When Sal Tovar’s name was announced over the loudspeakers as the recipient of the Outstanding Wrestler award Saturday at the Winter Classic at Emporia High School, the EHS junior’s eyes went wide, and then a sly smile crossed his lips.
It obviously was an unexpected surprise at the end of a successful day for Tovar.
“It’s a great feeling,” Tovar said. “They could have picked anyone else, but I guess I did a pretty good job, and they picked me.”
Tovar earned his distinction by sweeping through the field in the 125-pound weight class at the Winter Classic, finishing his day with four victories, three of them coming by pins. He was one of seven Spartan wrestlers to earn titles on the day, as fourth-ranked (Class 5A) Emporia High dominated the nine-team field — eight other teams withdrew because of travel concerns — in taking the Winter Classic team title 237-163.5 over runner-up McPherson.
Tovar’s lone non-pin victory came in the championship bout against Topeka High’s Kalem Bennett. Tovar left no doubt, however, notching four takedowns, an escape and a near fall in the first two periods to take a commanding 12-2 lead into the third period. Bennett got a takedown in the third, but Tovar escaped from that and held on for the victory.
“I was aiming for four pins, and I got three,” Tovar said. “I think I wrestled pretty good, but not the best in my finals match. I wrestled like usual.”
Tovar’s “usual” — which lately could be described as something closer to dominating — was enough to boost his season record to 9-1.
“Sal, he was very deserving of the (Outstanding Wrestler),” EHS coach Greg Buckbee said. “He’s been competing well all year long. Like I said earlier in the year, he’s like a machine. He’s on a mission.”
While Tovar was named the tournament’s top wrestler, many of his teammates did their best to challenge him for that honor. Three Spartans won all of their matches by pins to take their respective titles: Jared Dakin at 112 pounds, Zeb Peak at 140 pounds and Taylor Lee at 145 pounds.
Perhaps one surprise to the list of title winners was freshman Chase Sanchez, who sent the pro-Emporia crowd into a frenzy with his thrilling performance against Lawrence Free State’s Koty Russell in the championship bout of the 130-pound weight class.
In the first two periods, Sanchez fell behind three times after Russell scored on two takedowns and an escape. But every time Russell gained an advantage, Sanchez found a way to tie the match, with some of his most crucial points coming on a reverse at the end of the second period to tie the match at 5 heading into the final frame.
At the start of the third, Sanchez took his first lead of the match with an escape. He nearly got a takedown with just less than a minute left, but the referee signaled that both players were out of bounds before Sanchez gained an advantage.
The two wrestlers sparred the remainder of the match, and with time winding down, Sanchez took control after Russell made an ill-fated move.
“He tried to lateral drop,” Sanchez said, “and I just swung my hips and got him caught on his back.”
Sanchez nearly pinned Russell at that point but could never hold down Russell long enough for the referee to end the match early. Sanchez still got three points for a near fall as time ran out, giving Sanchez the Winter Classic title over Russell — the State runner-up in Class 6A a season ago — in his first appearance in the tournament.
“I just went out there and wrestled,” Sanchez said. “Whenever I was behind, I didn’t worry. I just kept charging toward him. I feel so good.”
The other two titles on the day for Emporia High came from Justin Rose at 119 pounds and Logan Gaskill at 152 pounds. Both Rose and Gaskill pinned every opponent leading up to their championship bouts, where each wrestler then earned major decision victories to win their titles.
The only Spartan not to come away with a victory in the title rounds was Lorenzo Serna at 285 pounds. J.C. Harmon’s Nick Langford, who finished fourth in 5A at last year’s State meet, pinned Serna 3 minutes into the match.
Tyler Trahoon at 103 pounds, Tavo Dikin at 135 pounds, Ryan Bass at 189 pounds and Jordan Barr at 215 pounds each took third place in their weight classes, while Caleb Chiroy finished fourth at 160 pounds and Nico Rodriguez came in sixth at 171 pounds.
With all 14 wrestlers finishing in the top six — including seven first-place finishes — the Spartans ran away with the team title. It was a far cry from the season-opening tournament at Arkansas City, where the Spartans advanced nine wrestlers to the medal rounds but could not come away with a single victory, as EHS finished fourth in the team standings.
The difference, Buckbee said, was all in the effort.
“More important than the win is that they competed, and like I said earlier in the week, if they compete well, then the winning takes care of itself,” he said. “It all comes down to competing well and performing well.”
The Spartans now have nearly three weeks off before their next competition, as they travel to the Derby Invitational on Jan. 4-5.
“As much as we’d kind of been up and down in December, we wanted to go out with a bang. We wanted to finish real strong, and we certainly did,” Buckbee said. “It was important to have one good meet to carry some momentum into the new year.”
