Indians Compete in State Wrestling
Two St. Francis Indian wrestlers, Clay DeWaal and Shakotah Blanka, competed in the 3,2,1A State Wrestling Tournament in Hays on February 27-28, 2015. Both competed well, but neither Indian placed in the tournament. As a team, St. Francis placed 46th with 6 team points.
Norton won the team championship scoring 118.5 team points. Norton did not have any individual champions, but placed seven wrestlers in the tournament. Hoisington placed second with 104.5 points and Rossville 3rd with 99.0. Other team placings and team scores were: 4. Silver Lake 86.0; 5. Scott Community 78.0; 6. Marion 59.0; 7. St. Mary`s 54.5; 8. Oberlin-Decatur Community 54.0; 9. Atwood-Rawlins County 52.0; 10. Smith Center 49.5; 11. Marysville 44.0; 11. Oakley 44.0; 13. Caney Valley 40.0; 14. Wabaunsee 39.5; 15. Sabetha 38.0; 16. Council Grove 34.0; 17. Effingham-Atchison County 32.5; 18. Leon Bluestem 31.0; 19. Eureka 29.5; 20. Burlington 28.5; 21. Anthony/Harper-Chaparral 28.0; 22. Cherryvale 27.0; 23. Belleville-Republic County 26.0; 23. Hoxie 26.0; 23. Lyons 26.0; 26. Cimarron 24.5; 27. Bennington 24.0; 27. Ellis 24.0; 27. Troy 24.0; 30. Beloit 22.0; 30. Douglass 22.0; 32. Fredonia 21.5; 32. Russell 21.5; 34. Tribune-Greeley County 21.0; 34. Wellsville 21.0; 36. Phillipsburg 20.0; 37. Highland Doniphan West 19.0; 38. Mound City-Jayhawk Linn 18.0; 39. Minneapolis 16.0; 39. Sterling 16.0; 41. Hill City 13.0; 41. Richmond-Central Heights 13.0; 43. Onaga 12.0; 44. Riley County 10.0; 45. Osborne 7.0; 46. St. Francis 6.0; 47. Ellsworth 4.0; 47. McLouth 4.0; 47. Salina Sacred Heart 4.0; 50. Burden-Central 3.5; 51. Easton Pleasant Ridge 3.0; 51. Garden Plain 3.0; 51. Hillsboro 3.0; 51. Wathena Riverside 3.0; 55. Hesston 2.0; 55. Lakin 2.0; 55. WaKeeney-Trego Community 2.0; 58. Howard-West Elk 1.0; 58. Leoti-Wichita County 1.0; 58. Plainville 1.0; 61. Cottonwood Falls-Chase County 0.0; 61. Gypsum-SE Of Saline 0.0; 61. Halstead 0.0; 61. Herington 0.0; 61. Langdon-Fairfield 0.0; 61. Stafford 0.0; and 61. Sublette 0.0.
Individual State Champions
106 - Zachary Tucker - Scott Community
113 - Bryce Gfeller - Rossville
120 - Hunter Ostertag - Effingham-Atchinson Co.
126 - David Hileman - Smith Center
132 - Tristan Porsch - Hoxie
138 - Brandon Ball - Hoisington
145 - Corey Tyler - St. Mary’s
152 - Greg Tooley - St. Mary’s
160 - Chuck Schmidt - Eureka
170 - Josh Nelson - Marysville
182 - Isaac Luellen - Rossville
195 - Tristan Speer - Troy
220 - Kyle Palic - Marion
285 - Jaden Helms - Anthony-Chaparral
Below are the individual match results for the Indian wrestlers:
145 - Clay De Waal complete the season with a 14-10 record. Clay scored 2.50 team points in the State Tournament.
Champ. Round 1 - Corey Tyler (St. Mary`s) 51-1 won by major decision over Clay De Waal (St. Francis) 13-8 (MD 15-6)
Cons. Round 1 - Clay De Waal (St. Francis) 13-8 won by tech fall over Thomas Yurko (Burlington) 17-25 (TF-1.5 0:00 (17-2))
Cons. Round 2 - Tommy Truesdale (Riley County) 27-16 won by fall over Clay De Waal (St. Francis) 13-8 (Fall 0:55)
Click here to view Clay's 145 pound bracket.
285 - Shakotah Blanka complete the season with a 21-12 record. Shakotah scored 3.50 team points in the State Tournament.
Champ. Round 1 - Shakotah Blanka (St. Francis) 20-10 won by tech fall over Ryan Rose (Wabaunsee) 26-14 (TF-1.5 0:00 (17-1))
Quarterfinal - Jacob McCurdy (Lyons) 37-3 won by fall over Shakotah Blanka (St. Francis) 20-10 (Fall 2:31)
Cons. Round 2 - Jacob Leuthold (Sabetha) 24-5 won by decision over Shakotah Blanka (St. Francis) 20-10 (Dec 1-0)
Click here to view Shakotah's 285 pound bracket.
