UPDATE: Emporia High's Sparks, Rodriguez take 3rd place at State
6 Spartans place at State tournament
By Michael Ashford
Saturday, February 24, 2007
WICHITA -- Emporia High's James Sparks (215 pounds) and Josh Rodriguez (285 pounds) each finished third at Saturday's State wrestling tournament.
• Sparks won a 12-7 decision over McPherson's Alex Whitehill.
• Rodriguez pinned Nick Langford of Harmon (1:00).
Two other Spartans earned fourth-place finishes:
• Justin Rose (112 pounds) lost to Valley Center's Chase Nitcher by a 9-0 major decision.
• Sal Tovar (119 pounds) lost a 5-3 decision to Valley Center's Jimmy Stults.
Two more EHS wrestlers finished in sixth place:
• Bryce Shaver (160 pounds) lost a 4-2 decision to Aaron Berscheidt of Gardner-Edgerton.
• Mark Kolmer (189 pounds) was pinned by Seaman's Matt Rice (1:49).
Emporia's final team finish will not be determined until tonight's championship rounds.
In earlier semifinal action:
• Rose won a 5-2 decision over Salina South's Jason Seibel.
• Tovar defeated Micah Ankenman of Hutchinson by a 3-1 decision.
• Sparks defeated Gardner-Edgerton's Keith Curtis by a 9-0 major deicision.
• Rodriguez pinned Hays' Blake Pruter (:28).
All four advanced to wrestle in the third-place bouts of their respective weight classes.
In the consolation semifinals, Bryce Shaver (160 pounds) and Mark Kolmer (189 pounds) lost their matches, which dropped them to the fifth-place matches.
Emporia is in seventh place in the team standings with 67.5 points.
In earlier quarterfinal action:
• Tovar defeated McPherson's Tyler Davis by a 3-1 decision.
• Kolmer defeated Jerry Cox of Sumner by an 11-6 decision.
Tovar and Kolmer join Justin Rose (112 pounds), Bryce Shaver (160 pounds), James Sparks (215 pounds) and Josh Rodriguez (285 pounds) in the semifinals of the consolation brackets. The six Spartans are guaranteed no worse than a sixth-place finish in their respective weight classes.
Jared Dakin fell in his consolation quaterfinal bout, losing to Liberal's Ralph Salas by a 5-3 decision.
In earlier second-round consolation action:
• Jared Dakin (103 pounds) pinned Trevor Boyer of Mill Valley (2:54).
• Sal Tovar (119 pounds) defeated Bishop Carroll's Jake Mainz by a 5-3 decision.
• Mark Kolmer (189 pounds) defeated Nathaniel Martens of Newton by a technical fall (17-1, 4:16).
Three other Spartans fell in second-round consolation action, as Tavo Dikin (125 pounds), Zeb Peak (135 pounds) and Logan Gaskill (140 pounds) each saw their seasons come to an end.