Emporia High wrestling coach Greg Buckbee knows his athletes have the talent and the know-how to be a successful team this season.
That’s why it’s so frustrating for him to see his squad perform like it did in a dual against Manhattan on Friday night.
Manhattan defeated the Spartans, 47-18, and Buckbee said it came down to a lack of readiness.
“We didn’t wrestle very good,” Buckbee said. “We weren’t prepared and we weren’t ready to go. We went up there and we were very lackadaisical. We didn’t prepare ourselves.”
Emporia had just four wins in the dual, with those victories coming from Sal Tovar at 125 pounds, Zeb Peak at 140 pounds, Ryan Bass at 189 pounds and Jordan Barr at 215 pounds.
Tovar continued his strong early season form by defeating Lucas Wagner, while Peak beat Tucker Adams.
“Sal Tovar continues to look very good,” Buckbee said, “and Zeb Peak, after his performance down in Ark City, has really come on and looked good.”
Bass defeated Matija Krstic and Barr defeated Eric Rowlands for Emporia’s other two victories.
Emporia High struggled throughout the rest of the dual.
Buckbee did point out that sophomore Lorenzo Serna wrestled impressively at 285 pounds against one of the top wrestlers in the Midwest, Steve Andrus. Andrus has signed to wrestle at Michigan State, and Serna battled him to a 9-3 loss.
“Lorenzo wrestled a great match against Andrus,” Buckbee said. “As a sophomore, he’s doing a tremendous job.”
Emporia High will have a week off before playing host to the Winter Classic next Saturday at EHS.
Buckbee said a lot of the things the Spartans need to work on are mental, not physical.
“We’ve got to learn to be prepared when we step on the mat and compete,” he said. “We’ve got good technique, and we know the moves, we’re just not competing consistently right now.”