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St. Francis Invitational Held

Luin

The St. Francis Indians placed 10th in the annual St. Francis Gable/Jenkins Invitational on Saturday, December 2. The Indians had nine wrestlers competing. Three St. Francis wrestlers placed in the top four positions in the tournament. Cody Baxter placed 3rd at 160 pounds. Garin Cooper and Luin Norris placed 4th at 126 and 195 pounds respectively.

Colby won the team championship scoring 128 team points. Goodland was a close 2nd with 124.1. Burlington nipped Wray for third place 107.5 to 107. The remainder of the competing teams finished in the following order: 5th-Sterling High School 98; 6th-Atwood-Rawlins County High School 77.5; 7th-Norton Community High School 69; 8th-WaKeeney-Trego Community 62; 9th-Leoti-Wichita County 47; 10th-St. Francis 39; 11th-Holyoke 32; 12th-Tribune-Greeley County 17; and 13th-Brewster 11.0.

Results for St. Francis wrestlers are listed below.
106 - Perla Yanez (0-4) placed 5th and scored 0.00 team points.
    Round 1 - Taye Payne (Goodland Cowboys) 3-1 won by fall over Perla Yanez (St. Francis ) 0-4 (Fall 1:13)
    Round 2 - Alex Paz (Atwood-Rawlins County High School) 2-2 won by fall over Perla Yanez (St. Francis ) 0-4 (Fall 1:01)
    Round 3 - Rathe Aschenbrenner (Colby) 4-0 won by fall over Perla Yanez (St. Francis ) 0-4 (Fall 1:01)
    Round 5 - Jessica Mosqueda (Holyoke) 1-3 won by fall over Perla Yanez (St. Francis ) 0-4 (Fall 0:54)

120 - Aaron White (0-2) scored 0.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Dax Collins (Wray) 2-2 won by fall over Aaron White (St. Francis ) 0-2 (Fall 5:39)
    Cons. Round 1 - Joe Ridder (Leoti-Wichita County ) 1-2 won by decision over Aaron White (St. Francis ) 0-2 (Dec 2-0)

126 - Garin Cooper (1-2) placed 4th and scored 6.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Sergio Lazo (Goodland Cowboys) 3-1 won by decision over Garin Cooper (St. Francis ) 1-2 (Dec 3-0)
    Cons. Round 1 - Garin Cooper (St. Francis ) 1-2 received a bye () (Bye)
    Cons. Semi - Garin Cooper (St. Francis ) 1-2 won by decision over Kace Fix (Wray) 1-2 (Dec 10-8)
    3rd Place Match - Sergio Lazo (Goodland Cowboys) 3-1 won by fall over Garin Cooper (St. Francis ) 1-2 (Fall 1:38)

132 - Tiernan Poling (1-2) scored 3.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Junior Arambula (Wray) 2-1 won by fall over Tiernan Poling (St. Francis ) 1-2 (Fall 5:02)
    Cons. Round 1 - Tiernan Poling (St. Francis ) 1-2 won by fall over Jesus Hernandez (Burlington) 0-2 (Fall 1:28)
    Cons. Semi - Riley Bornhoft (Sterling High School) 3-1 won by decision over Tiernan Poling (St. Francis ) 1-2 (Dec 9-6)

145 - Tyson Poling (0-2) scored 0.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Jonathan Ortiz (Goodland Cowboys) 2-2 won by fall over Tyson Poling (St. Francis ) 0-2 (Fall 1:40)
    Cons. Round 1 - Javier Arambula (Wray) 1-2 won by fall over Tyson Poling (St. Francis ) 0-2 (Fall 1:40)

160 - Cody Baxter (3-1) placed 3rd and scored 16.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Cody Baxter (St. Francis ) 3-1 won by fall over Taylor Devie (Sterling High School) 0-2 (Fall 3:45)
    Semifinal - Cauy Hayes (Atwood-Rawlins County High School) 2-1 won by fall over Cody Baxter (St. Francis ) 3-1 (Fall 1:32)
    Cons. Semi - Cody Baxter (St. Francis ) 3-1 won by fall over Colby Burkhart (WaKeeney-Trego Community ) 2-2 (Fall 2:15)
    3rd Place Match - Cody Baxter (St. Francis ) 3-1 won by fall over Nathan Foos (Burlington) 3-2 (Fall 1:33)

170 - Shadyron Blanka (1-2) scored 1.00 team points.
    Champ. Round 1 - Frank Mendoza (Tribune-Greeley County) 1-2 won by fall over Shadyron Blanka (St. Francis ) 1-2 (Fall 0:39)
    Cons. Round 1 - Shadyron Blanka (St. Francis ) 1-2 won by major decision over Blayn Waters (Goodland Cowboys) 0-2 (MD 12-0)
    Cons. Round 2 - Jory Micek (WaKeeney-Trego Community ) 1-2 won by fall over Shadyron Blanka (St. Francis ) 1-2 (Fall 3:52)

