Emporia wrestlers get pay back
Josh Slaughter, Special to The Gazette
Saturday, December 13, 2008
When the Emporia High wrestlers took the mat on Friday night, the 4 1/2-point loss to Manhattan at the Centennial League meet from last season was fresh in their mind.
This time around EHS was looking to reverse things by sending seven seniors to the floor. This time they came out on top in dominant fashion, winning 55-21.
“Wow, it’s tremendous. I haven’t had a senior group like this since I came here to Emporia,” EHS head coach Greg Buckbee said. “They are leaders in the practice room; they are leaders out here on the mat. It’s going to be a fun year with them.”
The match opened with freshman Bryce Dakin in the 103-pound category. Dakin earned a 6-0 lead before pinning his opponent in the first period.
After EHS jumped out to a 6-0 advantage, MHS stormed back, winning two straight decisions to take a 9-6 advantage in the match. Senior Justin Rose would be the one to answer back for the Spartans, however, building a 10-0 lead before pinning his opponent.
EHS got a stroke of luck after that, picking up the automatic six points in a forfeit in the 130-pound weight class. It was then time for the seniors to start taking the mat. Sal Tovar started things off by pinning his opponent in the second period.
“This match I was looking for takedowns. I got him down twice and I just saw his hand and took advantage of that,” Tovar said. “We’ve been working on just the basics, learning from the mistakes we’ve made early.”
Senior Tavo Dikin followed in much the same fashion, winning 11-4 over a tough opponent in his match.
“I expected to do a little bit better,” Dikins said. “I was going for a major, and I didn’t quite get it. After the first takedown the coach told me to cut him, so I did. The second time I let him go too early, but it was a good win.”
Zeb Peak followed up Dikin’s win with another pin, pushing the EHS advantage to 33-9. He was followed by junior Logan Gaskill, who also picked up a pin to give the Spartans a 39-9 advantage. The Indians answered with back-to-back pins of their own to cut the lead to 39-21. So it all fell to senior Mark Kolmer to give the Spartans their first victory in three tries over the Indians. It was simple, if Kolmer could win, they would win as well.
Kolmer did not disappoint jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first period. Kolmer had six takedowns on his way to a 13-4 victory.
“This match I just wanted to work the moves,” Kolmer said. “It started out hard, but then later in the match I got things going. I just had to control the tide against him. He was pretty quick.”
Jordan Barr and Lorenzo Serna closed things out for EHS, both pinning their opponents to give the Spartans the 55-21 win. For the Spartans, the victory gives them an edge over one of their main rivals in the Centennial league.
“Our goal is obviously to win the league. Manhattan has really been our main nemesis, so hopefully we can keep this rolling like this going into the league,” Buckbee said.
For Kolmer, getting the win over Manhattan was the perfect start to the season.
“At this point last year we were getting beat by this team,” Kolmer said. “Changing it around and beating them was good for us. All we want to do is win, every week. Win and dominate.”
Friday in Emporia
EHS 55, MHS 21
103; Dakin, EHS pins Unruh, MHS
112; Norris, MHS pins Drew Detwiler, EHS
119; Vesta, MHS def. Jared Dakin 5-3
125; Rose, EHS pins Hilgers, MHS
130; Chase Sanchez wins by Forfeit
135; Tovar, EHS pins Wagner, MHS
140; Dikin, EHS def. KC Mullen, MHS 11-4
145; Peak, EHS pins Rich, MHS
152; Gaskill, EHS pins Donnert, MHS
160; Trinen, MHS pins Taylor Lee, EHS
171; R. Parker, MHS pins Nico Rodriguez, EHS
189; Kolmer, EHS def. West, MHS 13-4
215; Barr, EHS pins Theus, MHS
285; Serna, EHS pins D. Parker, MHS