Rossville Leads After First Day

From CatchItKansas.com

After Friday’s competition, Rossville and Norton had distanced themselves from the field, though the state crown remains in doubt after Day 1 at Fort Hays State University’s Gross Memorial Coliseum. Rossville leads Norton 101-91. No other team exceeds 54 points.

“You do the math, it’s going to be tough this year, and we knew that going in,” Johnson said. “We were not the favorite by any means, but I think we wrestled well enough to put a little scare in them.”

Rossville, known for its elite talent, has four wrestlers in the finals. Norton, traditionally with excellent depth, qualified three. The Bluejays’ eight wrestlers all remain alive and five are guaranteed medals. Rossville has seven wrestlers. Each one is left with guaranteed five placers.

“We knew it was going to be hard,” senior 195-pounder Gavin Lively said. “They have got quite a few in the finals just like we do, and we are going to try and finish it off.”

Last season, Norton trailed Hoisington and Rossville after Friday but tallied 43 Day 2 points and collected its eighth title in the last 12 years. Last season, the Bluejays had just one in the final and placed seven. This year, Norton has likely less opportunity to score on the backside.

“The chances that we would score a lot more points on the back was greater last year,” Johnson said.

Rossville and Norton had some surprises, both good and bad. Overall, the Bluejays were pleased with a day that put three seniors into championships: 113-pounder Skylar Johnson, 160-pounder Mike Kasson and Lively, undefeated this winter. It marks the second final for Johnson, first for Kasson and Lively.

“That’s all I have ever worked for is to make finals,” Kasson said.

Lively and Kasson have both gone through multiple obstacles in their careers, and for Kasson, some hurdles Friday.

“He has been huge,” Lively said. “He is wrestling in the toughest bracket in the state right now I’d say.”

Lively, a Kansas State football signing, believed he could have placed at state as a freshman and sophomore, though suffered injury. Last season, Lively had a disqualification in the quarterfinals and took third. On Friday, he dominated his three matches.

“It feels great knowing I should have been there last year and making it this year,” Lively said.

Lively, Smith Center’s 220-pound sophomore Dalton Kuhn and Plainville 285-pound senior Jared Plante were the lone wrestlers to record three wins by fall. Lively spent just 5 minutes, 20 seconds on the mat.

“We know we have to wrestle good if we want to take home our fourth team title, so we are all wrestling the hardest we can, and I am just trying to get as many points as I can for my team,” Lively said.

Kasson didn’t place as a sophomore and took third at 152 last season. Kasson said he “drew the short straw” and had to face St. Marys’ Greg Tooley, the eventual champion, in the first round. This year, Kasson had one of the two high-profile first round matchups.

Kasson, ranked sixth by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association, faced No. 5 Jacob Stryker, a Marysville junior. Kasson had lost to Stryker twice this winter. This time, Kasson tied the match in the final seconds of regulation on a takedown and then won, 4-2 in sudden victory. Kasson collected a 4-3 decision in the quarterfinals and won 12-3 in the semifinals.

Johnson said Kasson’s performance mirrored his run through the prestigious Newton tournament last month. Kasson barely won his first round match, had a better win in the second, did well in the semifinals – and then didn’t wrestle well in the finals.

“So hopefully we can turn that around and wrestle his best match here, and he is one of those kids that he has an enormous amount of heart,” Johnson said. “He hasn’t always had the great technique, but he has developed that over the years.”

Junior 145-pounder Trenton Wright, with nine losses entering state, was unranked. Wright went 2-1 and is guaranteed a medal in his first trip.

“One of those steady kids,” Johnson said. “Between your sophomore and your junior year is when we want to see those huge gains, and he has made that big step.”

Norton had some negative surprises as well, namely sophomore Ryan Johnson, a returning state runner-up, falling in the quarterfinals at 120 pounds. Rossville won one of its key toss-up matches when Bulldog senior Kole Davoren defeated Oakley sophomore Chris Cox in sudden victory in the 220-pound semifinals.

“I really didn’t expect their 220 pounder to pull that one out, but their kids came to wrestle, and I give them credit for that,” coach Johnson said. “But our guys rose to the occasion.”