NWKL Wrestling Tournament Held in St. Francis
The Northwest Kansas League Wrestling Tournament was held in St. Francis on Saturday, January 30th. Seven teams from the NWKL competed in the tournament. (Quinter did not participate in the tournament.) Colby ran away with the team championship scoring 186 points (four champions, 2 second place finishers, and 7 third place winners). Oakley and Hoxie tied for second place in the team standings with 122 points. Goodland placed fourth (116), Rawlins County 5th (101), and Decatur Community 6th (68). St. Francis placed 7th in the team standings with 65 points.
Casey Keller placed 3rd at 103 pounds. Casey defeated Matthew Helm of Decatur Community by major decision (11-2) in the first round but lost to John Solko of Rawlins County 6-2 in the semi-finals. Casey defeated Cory Howard of Oakley by major decision (12-3) to earn third place.
Mikey Leibbrandt wrestled at 112 pounds for the Indians. Mikey received a bye in round one. Mikey lost to Nathan Reed of Colby by technical fall (17-2) in the semi-finals. Jacob Helm of Decatur County defeated Mikey by a 4-2 decision in the consolation bracket. Mikey did not place in the tournament.
At 119 pounds, Freddy Pacheco received a bye in round one. Freddy lost a major decision (14-5) to Garth Griffith of Rawlins County in the semi-finals. Freddy then defeated Mat Heim of Hoxie by fall (2:06) to advance to the third place match. Freddy lost a tough 13-12 decision to Kade Brown of Decatur Community to place fourth.
St. Francis was open at 125 and 130 pounds. Terrence Lamb placed 2nd at 135 pounds. Terrence received a bye in round one and decisioned Dalton Snyder of Colby 9-3 in the semi-finals. Terrence lost by fall (5:03) to Jace Campbell of Oakley to earn second place.
Dylan Wolaver lost to Brandon Leth of Colby by technical fall (18-2) in round one. Dylan received a bye in the consolation first round and won by fall (4:40) over Britton Sealock of Hoxie in the second consolation round. Dylan again met Brandon Leth of Colby in the third place match and lost 15-9 to earn fourth place.
At 145 pounds, Darris Keller placed fourth. Darris won by technical fall (17-0) over Matt Glading of Decatur Community in the first round. Darris then lost to eventual champion Kevin Wolters of Rawlins County by 10-6 decision in the semi-finals. Darris defeated Clayton Shamberger of Hoxie in the second round of consolation matches by fall in 2:09. Bob Schroeder of Colby defeated Darris in the third place match by an 8-5 decison.
Thomas Douthit (152 pounds) lost to Dylan Bainter of Hoxie in round one by fall in the second period. Thomas received a bye in first consolation round and lost to Nate Cox of Oakley by 2-1 decision in the second round of consolation. Thomas did not place in the tournament.
Grady Brunk was defeated by Daniel Jordan of Decatur Community 9-3 in round one. Grady received a bye in the first consolation round and defeated Zack Ruda of Rawlins County by fall (2:52) to move into the third place match. Grady lost a disappointing 3-2 decision to Daniel Jordan of Decatur Community to take fourth place at 160 pounds.
At 171 pounds, Zach Gienger placed fourth. Zach lost to Brandon Salmons of Hoxie by fall (2nd period) in round one. Zach received a bye in the first consolation round and then defeated Jason Berkgren of Oakley by technical fall (20-4) to advance to the third place match. Clayton Applehans of Colby defeated Zach by 4-2 decision in the third place match.
Adam Guthmiller did not wrestle at 189 pound for the Indians due to injury. Adam has only 2 losses on the season, a hopefully will be ready to wrestle again soon. St. Francis was open at 215 and 285 pounds also.
The 2010 Northwest Kansas League Tournament was the last time the tournament will include the NWKL schools as we generally know them. With the upcoming school year (2010-2011) both Colby and Goodland will no longer be members of the Northwest Kansas League.
Next action for the Indian wrestlers will be on Thursday, February 4th when they host the Decatur Community Red Devils.
To view more photos of the NWKL Tournament, click the "Photos" link on the left and then click on "NWKL Wrestling Tournament--1/30/2010."
Click here to view complete tournament brackets
Click here for results by weight
