Led by first-place finishes in their respective weight classes by Mark Kolmer (189 pounds) and Josh Rodriguez (285 pounds), the Emporia High wrestling squad finished fifth out of 22 teams at the Garden City Invitational on Saturday.
Sal Tovar also placed, coming in third at 119 pounds.
Though the Spartans dropped a spot in the team standings from Friday, coach Greg Buckbee said he was still happy with his team’s performance.
“Overall, it was a pretty good weekend for us,” Buckbee said. “We won all of our placing matches, so that’s good.”
The Spartans’ two champions went about achieving their titles in very different ways. Rodriguez, the second-ranked wrestler at 285 pounds in Class 5A, blew through the competition on each day, while Kolmer showed some scrappiness all weekend in taking his weight class.
Rodriguez defeated Taylor Stam of Ponderosa, Colo., 10-3, to cap a weekend in which he was clearly the top wrestler in his weight class.
“Josh pretty much dominated his bracket out there, which is good for him,” Buckbee said. “He needed to have a dominating performance. The only kids that have come close to him are the No. 1-ranked kids in the state. He didn’t see them this weekend, and so he dominated everybody else.”
Kolmer — ranked fourth in his weight class in 5A — had to get through two overtime matches just to get to Saturday’s finals.
In the title bout, the freshman went against Derek Heckel of Ulysses. With the score tied at 3-3 in the third round, Kolmer made his move, getting Heckel on his back to score the match’s final three points to win, 6-3.
It was Kolmer’s first first-place showing in high school.
“Mark showed how he can compete,” Buckbee said. “He has been competing very well lately, and hopefully that will get him on a roll heading into league, Regionals and State.”
Tovar was the only other Spartan placer out of four that made it to the semifinals of the consolation bracket, coming in third by defeating Jesse Barber of Dodge City, 4-2.
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