Indians Wrestle In Regional; Poling Qualifies for State
Launch the media gallery 1 playerImage by Lifetouch
The St. Francis High School wrestling team competed in the 321-A Regional Wrestling Tournament in WaKeeney on Friday and Saturday, February 17 & 18,.along with 24 other high school teams. The Indians placed 17th as a team scoring 27 points. Norton Community won the tournament with 183 team points. Smith Center placed second with 145 points.
The remainder of the team scores were as follows: 3rd - Decatur Community 121, 4th - Oakley 98, 5th - Hoxie 91, 6th -Phillipsburg 78, 7th - Rawlins County 71, 8th - Cimarron 69, 9th - Russell 66, 10th - Ellis 64, 11th - Trego Community 57, 12th - Lakin 56, 13th - Plainville 51, 14th - Hays - TMP 49, 15th - Hill City 48, 16th - Hugoton - 35.5, 17th - St. Francis 27, 18th - Greeley County 12, 19th - Wichita County 8, 20th (tie) - Montezuma-South Gray 3, 20th (tie) - Stockton 3, 22nd - Logan 2, 23rd (tie) - Brewster 0, 23rd (tie) - Palco 0, 23rd (tie) 0.
Sophomore Tiernan Poling qualified for the Kansas State Wrestling Tournament to be held in Hays, Kansas, on Friday and Saturday, February 24 and 25, by placing 3rd in the 126 pound division. Tiernan will wrestle junior Zane Stanton (6-3) of Caney Valley in the first round of competition.
Individual results for St. Francis wrestlers are listed below.
106 - Aaron White (8-21) scored 0.00 team points. Click for 106 bracket.
Quarterfinal - Braiden Lynn (Cimarron) 25-4 won by fall over Aaron White (St. Francis) 8-21 (Fall 1:47)
Cons. Round 1 - Camdyn Unterseher (Norton Community) 16-14 won by fall over Aaron White (St. Francis) 8-21 (Fall 1:22)
126 - Tiernan Poling (24-13) placed 3rd and scored 14.00 team points. Click for 126 bracket.
Champ. Round 1 - Tiernan Poling (St. Francis) 24-13 won by fall over Trenton Howell (Stockton) 13-15 (Fall 1:23)
Quarterfinal - Tiernan Poling (St. Francis) 24-13 won by decision over Kayden Christiansen (Lakin) 20-6 (Dec 3-2)
Semifinal - Kade Unterseher (Norton Community) 12-8 won by fall over Tiernan Poling (St. Francis) 24-13 (Fall 4:38)
Cons. Semi - Tiernan Poling (St. Francis) 24-13 won by decision over James Keith (Hill City) 17-12 (Dec 8-6)
3rd Place Match - Tiernan Poling (St. Francis) 24-13 won in overtime over Drew Juenemann (Oberlin-Decatur Community) 20-12 (OT 8-6)
160 - Cody Baxter (23-11) scored 7.00 team points. Click for 160 bracket.
Champ. Round 1 - Cody Baxter (St. Francis) 23-11 won by fall over Kobe Spiess (Plainville) 13-19 (Fall 0:55)
Quarterfinal - Auston Holzmeister (Oakley) 19-8 won by fall over Cody Baxter (St. Francis) 23-11 (Fall 1:14)
Cons. Round 2 - Cody Baxter (St. Francis) 23-11 won by fall over Aron Castillo (Leoti-Wichita County) 2-20 (Fall 0:42)
Cons. Round 3 - Aaron Moss (Smith Center) 14-15 won by fall over Cody Baxter (St. Francis) 23-11 (Fall 2:14)
182 - Seth Hilt (2-19) scored 0.00 team points. Click for 182 bracket.
Champ. Round 1 - Dayton Kempt (Oberlin-Decatur Community) 16-8 won by fall over Seth Hilt (St. Francis) 2-19 (Fall 0:51)
Cons. Round 1 - Cody Dollison (Russell) 10-19 won by fall over Seth Hilt (St. Francis) 2-19 (Fall 0:42)
195 - Luin Norris (12-10) scored 6.00 team points. Click for 195 bracket.
