Emporia High wrestlers win final 2 duals before League
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Friday, February 2, 2007
Emporia High’s Caleb Chiroy and Bryce Shaver each won both of their matches Thursday night in duals against Shawnee Mission South and Shawnee Mission West to help the Spartan wrestling team to victories over both schools.
EHS defeated South, 35-26, and West, 40-21.
“It wasn’t pretty at times, but we still won both of them,” Buckbee said. “It was a little closer than I wanted, but we were battling some sickness and injury too.”
Shaver, at 160 pounds, pinned South’s Eric Rolston in the second period of their bout and also beat West’s Jared Sanchez, 9-1, after jumping out to a 5-0 lead.
Chiroy actually won his match against South even though he never wrestled anyone, as South did not have a wrestler compete in the 152-pound class. Still, the victory gave EHS six team points. Against West’s Ty Allen, Chiroy dominated from the start, as he led 4-0 after one period and 6-0 after two on his way to a 9-1 victory.
Among other top performances by the Spartans was Jared Dakin at 103 pounds, who pinned West’s Ben Kostruske just 15 seconds into their match. Mark Kolmer (189 pounds) defeated West’s Jack Kapaun, 10-4, to continue his recent streak of quality matches, while Josh Rodriguez defeated South’s Drew Beardell, 20-6.
Buckbee also singled out Carlos Casiano as one wrestler who stepped up Thursday. Wrestling at 112 pounds in place of Justin Rose, who was slightly banged up, Casiano moved up from the JV squad and earned a pin over South’s Ben Werner 1 minute, 32 seconds into the first period.
“Carlos stepped up and got us a big pin,” Buckbee said.
Emporia won both duals despite leaving a combined seven matches open because of sickness, injuries or too many points.
Thursday’s duals were the final action for the Spartan wrestlers before next Saturday’s Centennial League meet at Topeka High School.
Buckbee said that if the Spartans could get and stay healthy, he believed they were ready for what awaited them at the league meet.
“We’ve had a very tough January. Our schedule has been tough,” Buckbee said. “Hopefully, that will get us seasoned and ready for League. We’ve been in a lot of tough matches, and the kids know how to compete now.”