Indians Score 39 at Badger Invitational
On Saturday, December 10, the St. Francis Indian wrestling team traveled to Limon, Colorado, to compete in the Limon Badger Invitational. The Indians placed 15th in the team standings when the scored were tallied. The Indians scored 39 team points. Trayton Doyle placed 2nd at 220 pounds as was the only Indian to place in the competition.
Sedgwick County-Fleming won the tournament with 129 team points. Fowler placed second with 115. The remainder of the team finishes were: 3rd - Rawlins County 105; 4th - Peyton 100; 5th - Crowley County 77; 6th - Burlington 70; 7th - Limon 66; 8th - Akron 61; 9th - Merino 60.5; 10th - Yuma 54.5; 11th - Wiggins 50; 12th - Eads 45; 13th - Holly 42.5; 14th - McClave 41; 15th - St. Francis 39; 16th - Stratton 38; 17th - Lyons 31; 18th - Cheyenne Wells 29; 19th - Simla 26; - 20th - Byers 20; 21st - Miami-Yoder 19; 22nd - Kiowa 12; and 23rd - Calhan 5.0.
Individual results for St. Francis wrestlers are listed below.
106 - Aaron White (1-4) place scored 3.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Isaiah Martinez (Sedgwick County-Fleming) 6-3 won by decision over Aaron White 1-4 (Dec 8-2)
Cons. Round 1 - Aaron White 1-4 won by fall over Julian Nelson (Lyons) 0-2 (Fall 0:37)
Cons. Semi - Alec Holtorf (Yuma) 3-4 won by decision over Aaron White 1-4 (Dec 4-3)
106 - Perla Yanez (0-5).
Quarterfinal - Alec Holtorf (Yuma) 3-4 won by fall over Perla Yanez 0-5 (Fall 3:07)
Cons. Round 1 - Alissa Ervin (Miami-Yoder) 1-2 won by decision over Perla Yanez 0-5 (Dec 13-12)
132 - Tiernan Poling (4-4) scored 4.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Tiernan Poling 4-4 won by decision over Zeke Buker (Kiowa) 6-3 (Dec 7-6)
Quarterfinal - Tiernan Poling 4-4 won in overtime over Cameron Holm (Wiggins) 5-4 (OT 14-12)
Semifinal - Justin Traxler (Akron) 4-2 won by fall over Tiernan Poling 4-4 (Fall 0:50)
Cons. Semi - Beau Parker (Sedgwick County-Fleming) 10-4 won by fall over Tiernan Poling 4-4 (Fall 2:14)
160 - Cody Baxter (4-4) scored 7.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Alex Covarrubias (Yuma) 3-4 won by fall over Cody Baxter 4-4 (Fall 2:07)
Cons. Round 1 - Cody Baxter 4-4 won by fall over AJ Wilk (McClave) 0-3 (Fall 4:33)
Cons. Round 2 - Cody Baxter 4-4 won by fall over Sam Moore (Cheyenne Wells) 2-4 (Fall 2:03)
Cons. Round 3 - Cody Baxter 4-4 won by decision over Wyatt Buccelli (Sedgwick County-Fleming) 5-4 (Dec 11-10)
Cons. Semi - Chance Fowler (Eads) 7-2 won by fall over Cody Baxter 4-4 (Fall 3:10)
170 - Kouper McQuigg (3-4) scored 6.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Dahlton McGhee (Fowler) 9-0 won by fall over Kouper McQuigg 3-4 (Fall 2:18)
Cons. Round 1 - Kouper McQuigg 3-4 won by major decision over Max Quint (Merino) 1-5 (MD 11-1)
Cons. Round 2 - Kouper McQuigg 3-4 won by fall over Devon Harshman (Wiggins) 3-5 (Fall 1:31)
Cons. Round 3 - Kouper McQuigg 3-4 won by decision over Trystan Hanks (Peyton) 2-2 (Dec 5-0)
Cons. Semi - Cade Rober (Sedgwick County-Fleming) 6-1 won by decision over Kouper McQuigg 3-4 (Dec 8-3)
182 - Seth Hilt (1-4) 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Pj Shurr (Crowley County) 5-3 won by fall over Seth Hilt 1-4 (Fall 0:56)
Cons. Round 1 - Wade Mathewson (Merino) 3-5 won by fall over Seth Hilt (St. 1-4 (Fall 0:52)
220 - Trayton Doyle (4-2) placed 2nd and scored 20.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Trayton Doyle 4-2 won by fall over Sam Leary (Peyton) 1-4 (Fall 0:32)
Quarterfinal - Trayton Doyle 4-2 won by fall over Jayce Bauer (McClave) 6-4 (Fall 0:28)
Semifinal - Trayton Doyle 4-2 won by decision over Ken Cox (McClave) 4-1 (Dec 10-4)
1st Place Match - Kaleb Gaede (Limon) 8-0 won by fall over Trayton Doyle 4-2 (Fall 3:03)
The Indians will wrestle in the Wray Invitational on Saturday, December 17.
