Mark Kolmer and Josh Rodriguez each came away with first-place finishes on Sunday at the Kansas State Wrestling Folkstyle championships at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka.
Kolmer and Rodriguez both finished with 3-0 records to lead the way for 10 Emporia Kids Wrestling Club athletes that placed at the two-day tournament.
For Kolmer, who wrestled at 185 pounds in the 16-and-under age group, it was his first kids State championship after making in to the title match three years in a row. He defeated Matt Baker of the Kansas City Wrestling Club by a 3-1 decision.
As for Rodriguez, who wrestling at 275 pounds in the 16-and-under age group, he won his second kids State title, beating Nick Langford of the Turner Wrestling Club by a 2-1 decision. Rodriguez and Langford should be quite familiar with each other, as the two wrestled twice at the high school State championships last month, with Rodriguez winning both matches, including the for third place.
Aside from Kolmer and Rodriguez winning titles, eight other EKWC members — out of the 20 that qualified — finished in the placings on Sunday. Lorenzo Serna came away with a third-place showing at 265 pounds in the 14-and-under age group; Justin Rose (120 pounds) and Sal Tovar (125) each came away with fourth-place finishes in the 16-and-under age group, and Braxton Marstall took fourth in the 10-and-under group at 90 pounds.
Three EKWC members finished in fifth: Jared Dakin (110) in the 16-and-under group, Logan Gaskill (140) in the 14-and-under group and Nicolas Dikin (190) in the 12-and-under group. The final placer for Emporia was Bryce Dakin, who came in sixth in the 12-and-under group at 84 pounds.
Other EKWC members who participated but did not place were: Gabe Buckbee, Isidro Trujillo, Damian Herrera, Max Detwiler, Trey Francka, Michael Sturm, Dylan Samuels, Nico Rodriguez, Carlos Playa-Casiano and Zeb Peak.
The 20 State qualifiers were the most for the Kids Wrestling Club in coach Matt Collins’ 10 years at the helm of the program, surpassing last year’s previous high of 19.
More than 1,500 wrestlers competed in the event, with champions in 104 age and weight divisions.