Four Indians Place in Bill Voss Novice Invite
On Saturday, February 10, four St. Francis Wrestlers participated in the Bill Voss Novice Invitational in Colby. All four wrestlers placed in the tournament. Garin Cooper and Shadryon Blanka each won the championship in their respective weight classes. Tyson Poling and Seth Hilt each placed 4th.
Individual Results for St. Francis wrestlers are listed below.
Garin Cooper (Champion): won by a 10-0 major decision over Sanchez, Liberal; won by a fall over Hamel, Hill City; won by a 3-0 decision over Clark, Hill City; won by a fall over Berera, Liberal; won by a 10-0 major decision over Craig, Garden City. Click here to view Garin's bracket.
Tyson Poling (placed 4th): lost by fall to Ruiz-Hernandez, Garden City; won by fall over Gower, Phillipsburg. Click here to view Tyson's bracket.
Shadyron Blanka (Champion): won by fall over Thompson, Garden City; won by fall over Aguirre, Liberal. Click here to view Shadryon's bracket.
Seth Hilt (placed 4th): lost by fall to Mansell, Liberal; lost by fall to Herrera, Garden City; won by fall over May, Goodland; lost by fall to Wehling, Liberal. Click here to view Seth's bracket.
Coach’s Awards
Key Match Award: Cooper defeating Clark of Hill City
Coach’s Award: Garin Cooper
Practice Wrestler: Tiernan Poling
Most Outstanding Wrestlers: Garin Cooper and Shadyron Blanka - both of these freshmen dominated their way to championships at the Bill Voss Invitational, neither of them gave up a single point.
Coach’s Dylan Loyd shared the following comments, "The season is really starting to wind down in a hurry and regionals is now here. This past week we traveled to Colby to take part in the Bill Voss Invitational. Typically, in years past we don’t send as many to this tournament due to point restrictions. However, this season we had this group who had missed some time due to injury, sickness, etc. This tournament is a good one to send guys to that have missed time. It never hurts to get that extra mat time heading into regionals. I feel like this group is ascending and they are starting to peak at the right time. This group really has grown and really has improved and as coaches we are very proud of them because this season hasn’t been easy. They wrestle tough competition every week, our practices have been tough, but mentally this group has stayed focused and I’m excited for them heading into this week. Individually, Garin Cooper had a very dominating performance going 5-0 and not giving up a single point the entire day. He really is starting to come on and really has put together a nice season. This kid didn’t start wrestling until his 7th grade year and he really has grown and developed into a great wrestler with still lots of room to develop. He is a worker and takes care of business on and off the mat. I have been very pleased with his season and I believe heading into regionals he has the potential to make some noise and really open some eyes. Tyson Poling wrestled well in the two matches he was able to compete in. He ran into a horse from Garden City first round who just had too much horse power. Tyson’s second match he wrestled well and you could see he believed he could win by the way he was wrestling. Unfortunately, he had a knee flair up after that match and we sat him out for precautionary reasons. He’s been asked to do a lot this season and his weight class is a very tough and deep one. Moving forward I look for big things from Tyson. Shadyron Blanka wrestled well again on Saturday and has been on a roll the last 3 weeks losing only two matches. He rounds out our freshman class that have really done well this season. This kid has always had the talent to do some special things. He still has things to correct but, he is starting to wrestle with more confidence. Shadyron has a lot of ability and I believe he can throw his hat in the ring right now and compete with anyone in this weight class. Seth Hilt had another weekend where I believe he could have had better results, and I believe looking back Seth feels the same way. This kid is a hard worker and wrestling with Luin Norris and Trayton Doyle every day is not an easy task. He never backs down and he never complains. The amount of time and work he has put into this throughout the season I give credit to him. He’s a strong kid and he has a good work ethic. Right now, what he is missing is confidence, and that’s a hard nut to crack. Seth isn’t the only one that deals with this; it’s a common denominator on our team is confidence. I think sometimes kids worry about only being a freshman or sophomore and that they have to wait until their junior/senior seasons to have success. What grade you are is only a number behind your name and this applies to everyone in our program from the high school team to our kid’s wrestlers. If you are good enough, you’re good enough. If you know every day you haven’t cut any corners, you’ve done all that’s been asked and more, you’ve lived the lifestyle that this sport requires then at the end of the day you have nothing to worry about. The work has been done, and as one of my coaches always use to preach to us come this time of year- the cream will rise to the top! This group is good enough to make noise and do something special, the time is now- go do it!"
The Indians will participate in the Regional Wrestling Tournament in Goodland on February 16 and 17.