SILVER LAKE — Coming off state championships a year ago, Silver Lake’s Jordan Priddy and Rossville’s Isaiah Luellen probably had certain expectations as to just how their senior wrestling seasons would go this year.
Needless to say, things haven’t quite gone as planned.
Injuries and illness have dealt setbacks to both, each missing time during the season.
But with the postseason drawing near, both are back on track and showed as much at Saturday’s Silver Lake Invitational.
Priddy dominated the 126-pound division with three pins and two shutout victories to easily win his weight class. Luellen, meanwhile, manhandled his first two foes at 160 before taking a workman-like win in the finals for his title.
“A funk is probably the right word for it,” said Priddy, who began the season dealing with a ligament injury in his left thumb suffered during football season and then dealt with illness midway through the season. “I’m still doing good, but I just have to get back into things. I completely agree (I was in a weird state of mind).”
Priddy looked in championship form on Saturday. He opened round-robin matches with a first-period pin of Rossville’s Colin Culbertson and then took a 7-0 win over Burlington’s TT Totty, who wound up second. After pinning Caney Valley’s Dayton Wade in the first period and Salina South’s Carson Ochoa in 29 seconds, Priddy finished his day with a 12-0 win over Wellsville’s Ethan Ewing.
Now 18-2 on the season, Priddy said the title at Silver Lake should serve as a springboard for the finishing run and was especially nice after a disappointing showing at the tourney a year ago.
“Last year, I didn’t do very good at all, I took fourth I think,” Priddy said. “It was a good stepping stone and I learned from it. It’s definitely a good tournament to give you a boost for the rest of the year.”
Luellen missed the first half of the Bulldawgs’ season, still recovering from an offseason right knee surgery. In fact, three knee surgeries that were serious enough that Luellen heard words he never thought he’d hear.
“I’ve been told by doctors that I might never wrestle again,” Luellen said. “I would have liked to have wrestled in the offseason. That’s where I really surpass all these other guys. But I wasn’t able to do that, but I’ve been working hard and our practices have been tough.”
Since returning, he’s been unstoppable, improving to 14-0 with Saturday’s title. Luellen took technical-fall wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals before getting a solid test from Prairie View’s Gavin Cullor in the finals.
The match was tied 2-2 after Cullor got a reversal late in the first period. But Luellen was in control from there, taking down Cullor and letting him up on his way to an 11-7 victory.
“I can just see myself improving every week,” Luellen said. “It’d been 10 months since I stepped foot on the mat. It’s been tough, but I’m getting back to where I was.”
Luellen was named outstanding wrestler of the tournament for his performance.
Silver Lake and Rossville each ended up with two champions.
Holden Hurla took the 152-pound title for the Bulldawgs with a 5-0 round-robin record, all five wins coming via pin. Gable Howerton captured Silver Lake’s other crown, beating St. Marys’ Taegan Schoenfeld 8-0 in the 170-pound title match.
Wamego’s Tylar Patrick stayed undefeated at 285 with a 5-0 round-robin record, four of five victories coming via pin. Other area champions included Mission Valley’s Christopher Gleason (106), Wabaunsee’s Riley Tubbs (132), Wellsville’s Ryan Ware (113), Burlington’s Evan Totty (120) and Cael Johnson (145).
Burlington took the team title with 152 points, five more than Silver Lake.
Team scores
Burlington 152, Silver Lake 147, Salina South 122, Rossville 119, Anderson County 118, Prairie View 110.5, Wichita West 82, Wabaunsee 63, Leavenworth 60.5, Caney Valley 55, St. Marys 54.5, Mission Valley 53, Wellsville 53, Wamego 38, Maur Hill 34, Chase County 25.
Individual results
106 — 1. Gleason, Mission Valley, 5-0; 2. Cavanaugh, Silver Lake, 3-2. 113 — Ware, Wellsville dec. Allen, Silver Lake, 4-0. 120 — 1. Ev. Totty, Burlington, 5-0; 2. Taylor, Leavenworth, 4-1. 126 — 1. Priddy, Silver Lake, 5-0; 2. Ewing, Wellsville, 3-2. 132 — 1. Tubbs, Wabaunsee, 5-0; 2. Et. Totty, Burlington, 4-1. 138 — Vogan, Salina South dec. Droegemeier, Wabaunsee, 5-3. 145 — Johnson, Burlington maj. dec. Sherwood, Salina South, 11-3. 152 — 1. Hurla, Rossville, 5-0; 2. Denny, Anderson County, 4-1. 160 — Luellen, Rossville dec. Cullor, Prairie View, 11-7. 170 — Howerton, Silver Lake maj. dec. Schoenfeld, St. Marys, 8-0. 182 — Ewalt, Prairie View dec. Cruickshank, St. Marys, 6-4. 195 — 1. Gerleman, Prairie View, 5-0; 2. Davoren, Rossville, 4-1. 220 — 1. Higginbotham, Anderson County, 5-0; 2. Stout, Chase County, 4-1. 285 — 1. Patrick, Wamego, 5-0; 2. Cox-Halibur, Prairie View, 4-1.
