Junior High Wrestlers Compete in Junior Panther Classic
On Saturday, February 15th, the St. Francis Junior High wrestling team competed in the Junior Panther Classic Tournament in Phillipsburg, Kansas. St. Francis placed third in the team scoring 129.5 points. Phillipsburg won the tournament with 216 team points. Norton placed second with 161 points. The remainder of the team results were: 4th - Smith Center 127.5, 5th - Hoxie 98.5, 6th - Trego Community 90, 7th - Hill City 89, 8th (tie) - Decatur Community 84, 8th (tie)- Rawlins County 84, 10th - Osborne 71, 11th - Plainville 46, 12th - Russell 42, and 13th - Stockton 35.
Winning individual medals were: Coy Cassaw - 2nd at 90 pounds, Tayton Weeter - 4th at 95 pounds, Jordan Raby - 3rd at 120 pounds, Luke Lampe - 1st at 132 pounds, Dalton Straub - 2nd at 152 pounds, and Martin Beikman - 2nd at 215 pounds, and Trayton Doyle - 1st at 285.
Click here to view/print the final brackets from the tournament.
Individual results from the tournament are listed below.
Coy Cassaw (placed 2nd)- won by a 6-4 OT decision over Tiemeyer, Rawlins County; lost by a 3-0 decision to Keith, Hill City.
Tayton Weeter (placed 4th)- won by a 17-1 technical fall over Rohr, Plainville; lost by a 13-0 major decision to Porsch, Hoxie; won by a fall over Oste, Russell; lost by a 2-1 decision to Hamel, Hill City.
KC Krien - won by an 11-2 major decision over Shubert, Trego; lost by a fall to Moon, Phillipsburg; lost by a 4-2 OT decision to Breth, Oberlin.
Tiernan Poling - lost by a fall to Born, Hill City; won by a fall over Micek, Trego; lost by a fall to Ifland, Smith Center.
Jake Faulkender - lost by a fall to Dicks, Norton; lost by a 5-3 decision to Horinek, Rawlins County.
Kouper McQuigg - lost by a fall to Russell, Phillipsburg; lost by a fall to Topel, Smith Center.
Jordan Raby (placed 3rd) - won by a fall over Kellerman, Phillipsburg; lost by a fall to Gross, Phillipsburg; won by a 8-1 decision over Koerperich, Norton; won by forfeit over Staples, Smith Center.
Cody Baxter - lost by a fall to Schurr, Osborne; won by a fall over Pfeifer, Russell; lost by a fall to Pfannenstiel, Trego.
Luke Lampe (Champion)- won by a fall over Pakkebier, Phillipsburg; won by a fall over Price, Russell; won by a 4-2 decision over Wiltfong, Norton; won by a 7-0 decision over Kruep, Rawlins County.
Dalton Straub (placed 2nd)- won by a fall over VanKooten, Phillipsburg; won by a fall over Heskett, Hoxie; lost by a fall to Chisham, Norton.
Kaleb Hayes - lost by a fall to Kuhn, Smith Center; lost by a fall to Walt, Trego.
Martin Beikman (placed 2nd)- won by a 8-2 decision over Arment, Phillipsburg; lost by a fall to Auker, Norton.
Trayton Doyle (Champion)- won by a fall over Washington, Hoxie; won by a fall over Dunning, Phillipsburg.
Coach Dylan Loyd made the following comments regarding the tournament, "Saturday, the kids had to get up early to make the long trip to Phillipsburg to compete in the Panther Classic. This year there were 13 teams competing, and we were able to finish 3rd and bring home a plaque. In my understanding, I believe this will be the first team to have ever placed at this tournament since we began going there a few years back. It was very cool being one of the smaller teams there to bring home some hardware, just goes to show how good this group of young men is. I think the thing that I may be the most proud of is how they supported each other. There were many times throughout the day I was asked by fans and parents from opposing towns to get our kids to sit down mat side. I always view that as a good thing because when one of their team mates was wrestling our whole team was right there cheering them on. I’ve always felt like that is how good teams are built. This group of kids has been steadily improving throughout the course of the season. In all areas of the sport, we have made drastic improvements. These kids have worked very hard, and their goal is to win the league championship which is only a week away. I truly believe that they are capable of accomplishing that goal. Right now we have to get healthy and keep on working hard. It’s hard to believe how fast this season has flown by, I truly have enjoyed being able to work with and get to know this group of kids. I’m looking forward to watching them finish this season on a high note."
The junior high wrestlers will wrestle in St. Francis on Thursday, February 20th, against Decatur Community, Greeley County, Rawlins County, and Wichita County.
Click on the photos to see more photos! (Photos shared by Lucinda Straub)