Coach Dylan Loyd shared the following comments, "Overall, this was an outstanding state tournament when it comes down to talent. There were a lot of quality wrestlers there this weekend and it was a joy to be able to watch some of the state’s finest and see the different styles that this state has to offer. As far as our team goes we didn’t perform like I had hoped, sadly we just didn’t wrestle up to our potential. Going into it we obviously knew that it was going to be tough, anytime you are competing at any state tournament you know the quality of your opponents is going to be high. You don’t get to state on accident so you have got to be prepared each time you step on the mat and absolutely cannot afford to ever overlook anyone. I truly thought we had a pretty decent shot bringing home two state medals, but sometimes things don’t go as planned and you can always question it, but in the end all we can do is make the improvements that are needed to be made. I believe that if the state tournament were to be wrestled this coming weekend you wouldn’t see the same six placers, and that just shows the depth in both weights, and that can be said for all weight classes. Across the whole state of Kansas, kids are getting better, it’s always been known that Western Kansas has pretty much dominated the state but, that can’t really be said anymore because Eastern Kansas in the last couple of years have really produced some tough wrestlers, and they keep getting better. It just goes to show that if you want to be able to compete at a high level you have to be willing to do more than what you’re asked to do, you have to be willing to step out of your comfort zone. You have to be willing to put in the time - wrestle in the offseason, do Kansas Kids, wrestle Freestyle/Greco, go to camps in the summer, get stronger in the weight room, and the list goes on. You cannot expect to get any results by not doing anything outside of wrestling season. You used to be able to get away with that but now you just can’t. There are more opportunities today for kids to get better than there ever has been before and if you want to improve you have got to use those opportunities to your advantage. Right now for our program I believe we have some kids that are willing to do just that to get to where they want to go and all we can do is steer them in the right direction. This offseason will be crucial for the direction of our program.
Individually, Clay was in a very tough and deep weight class with 8 returning state placers. I thought he had a chance to get through and stand on that podium but, we knew it was going to be a battle. His first match was against a very tough kid who ended up winning this bracket. In my eyes I think Clay can go toe to toe with that kid but, that kid just kept coming at us and we couldn’t get him out of position. On the backside Clay had a dominating win over a kid from Burlington and then fell to a Riley County kid. In that last match Clay was actually dominating the match leading at the time 6-3 I believe and got caught in a bad position where he probably should have just bailed and was pinned. Clay was clearly the better wrestler and it was just one of them deals where I think all of us were just at a loss for words. It was unfortunate and still am having a hard time processing it and why it had to happen but, that’s just part of the sport and that’s what makes it so great. Clay has one more shot at this next year and up to this point he has done an awful lot in the offseason to improve, and it will be crucial for him to continue to step out of his comfort zone and better himself whether it be going to camps, wrestling freestyle/Greco, lifting weights, etc. I have no doubts Clay will do those things. Right now it’s hard to get back up on your feet when you come up short of a goal but, you have to have a short memory and get back up on your feet and continue to work to get better.
Shakotah also competed in a pretty deep weight class where there was a good nucleus of guys who all could have won on any given day. Right out of the gate Shakotah was dominant defeating his first opponent from Wabaunsee 17-1; he wrestled a great match and really set the tone early. In his quarter final match he matched up with a tough kid from Lyons who ended up placing 2nd. Shakotah technically was right there with this kid but, just got caught in a throw with a lot of time left and wasn’t able to get off his back. On the backside he dropped a close match 1-0 to a kid from Sabetha who ended up placing 4th. He was right there and it was tough to see him come up just short. It’s always tough to see a senior come up short of their goals. He has put in a lot of time doing the things it takes to get better, and it’s hard to process it. Anytime you come up short of a goal it’s always heartbreaking and it’s difficult to even talk about it. You ask why it had to happen but, sometimes there are no answers. He had himself a good season, a good career, and he will be missed.
We will be losing a couple of seniors this year that cannot be replaced. I thank them for all the sacrifices they made to our program and their commitment to work hard to be the very best that they can be, and we all are going to miss them. Luckily, we will have a good nucleus coming back next season, and I am looking forward to seeing what they all do this offseason to get better. I know that not one of our wrestlers accomplished the goals they had set for themselves this season, but how they respond to that is a testament to their character, and I hope they remember this feeling as they train this offseason. It is time for St. Francis wrestling to get back to where we need to be; I believe that we are beginning to scratch the surface of our potential, but like everything you appreciate in life you have got to earn it. Also, thank you to all the fans who supported our qualifiers this weekend down in Hays. I’m thankful and grateful for the support this community has for its wrestling program. St. Francis Wrestling is and always will be a “Tradition of Excellence.”