Winter Wrestling Classic
Saturday at EHS
Team Scores
1. Emporia 237, 2. McPherson 163.5, 3. Washburn Rural 113, 4. Wichita Southeast 112, 5. North Kansas City 90, 6. Topeka High 52, 7. J.C. Harmon 51, 8. Lawrence Free State 44, 9. Wichita West 31.
Emporia Results
103 pounds
Cameron Davis, WSE, def. Tyler Trahoon, Emp, Fall 1:08; Trahoon def. James Saunders, JCH, Fall :36; THIRD PLACE: Trahoon def. Isaac Delgado, WW, Fall :17.
112 pounds
Jared Dakin, Emp, def. Alex Pedocki, NKC, Fall 1:09; Dakin def. Zach Witt, WR, Fall :44; CHAMPIONSHIP: Dakin def. Brittan Bennett, WSE, Fall 1:35.
119 pounds
Justin Rose, Emp, def. Alex Leeds, WR, Fall 2:52; Rose def. Steven Christenberry, WW, Fall 2:23; Rose def. Brian White, WSE, Fall 1:45; CHAMPIONSHIP: Rose def. Zac Ballard, NKC, Maj. Dec. 13-2.
125 pounds
Sal Tovar, Emp, def. Storm Young, NKC, Fall :35; Tovar def. Anthony Trammel, JCH, Fall 1:45; Tovar def. Billy Turner, McP, Fall 2:57; CHAMPIONSHIP: Tovar def. Kalem Bennett, TH, Maj. Dec. 13-4.
130 pounds
Chase Sanchez, Emp, def. Chris Dougan, WR, Dec. 10-4; Sanchez def. Patrick Campbell, TH, Dec. 5-1; CHAMPIONSHIP: Sanchez def. Koty Russell, LFS, Dec. 9-5.
135 pounds
Tavo Dikin, Emp, def. Chris Thompson, LFS, Dec. 2-0; Travis Greenwood, NKC, def. Dikin, Dec. 11-7; Dikin def. Brandon Villa, WR, Dec. 4-0; THIRD PLACE: Dikin def. Kaleb O’Brien, WSE, Fall 1:53.
140 pounds
Zeb Peak, Emp, def. Rody Marcial, WW, Fall 4:50; Peak def. Cody Harrison, TH, Fall 5:18; CHAMPIONSHIP: Peak def. Kenny Flounders, LFS, 4:59.
145 pounds
Taylor Lee, Emp, def. Chase Fortune, McP, Fall :57; Lee def. Layth Krashawn, NKC, Fall 1:31; Lee def. Chris Shepard, WW, Fall 4:28; CHAMPIONSHIP: Lee def. Marshall Eiring, WSE, Fall :48.
152 pounds
Logan Gaskill, Emp, def. Joseph Bobbitt, NKC, Maj. Dec. 10-0; CHAMPIONSHIP: Gaskill def. Cameron Julian, McP, Maj. Dec. 12-4.
160 pounds
C.J. Mosley, WSE, def. Caleb Chiroy, Emp, Fall 1:41; Alan McMurray, McP, def. Chiroy, Fall 1:18; Dalton Stanley, WR, def. Chiroy, Fall 2:55; FOURTH PLACE: Chiroy def. Phillip Delgado, WW, Dec. 4-2.
171 pounds
Keigan Stanley, WR. def. Nico Rodriguez, Emp, Maj. Dec. 11-2; Rodriguez def. Dominic Avila, NKC, Fall 4:21; Riley Williams, TH, def. Rodriguez, Dec. 6-3; FIFTH PLACE: Yousef Samarah, WSE, def. Rodriguez, Dec. 7-3.
189 pounds
Ryan Bass, Emp, def. Parker Johnson, McP, Fall 3:45; Gage Deere, WR, def. Bass, Fall 4:45; Bass def. Jesse Vanderpool, WW, Fall 2:44; THIRD PLACE: Bass def. Dane Alexander, WSE, Dec. 7-4.
215 pounds
Nathan Goens, WSE, def. Jordan Barr, Emp, Fall 1:00; Dylan Pryor, WR, def. Barr, Fall :49; Barr def. Jermaine Avery, TH, Fall 5:15; THIRD PLACE: Barr def. Zach Peterson, McP, Dec. 3-2.
285 pounds
Lorenzo Serna, Emp, def. Aaron Kranz, NKC, Fall 1:06; Serna def. Ammon Austin, LFS, Fall 1:03; CHAMPIONSHIP: Nick Langford, JCH, def. Serna, Fall 3:00.
beleighve (anonymous) says...
WAY TO GO, SAL! (and all the other Spartan wrestlers!)
A fantastic young man that is determined, and talented, and an all-around great person! You go ! T O T H E T O P!
Was so hoping to see you wrestle this past wkend; MY LOSS. Keep up the great work!
December 18, 2007 at 8:10 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )