Lambotte Wins Third Straight State Title

From CJ Online:

HAYS — The buzz began two years ago, and for a normal freshman, it might have been a lot to handle.

But Rossville’s Tagen Lambotte is a different breed of wrestler, and he continued to prove that Saturday at the Class 3-2-1A state championships at Fort Hays State University’s Gross Memorial Coliseum.

Lambotte, now a junior, continued his quest of four state championships with a title at 145 pounds — his third crown in as many years.

“A lot of people have been saying a lot of things,” he said. “But at the end of the day, you still have to show up and do it.”

Lambotte burst onto the scene as a mere freshman, winning the title at 135 pounds. So began the buzz of a possible four-time state champ.

“He’s not your average kid,” said Rossville coach Curt Brecheisen. “He sets a goal, and he works his butt off to get there. He’s a kid that’s the first one there and the last one out — by hours, not just minutes.”

Lambotte followed that up with a title at 145 as a sophomore, then won another crown Saturday at the same weight with a dominating 20-8 victory against Sedgwick senior Nic Johnson.

“It means I’m 75 percent of the way there,” Lambotte said.

This year’s tourney might have been his most dominating. He won his first match Friday with a pin in 1:51, then followed it up with a 20 second pin in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals awaited undefeated Hoisington senior Chance Demel.

“In a lot of people’s eyes, it was a big match,” said his older brother, Cody Lambotte, who sits in the corner with Brecheisen for the 145-pounder’s matches. “For him, I’m not going to say it wasn’t a big match, but I think he feels like no one trains harder than him so why should he not get results like that. It’s not an arrogant thing.”

Lambotte made Demel look like a rag doll on the way to a 14-5 decision. And the final score wasn’t indicative of how much Lambotte (41-1) controlled the match.

“He’s done a good job of that all year long,” Brecheisen said. “He’s had only one match end the wrong way, but that guy was a quality opponent, too.”

Lambotte’s lone loss was to a wrestler from Missouri, but no one in Kansas could hang with the junior this year.

That’s a big reason why he’s a favorite to win a fourth state title, something not easily accomplished in any classification.

Just ask Mat Gilliland, a former four-time state champ in 3-2-1A who now is an assistant coach at his alma mater, Hoxie.

“I know he works extremely hard,” said Gilliland, who accounted for Cody Lambotte’s lone two losses at state in 2002 and 2003. “The way he wrestles is more at the collegiate level, to me, just watching than it is at the high school level. The way he moves, the way he’s on the head and the way he ties. It seems to me he’s kind of heads and shoulders above everybody in the high school level right now.”

Only problem is Lambotte doesn’t see it that way. Instead, he’s continuing to better himself with a solid schedule during the offseason.

“I want to be the best,” Lambotte said matter-of-factly.

And despite his third title in a row and the possibility of a fourth in 2014, Lambotte isn’t about to rest anytime soon.

“I think it grows for people looking from the outside in,” his brother Cody said. “But for him, he just loves to compete. To him, he just enjoys competing. Kind of like that semifinal match, a lot of people looked forward to that matchup. The kid was undefeated and hadn’t been take down this year. For him, he looks forward to those kind of matches at this stage. People always ask him about the pressure, and he always tells them he doesn’t get nervous. He trains a lot, works year-round. I think he feels like he puts the time in, and things will take care of itself on the mat.”

Early in Saturday’s title match, Johnson tried to tie up Lambotte to keep the match close. It worked for a bit.

Lambotte didn’t get his first takedown until 23 seconds remained in the first period. By the time the period ended, though, he led 4-1.

It was 12-4 after the second, and all of Johnson’s points came by Lambotte allowing him to escape.

Four more takedowns came in the final period to set the 20-8 margin.

“We’ve seen that a lot where they’ve tried to hold on to him and tie him up and keep it close,” Brecheisen said. “He just gets stronger as it goes on. That’s his goal is to work six hard minutes and see if anyone can hang with him.”

For three years, no one at state has been able to do that.

What happens next year, nobody knows.

“It’s hard not to; it’s in your mind,” Lambotte said about thinking about a fourth title. “But at the same time, you can’t think like that. You have to think about one practice at a time, one warmup at a time.”

Lambotte was one of three Bulldogs to place at state, helping Rossville finish ninth in the team standings.

Norton ran away with another title, accumulating 129.5 points. Hoxie was second with 97, followed by Plainville in third with 83. Atchison County was fifth with 62.5.

Sophomore Nick Reesor was fifth for Rossville at 152, while senior Cody Cooper was fifth at 285.