Coach Dylan Loyd submitted the following comments:
Coach’s Awards:
Most Exciting Match - Tiernan Poling coming from behind to defeat Holm of Wiggins to advance to the semi-finals.
Coach’s Award - Aaron White
Practice Wrestler - Kouper McQuigg
Key Match Award - Trayton Doyle dominating Cox of McClave in a battle of returning state placers.
Most Outstanding Wrestler:
The St. Francis coaching staff has selected Trayton Doyle as the wrestler of the week. Trayton dominated his way to the finals of the Limon Badger Invitational where he was defeated by a returning state runner-up.
Coach’s Comments:
This was the third year now that we have traveled to Limon to compete in the Limon Badger Invitational. It always makes for a long day, but I like this tournament because of the different competition that we get to see. We have our schedule set up to where at the beginning of the season here we like to wrestle against different schools that we won’t see as we go through the year. This tournament has a lot of teams and every bracket typically is a full 16-man bracket. Our kids have the opportunity to get a lot of matches, and at the beginning of the year that is crucial. Right now, we are behind where most schools are just because we haven’t had the practices yet. Our focus has been on getting our core technique shown and after we have done that we will slowly build to get to where we need to be as we battle throughout this season.
Each week we talk to the kids about seeing improvement from week to week. This week we had several kids come within a match of placing which stinks because you want to see them get on that medal stand, but the improvements that were made from this week to last week were leaps and bounds. That is definitely something that we can build on. The effort is there, their willingness to compete is there, and I am excited to see where we go from here. One thing I really enjoyed seeing from a coaching perspective is the fact that this group has fun. It was fun to watch them interact amongst one another and watch them encourage each other. We talk an awful lot about love in our practice room and that is the foundation behind all good teams. This group has a genuine love for one another and I am grateful to be a part of it.
Individually, Aaron White had a really good weekend. He has really improved from where he was just 3 short weeks ago, I love this kids attitude. He will give you his very best every time he steps out on the mat, and he will battle. That alone will take him far in this sport. If he continues to go about things like he has by the end of the year I believe he can open up some eyes. Perla Yanez has been a joy. She broke down a barrier here and is the first female wrestler St. Francis wrestling has ever had. She really did a good job this weekend and I’m very proud of her. She was one mistake away from winning her last match, and she will work hard to clean that up. She’s another one who has a great attitude. Tiernan Poling did a really good job this weekend of battling. His first two matches were nail biters and he had to come behind in both of them to get the win. A year ago, Tiernan wouldn’t of won of those matches and that shows how far he has come. He definitely has somethings, like everyone, he needs to improve on but, I have faith and confidence that he will. He is starting to figure out how good he is, once he gets that self-confidence he can have himself one heck of a year. Cody Baxter did extremely well this weekend. His first match he had a brain fart and ended up in a bad situation that cost him the match. That loss set up for a tough day, but he won 3 tough matches in a row to get within one match of placing. He wrestled a kid that had more horse power to get in for third place. I think anytime you finish a day going 3-2 you can’t hang your head. He is starting to come around, he’s knocking some of the rust off, and once he starts flowing and getting that belief in himself he will open some eyes. Kouper McQuigg had a day much like the one Cody had. He lost his very first match and had to battle through the backdoor and he did a great job. He finished the day 3-2 and has a lot of momentum heading into this week. This kids stays after practice a couple times a week, he practices hard, he drills hard, and has an intensity not many kids can match. Once he slows down a bit and starts processing matches in his head he can go a long way in this sport. I’m excited for this kid. Seth Hilt had a tough day. He had a tough draw, and just made a couple of minor mistakes that he will fix. Seth is a good kid, he’s a hard worker, and he just needs to get a little more self-confidence. Anytime you are wrestling at a 182 lbs. as freshman it can weigh on you mentally, but I have a lot of faith in Seth. You know he will keep working and give you his very best every day. Trayton Doyle wrestled very well. His finals opponent was a stud and a 2x state placer in Colorado. You look at the result and see he was pinned, but he was actually ahead in that match. He just made one little mistake and against a kid of the Limon kid’s caliber it can cost you. He has improved a lot from where he was a year ago. He is starting to get a lot of confidence on his feet and is starting to look for more leg attacks on his. Every day he comes to practice with a purpose and that’s what it takes.
This week we will travel to Wray to compete in the Bob Smith Invitational. We have gone to this tournament for years and it is always a good one to end our “pre-season”. This will be our last time to compete before the Christmas break so, it will be very important for us to clean up some mistakes and go into break with some momentum. We need to continue to focus on getting better every day and continue to work hard to build up our conditioning, both physical and mental. With it being close to home we hope to have a lot of fan support up in Wray.
