HAYS — Hoisington’s High’s state champion Christopher Ball succeeded on a threepeat. Newcomer Wyatt Pedigo waved his hands in triumph while winning his first 3A state wrestling championship.
Ball (44-1, 152) and teammate Pedigo (38-3, 182) celebrated 3A state wrestling championships at Fort Hays State Saturday. The Cardinals (92.5 points) brought home the runner-up 3A trophy for the third time behind state champion Scott City (98.5).
No. 1 ranked Ball edged rival Colton Hutchinson of Smith Center 3-0 in a hard-fought championship match after beating Hutchinson 2-0 in a similar regional final last week. Ball pinned Norton’s Trenton Wright in 2017 and beat Rossville’s Isaiah Luellen 6-5 in 2016. He was a state runner-up as a ninth-grader.
“It’s amazing. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to be here,” Ball said. “I thank my family, friends and coaches and everyone who has pushed me.”
Ball earned a second period takedown and third period escape to beat Hutchinson, who escaped off the mat more than a dozen times.
“I wrestled my match, stayed on the offensive,” Ball said. “It was a tough match, especially when he went out-of-bounds so many times. It takes energy to chase him off the mat. It lengthens the match. It was similar to what happened last week. You’ve got to wrestler your match.”
Ball defeated Hoxie’s Wylie Weems 13-2, pinned Riverside’s Kinstin Juhl (2:45) and defeated Colby’s Sean Rall 11-0 to reach the finals.
The Cardinals worked hard, but finished as runner-up for the third time in four years. Norton edged the Cardinals for the team title in 2017 and 2015.
“That’s the third time we’ve placed second,” he said. “Every year is so close.”
No. 1 ranked Pedigo edged Minneapolis’ Tyson Villalpando 3-2 in a tight championship match after also beating Villalpando last week in regionals. Pedigo pinned Goodland’s Evan Peter (1:42), edged St. Marys’ Matt Cruickshank 3-2 and downed Oskaloosa’s Jared Miller 8-2 to reach the finals.
“It was really great to win, especially knowing that we had a shot at the team title,” Pedigo said. “He knew I liked to throw under-moves and he stayed out of there. He did a very good job in the finals.”
Pedigo used his height advantage over the shorter Villalpando.
“I could fend him off with he tried to sweep me,” Pedigo said. “I kept the attitude that I should win. I was confident. I knew I had a chance to get to the state finals.”
No. 3 Sean Urban (41-2, 170) placed third with a hard-fought 3-2 overtime decision over Colby’s Kory Finley. Runner-up Gable Howerton of Silver Lake defeated Urban 10-2 in the semifinals. Urban defeated SE Saline’s Sterling Harp 17-2, Atwood’s Maverick Green 3-2 and Ellsworth’s Zach Schneider 9-4.
Hoisington’s No. 5 Tanner Cassity (38-5, 138) placed sixth with a loss in 2:07 against Fredonia’s Matt Weilert. Cassity lost 18-8 to Riley County’s state runner-up Luke Richard, a past state champion, in the quarterfinals.
Joshua Ball (39-7, 160) placed sixth with a 10-5 loss to Norton’s Cole Amlong. Fourth-place finisher Highland-Doniphan West’s Zeb Speer pinned Ball (1:23) in the quarterfinals.
“We were right there again — another runner-up finish,” said Hoisington coach Daniel Schmidt. “The guys did a tremendous job. We were close again.”