Champ. Round 1 - Derek Bogner (Cimarron) 20-10 won by fall over Luin Norris (St. Francis) 12-10 (Fall 3:16)
Cons. Round 1 - Luin Norris (St. Francis) 12-10 won by fall over Adan Vera (Hugoton) 2-16 (Fall 1:28)
Cons. Round 2 - Luin Norris (St. Francis) 12-10 won by fall over Ashton Hawkins (Smith Center) 5-6 (Fall 3:30)
Cons. Round 3 - Reegon Witt (Oberlin-Decatur Community) 20-16 won by fall over Luin Norris (St. Francis) 12-10 (Fall 3:59)
Coach Dylan Loyd added the following comments.
Coach’s Comments:
"This past weekend we traveled to WaKeeney to compete in the 3-2-1A Regional Tournament. Much like past years the depth and competition at this regional was top notch. It has become a pretty common theme every year for us to be a part of arguably the toughest Regional Tournament in 3-2-1A. This year proved to be much of the same and I was pleased with how these guys battled. We had some matches that slipped through our fingers a little bit, but we battled. At the end of the weekend you look back on your performances and wish to get some of those matches back, but you can’t. Lucky for us every one of these young men who battled this weekend will be back next season. They may have come up short on what they wanted to accomplish but, any time you fall short you have to learn and grow from it. The best competitors don’t let the tough losses get to them. They use them as motivation and though dealing with that heartbreak is hard; it’s vital to remember that feeling as you train throughout the off-season. I have a lot of faith in these guys and it’s important to point out the amount of growth they all have shown throughout this season.
Individually, Aaron White was a tremendous surprise as he went through this season. This is a young man who doesn’t have a whole lot of experience, but what he lacks in that he makes up for with his preparation and work ethic. He came a long way this season and really took a step forward this weekend. He took his losses pretty hard this weekend and as a coach I love to see that. I love to see that because you could see it in his eyes how important this was to him. Moving forward I have a lot of faith in this young man. You know every day he’s going to give you his best, and not surprisingly he’s already putting the time in for next season. Tiernan Poling- what can you say? We were able to truly witness this young man coming into his own this weekend. We all knew he was more than capable of doing what he did this weekend. He truly has done the things he needed to do to get better and all that started right after last season. I think the biggest thing for him this weekend was just finally figuring out and believing just how tough and good he is. He battled tough and he showed us all the amount of heart he has. Cody Baxter competed in a tough and deep weight this past weekend and we knew he had the talent to qualify. He battled tough in every match and his last match I know is one that he would like to have back. He’s battled some injuries here this past month and a half, and that was tough on him. Talent wise this kid is one of the best in this weight. Right now, Cody just has to get it in his head and know/believe how good he is. I don’t think he has really scratched the surface of his potential yet. Seth Hilt really opened my eyes this season. I know he didn’t have the success that he wanted to have but, he really came a long way. He works hard every day and is another one that has a lot of growth and development in him. He didn’t start wrestling until his 7th grade year, so he’s short a little bit of experience but, that’s something he can offset with his work ethic. Wrestling is all about mental toughness and knowing every time you step out on that mat that you’re going to be in the match. He hasn’t reached that point yet, you can see in his wrestling that he still hesitates but, I have faith in him and I’m proud to see how far he came throughout this season. Luin Norris was good enough to qualify this weekend. He wasn’t lacking when it came to talent. He just made some mental errors that I know he’d love to have back. This guy has come a long way from his freshman year. He does things the right way but, he’s another one that just has to get that confidence in himself. When that light switch goes off in his mind and he truly starts to believe in himself the sky is the limit for him. He had a great season, he won a couple of varsity tournaments this year which shows how far he’s come. He is taking steps in the right direction, and I’m fortunate to have him back next season.
This upcoming weekend Tiernan will be representing this storied program at the 3-2-1A State Wrestling Tournament in Hays. I’m looking forward to watching him compete this weekend and continue to take steps forward. Half of the battle is getting there, he’s punched his ticket and now its time for him to continue to take steps forward. He will be ready to go and its going to be a lot of fun!"
