GB, 0:12
170—Alex Rodriguez, GC (6-4) pinned Wiley Brand, GB, 2:20
182—Josh Dowdy, GC def. Eli Witte, GB (6-11), 5-1
195— Jacob Meeks, GB (11-6) def. Ian Crone, GC, injury
220—Julian Falco, GC pinned Ever Chavez, GB (4-13), 2:16
285—Refugio Chairez, GC (6-3) pinned Eric Vazquez, GB, 1:36