3A STATE WRESTLING
TEAM SCORES—1—Scott City 98.5; 2—Hoisington 92.5; 3—Hoxie 82.5; 4—Smith Center 76.5; 5—Silver Lake 64; 6—Norton 63; 7—Colby 58.5; 8—Eureka 55.5; 9—Phillipsburg 54; 10—Goodand 53; 11—Wabauneee 51; 12—Marion 49; 13—Riley County 48; Rossville 48; 15—Cimarron 45; 16—Minneapolis 44; 17—Wathena-Riverside 43; 18—Plainville 40.5; 19—Wellsville 39; 20—Hill City 35.5
HOISINGTON RESULTS
120—Cole Steinert, HHS (18-13); Braiden Lynn, Cimarron pinned Steinert, HHS, 3:35; Colton Scholtz, Effingham def. Steinert, 12-11
138—Tanner Cassity, HHS (38-5), fifth; Cassity def. Konnor Pfeifer, Ellis, 13-3; Luke Richard, Riley Co. def. Cassity, 18-8; Cassity pinned Luke Oatney, Pleasant Ridge, 1:47; Cassity def. Brennan Lowe, Eureka, 13-2; Zane Stanton, Caney Valley def. Cassity, 14-8; 5TH PLACE—Cassity pinned Matt Weilert, Fredonia, 2:07
152—Christopher Ball, (44-1), first; C. Ball def. Wylie Weems, Hoxie, 13-2; C. Ball pinned Kinstin Juhl, Riverside, 2:45; C. Ball def. Sean Rall, 11-0; 1ST PLACE—C. Ball def. Colton Hutchinson, Smith Center, 3-0
160—Joshua Ball, HHS (39-7), sixth; J. Ball pinned Ky Greenfield, Douglass, 2:45; Zeb Speer, Highland-Doniphan West pinned J. Ball, 1:23; J. Ball pinned Brayden Seimears, Wathena-Riverside, 3:34; J. Ball def. Morgan Rains, Oakley, 15-4; Jaret Jurgens Scott City pinned J. Ball, 0:59; 5TH PLACE—Cole Amlong, Norton def. J. Ball, 10-5
170—Sean Urban, HHS (41-2), third; Urban def. Sterling Harp, SE Saline, 17-2; Urban def. Maverick Green, Atwood, 3-2; Gable Howerton, Silver Lake def. Urban, 10-2; Urban def. Zach Schneider, Ellsworth, 9-4; 3RD PLACE—Urban def. Kory Finley, Colby, 3-2, OT
182—Wyatt Pedigo, HHS (38-3), first; Pedigo pinned Evan Peter, Goodland, 1:42; Pedigo def. Matt Cruickshank, St. Marys, 3-2; Pedigo def. Jared Miller, Oskaloosa, 8-2; 1ST PLACE—Pedigo def. Tyson Villalpando, Minneapolis, 2-1
FINAL RESULTS
106—1—Beltz, Eureka; 2—Sugarra, Hill City; 3—Aschenbrenner, Colby; 4—Lenker, Phillipsburgn; 5—Shoemaker, Smith Center; 6—Ragland, Pleasant Ridge
113—1—Beltz, Eureka; 2—Ware, Wellsville; Allen, SilVer Lake; 4—Dodson, Douglass; 5—Sherman, Hoxie; 6—Roth, Minneapolis
120—1—Sisson, Phillipsburg; 2—Reddick, Fredonia; 3—King, St. Marys; 4—Harris, Beloit; 5—Weimer, Hoxie; 6—Talkington, Belleville
126—1—McDaniel, Scott City; 2—Priddy, Silver Lake; 3—Grafel, Oberlin; 4—Ewing, Wellsville; 5—Schoenberger, Russell; 6—Rendus, Belleville
132—1—Tubbs, Wabaunsee; 2—Wren, Scott City; 3—Johnson, Norton; 4—Lenker, Phillipsburg; 5—Atwood, Smith Center; 6—Goans, Lyons
138—1—Droegemeier, Wabaunsee; 2—Richard, Riley Co.; 3—Ensign, Goodland; 4—Stanton, Caaney Valley; 5—Cassity, Hoisington; 6—Weilert, Fredonia
145—1—Porsch, Hoxie; 2—Resler, Wathena-Riverside; 3—Heise, Osborne; 4—Perez, Lakin; 5—Hamel, Hill City; 6—Mason, Oberlin
152—1—C. Ball, Hoisington; 2—Hutchinson, Smith Center; 3—Rall, Colby; 4—Colson, Mankato; 5—Rodriguez, SE Saline; 6—Kuder, Minneapolis
160—1—Luellen, Rossville; 2—Finnesy, Plainville; 3—Jurgens, Scott City; 4—Speer, Doniphan West; 5—Amlong, Norton; 6—J. Ball, Hoisington
170—1—Hayes, Scott City; 2—Howerton, Silver Lake; 3—Urban, Hoisington; 4—Finley, Colby; 5—Schneider, Ellsworth; 6—Green, Atwood
182—1—Pedigo, Hoisington; 2—Villalpando, Minneapolis; 3—Waggoner, Riley Co; 4—Newton, Cimarron; 5—Petrie, Norton; 6—Miller, Oskaloosa
195—1—Seabolt, Cimarron; 2—Palic, Marion; 3—Davenport, Ell-Saline; 4—Wiltfong, Norton; 5—Jenkermeier, Plainville; 6—Dodson, Cherryvale
220—1—Cox, Hoxie; 2—Ledesma, Goodland; 3—Doyle, St. Francis; 4—Nordquist, Marion; 5—Gerber, Chaparral; 6—Dunn, WaKeeney
285—1—Strahm, Sabetha; 2—Hawkins, Smith Center; 3—Panzer, Lakin; 4—Eslinger, Chaparral; 5—Bustillos, Goodland; 6—McLinden, Marion