TOPEKA — With one minute gone in his semifinal match in Saturday’s Centennial League meet, Emporia High’s James Sparks had already scored two takedowns over his opponent, Manhattan Eric Rolands, and was leading, 4-2.
Then, as quickly as the match started, it was over.
Sparks, in his first action all season, flipped Rolands onto his back to score another takedown to go up, 6-2.
At that point, with the match still in progress, Sparks looked over to his coach, Greg Buckbee, who was sitting mat-side. Sparks flashed a grin, nodded his head and let out a little “ooh” as a way of saying, “This match is over.”
Indeed it was, as Sparks got the pin seconds later.
“I was like, ‘Yes, I’m going to the finals,’” Sparks said. “It was great. Coming back for my first tournament of the year, that felt awesome.”
Sparks went on to win the league title in the 215-pound weight class with a pin over Topeka West’s Floice Kemp, giving Sparks three victories by first-period pins on his way to the championship.
“James was ready to wrestle, and he just dominated at the 215 weight class. He was so powerful,” Buckbee said. “He really wasn’t challenged.”
Sparks gave just one of many dominating performances by the Spartan wrestling team on Saturday, as EHS ran away from the field to win the Centennial League championship, 222-180, over second-place Manhattan. It was the first league wrestling championship for EHS in three years after it had won 23 consecutive titles before Manhattan took the last two.
“We wrestled outstanding,” Buckbee said. “In every round, they looked really strong, and we came away with the title. I thought the guys got better as the meet went on.”
In addition to Sparks, the Spartans sent eight other wrestlers into the championship rounds. Six of the nine came away league champions: sophomore Jared Dakin (103 pounds) defeated Manhattan’s Jeff Vista, 5-4; sophomore Justin Rose (112 pounds) defeated Junction City’s Lance Maldonado, 3-2; sophomore Sal Tovar (119 pounds) defeated Junction City’s Adam Charland by a technical fall, 17-0; freshman Mark Kolmer (189 pounds) defeated Seaman’s Matt Rice, 11-3; and junior Josh Rodriguez (285 pounds) defeated Shawnee Heights’ Chris Holly, 6-5.
With so many guys in the finals, Kolmer said he and his teammates could sense a Spartan victory in the making, though no one spoke of it until the last match ended.
“The anticipation built up to that last match when the deal was sealed. It was really exciting,” he said. “We were ahead by quite a few points, but the deal wasn’t closed so nobody was saying anything. Once we won, everybody was going crazy.”
Rodriguez’s victory over Holly was particularly impressive, as Holly is the No. 1-ranked wrestler in Class 5A at 285 and had beaten Rodriguez in two previous matches this season.
“That was a huge win for Josh,” Buckbee said.
Again, it was the lower weight classes that proved to be the catalyst for the Spartans, as Dakin, Rose, Tovar and Tavo Dikin (125 pounds) all made it to the finals of their respective weight classes thanks to a combined total of six pins and one technical fall.
In 23 of Emporia’s 30 wins on the day, the Spartans earned bonus points, with much of the credit going to the impressive showings in the lower weights.
“When those guys (Dakin, Rose, Tovar, Dikin) wrestle the way they can, that can provide a big lift to our team right out of the gate,” Buckbee said. “When we’ve got those four all wrestling well, they can get us started off right in a hurry.”
Kolmer continued his outstanding freshman season with yet another powerful run through his bracket. In earning the league title in just his first high-school season, Kolmer defeated a junior, Manhattan’s Justin Mayer, by technical fall, 17-0, and then rolled to 11-3 major-decisions victories over two seniors, Highland Park’s Chris Burns and Seaman’s Matt Rice.
“Mark is just a great athlete,” Buckbee said. “For him to come in and do what he has done as a freshman is pretty special. He is obviously very talented, and he’s done some really nice things this year.”
Dikin, Zeb Peak (135 pounds), Bryce Shaver (160 pounds) all made it to the championship round andbut fell in their title matches to claim three second-place finishes for Emporia. Three other Spartans pulled in fourth-place showings in the consolation bracket: Andrew Laib (130 pounds), Logan Gaskill (140 pounds) and Taylor Lee (145 pounds).
Not only was the league title the first for the Spartans after a two-year hiatus, but it was Buckbee’s first Centennial League championship as Emporia’s head coach.
“It does feel really good,” he said. “It (the league title) is back where it should be, and that’s in Emporia.”