St. Francis 13th at Tournament of Champions
The St. Francis wrestling team competed in the Western Kansas Tournament of Champions on Friday, January 27, in Ellis. The Indians scored 26 team points to place 13th in the tournament. Three Indians earned individual placings in the tournament; Aaron White - 5th at 106, Tiernan Poling - 5th at 126, and Cody Baxter - 5th at 160.
Norton won the team championship with 186 team points. Smith Center was a distant second with 126.5 points. Other teams placings were: 3rd - Decatur Community 111, 4th - Phillipsburg 107, 5th - Oakley 93, 6th - Rawlins County 84, 7th - Hoxie 83.5, 8th - Thomas More Prep-Marian 79, 9th - Plainville High School 77.5, 10th - Ellis 67.5, 11th - Trego County Community High School 67, 12th - Hill City 58, 13th - St. Francis 26, 14th - Stockton 13, and 15th - Greeley County High School 9.
Individual results for the St. Francis competitors are listed below.
106 - Aaron White (3-16) placed 5th and scored 0.00 team points.
Round 1 - Dylan Weimer (Hoxie) 11-7 won by fall over Aaron White (St. Francis) 3-16 (Fall 0:52)
Round 2 - Aaron Lenker (Phillipsburg) 17-9 won by fall over Aaron White (St. Francis) 3-16 (Fall 2:00)
Round 3 - Wes Phillips (Oakley) 6-5 won by fall over Aaron White (St. Francis) 3-16 (Fall 0:49)
Round 4 - Camdyn Unterseher (Norton) 8-10 won by major decision over Aaron White (St. Francis) 3-16 (MD 12-2)
126 - Tiernan Poling (13-11) placed 5th and scored 12.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Tiernan Poling (St. Francis) 13-11 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Tiernan Poling (St. Francis) 13-11 won by fall over Thomas Lovewell (Thomas More Prep-Marian) 9-11 (Fall 1:48)
Semifinal - Bryce Younger (Ellis) 19-3 won by tech fall over Tiernan Poling (St. Francis) 13-11 (TF-1.5 5:39 (17-1))
Cons. Semi - Colton Tiemeyer (Rawlins County) 10-15 won by fall over Tiernan Poling (St. Francis) 13-11 (Fall 3:42)
5th Place Match - Tiernan Poling (St. Francis) 13-11 won by major decision over Brandon Rohr (Plainville High School) 16-15 (MD 14-0)
160 - Cody Baxter (11-9) placed 5th and scored 14.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Cody Baxter (St. Francis) 11-9 won by fall over Adson Day (Hill City) 2-15 (Fall 2:24)
Quarterfinal - Trenton Chisham (Norton) 17-9 won by fall over Cody Baxter (St. Francis) 11-9 (Fall 1:16)
Cons. Round 2 - Cody Baxter (St. Francis) 11-9 won by major decision over Aaron Moss (Smith Center) 7-9 (MD 14-4)
Cons. Round 3 - Cody Baxter (St. Francis) 11-9 won by fall over Gavin Schumacher (Thomas More Prep-Marian) 7-7 (Fall 2:24)
Cons. Semi - Maverick Green (Rawlins County) 24-5 won by fall over Cody Baxter (St. Francis) 11-9 (Fall 4:10)
5th Place Match - Cody Baxter (St. Francis) 11-9 won by rule over Jalen Basart (Stockton) 14-12 (RULE)
182 - Seth Hilt (1-12) scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Preston Nollette (Oakley) 8-15 won by fall over Seth Hilt (St. Francis) 1-12 (Fall 0:36)
Cons. Round 1 - Seth Hilt (St. Francis) 1-12 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 2 - Cauy Hayes (Rawlins County) 15-10 won by fall over Seth Hilt (St. Francis) 1-12 (Fall 0:56)
195 - Luin Norris (5-7) scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Luin Norris (St. Francis) 5-7 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Dajuen Chapman (Hill City) 15-9 won by fall over Luin Norris (St. Francis) 5-7 (Fall 3:15)
Cons. Round 2 - Dillon Dunn (Trego County Community High School) 7-11 won by fall over Luin Norris (St. Francis) 5-7 (Fall 4:10)
Coach Dylan Loyd submitted the following comments:
Most Outstanding Wrestler:
The St. Francis coaching staff has selected both Tiernan Poling and Cody Baxter as co-wrestlers of the week.Both sophomores were able to place at the always tough Western Kansas Tournament of Champions in Ellis this past Friday.
Coach’s Comments:
"This past Friday we were able to travel down to Ellis and compete in the always tough Western Kansas Tournament of Champions. They started this tournament a few years back and is one that always has state/regional implications involved. This year was no different as our regional tournament will look fairly similar to this one here in a couple of weeks. It’s always good to be able to see this quality of competition. It may not always look great in the win column but, competing against some of the best kids around is what these guys need to get better. The MCL schools have always been just very physically dominant and there were a lot of impressive teams and individuals at this tournament. Right now, at this point of the season guys are starting to separate themselves from the rest of the pack.The season is getting to that point where the guys who believe in themselves and have the mental toughness to withstand the grind of the season stand above everyone else. We are not at that point yet but, we have some guys who still need to figure out just how good they are.
Individually, Aaron White battled tough again all day. He is wrestling in a weight class with a lot of depth and with a lot of young wrestlers who just have a lot of experience. In past years, you typically don’t see this amount of experience at this weight class. Aaron continues to get better each week, and he’s always improving. Right now, he just needs to really hunker down and correct some mental mistakes and just keep chipping away. Tiernan Poling had a decent weekend. He came right out the gate strong beating a pretty good kid first round convincingly, and that kid actually came back and took third. He had one little slip up in the match to get in for 3rd/4th and took a loss to a kid he had hammered a couple weeks back. That loss stung a little bit because Tiernan had a great shot at finishing third this weekend and had that happened he could have really felt good about where he’s at. I was happy with how he responded from that tough loss. He beat a returning state qualifier 14-0 in his 5th/6th place match to finish the day. He’s just got to keep working on his shots and shot defense to get to where he wants to go. Cody Baxter had a good weekend. It was good for him to get the 5 matches especially where he hadn’t wrestled for a few weeks. You could tell in his first match that his timing was a bit off but, after that match he started to open up more and got to his attacks on his feet. He’s right on the cusp of doing some great things; he’s just got to get that confidence in himself to know that he can go with and beat anyone. He gets to where he believes in himself he can do some big things. Seth Hilt had a tough weekend again. Just right now he’s wrestling guys with more experience and more horse power. Wrestling this weight class is tough under any circumstance but, when you’re a young freshman it’s even more difficult. He’s just got to keep working hard and trust in the process. Luin Norris had a disappointing weekend. Going into the tournament he was set up to have a lot of success but, he just made some mental errors that cost him matches. He is one that hasn’t been able to put it altogether in a match yet. In the practice room, he is a completely different wrestler; he opens up and isn’t afraid to try things. He has got to overcome that if he wants to achieve these high ends of the year goals.
This week we will travel to Leoti on Friday to compete in the Leoti Invitational. This will be our second year of competing in this tournament. Right now, the most important thing for us is to get some confidence. We have had a pretty tough run of tournaments here in the month of January. We need to really figure some things out and really work on correcting these mistakes we continue to make. The end of the season is near and this is the time of year where things get fun. Everybody is nursing some sort of injury, but the guys who believe are the ones who always separate themselves. We have to start believing and when we do the opportunity to do big things will be there."
The Indians will wrestle in the Leoti Invitational on Friday, February 3.
