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.”