195 - Luin Norris (3-2) placed 4th and scored 13.00 team points.
    Champ. Round 1 - Luin Norris (St. Francis ) 3-2 won by fall over Austen Brunkhardt (Sterling High School) 0-2 (Fall 2:31)
    Quarterfinal - Luin Norris (St. Francis ) 3-2 won by fall over Antony Martinez (Holyoke) 0-2 (Fall 3:07)
    Semifinal - Evan Peter (Goodland Cowboys) 3-1 won by major decision over Luin Norris (St. Francis ) 3-2 (MD 13-3)
    Cons. Semi - Luin Norris (St. Francis ) 3-2 won by fall over Will Crouse (Atwood-Rawlins County High School) 2-2 (Fall 1:19)
    3rd Place Match - TJ Hafliger (WaKeeney-Trego Community ) 3-1 won by fall over Luin Norris (St. Francis ) 3-2 (Fall 1:29)

220 - Seth Hilt (0-2) scored 0.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Declan Ryan (Colby) 2-2 won by decision over Seth Hilt (St. Francis ) 0-2 (Dec 8-3)
    Cons. Round 1 - Seth Hilt (St. Francis ) 0-2 received a bye () (Bye)
    Cons. Semi - Drew Book (Sterling High School) 3-1 won by fall over Seth Hilt (St. Francis ) 0-2 (Fall 1:11)

Coach’s Awards:

Coach’s Award: Garin Cooper

Practice Wrestler of the Week: Tiernan Poling

Key Match Award: Garin Cooper defeating Fix of Wray

Outstanding Wrestler of the Week

The St. Francis coaching staff has selected Cody Baxter as the wrestler of the week. Cody went 3-1 on the day with 3 falls to place 3rd at the Gabel/Jenkins Invitational.

Coach Dylan Loyd made the following comments on the tournament:

After roughly three weeks of practice it was good for us to actually step on the mat and compete against other kids to see where we are at. The week leading up to the tournament we talked an awful lot of the importance of just giving maximum effort and really just focus on battling and wrestling tough in every position. Looking back through the tournament and reflecting a little bit a lot of our mistakes were technical. Technical errors are ones that we can fix as we go throughout the season. In just 3 weeks of practice there is a lot of technique and positions that we just haven’t shown yet. It’s always good though to get those live matches under our belts and see where we are at. So far, I have been impressed with this group just with their work ethic and with the effort they put in the practice room every day. We have a young team but, we have good leadership in our older guys that we can really count on. By rule we really work to slowly build as we go through the year. Each week we want to see improvement, we want to see those mental errors start to dwindle and I think this group will do a good job of really being disciplined and fixing what we need to fix.

Individually, Perla Yanez had a tough day but, she got four quality matches in. Getting that quality mat time this early in the season is crucial in development. This is her second wrestling and she has a lot to learn but, she has a great attitude. She holds herself accountable and she really has come a long way in the past year. Aaron White had two tough matches and battled tough in both of them. Last year I don’t know if we would have seen that from Aaron and that just shows how far he’s come and how much he has improved. This was the first time he has been down to weight this year and I think that fatigue set in a little bit. Just needs to fix a couple things and the results will follow. Garin Cooper really did a good job of just battling tough. He is going to be a tough out every time he wrestles because of his toughness and his willingness to work hard. He embraces challenges and he takes things personally and I love that. He’s a really coachable kid that just does a good job of picking up on things. He is always asking questions and he’s going to be one that will be a lot of fun to watch. Tiernan Poling competed very well in what ended up to be a very tough weight class. You could tell it was the first tournament of the year for him because he put himself in some bad situations but, he always battled. Both matches that he lost he was in position to win them both they just didn’t go his way. He really is ahead of where he was a year ago. I still think he hasn’t realized how good he is yet. His last match he scored 5 points in a hurry and I believe once he starts wrestling with that urgency from the start of the match these losses turn into wins. Tyson Poling is a kid that has a lot of natural ability and just has a feel for this sport. He’s a young kid who still has a lot to learn but, it’s very obvious the potential is there. He will be competing in a weight class that will be dominated by upperclassmen and I don’t think it will affect him much. The more time he spends on the mat the better he is going to get but, I’m excited to see how much he develops. Cody Baxter really wrestled well. I believe he was the best kid in this weight class. He had a brain fart in his semi-finals match and just made one mistake that ended the match, but those mistakes are the ones you learn the most from. Every match this kid wrestles he does something that makes your jaw drop; he just has this special gift and once he figures out how good he is-watch out! Shadyron Blanka is another one of our tough freshmen. He has a lot of natural ability and has a lot of experience. This season will be a learning curve for him because of the weight class he’ll be wrestling but, I truly believe he can wrestle with anyone. I think as this season goes on he’ll continue to get better and better, and once he truly believes in how good he is I think he can open a lot of eyes this season. Luin Norris really had a good tournament. His two losses were to tough kids and that’s what you want. You want those tough matches because that’s how you get better. Luin is a good leader for us; he leads by example and he really does a good job of working hard in the practice room. It’s been a lot of fun watching him develop over the years, and there is more to come for him. Seth Hilt had a good day. His first match was a good one for him because it gave him confidence that he can compete in this weight class. Seth is a stout kid and I don’t think he gives himself enough credit. He’s really improved from last season and you can easily see that just by watching him drill. He’s really picked up on things and there are good things ahead for Seth.

Looking ahead to this weekend we will travel to Limon, Colorado, to compete in the Limon Badger Invitational. I believe this will be our 4th year competing in this tournament. There are roughly 25 teams competing in this tournament which makes for a long day but, its always good for us to see that different competition that we won’t see again this season. The hope is for us to improve from where we were a week ago and just keep on building.

The wrestlers will compete in the Limon Badger Invitational on December 9th.