Emporia High wrestling squad’s 9 qualifiers believe they are prepared for State tournament
By Michael Ashford
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Sal Tovar admits it, he’s peeked at the bracket of the 125-pound weight class for this weekend’s Class 5A State wrestling tournament.
And he likes what he sees.
“I’ve checked it out,” Tovar said with a grin. “I’m not worried. I think I got a pretty good draw, and I’m just going to take it one match at a time.”
Much of that confidence comes from a terrific season for the Emporia High junior, who wrestled his way to a 32-7 record this year and a No. 2 ranking in the state at 125 pounds.
Some of it also comes from experience, as this will be Tovar’s third State tournament in as many years, something he said would “help me a lot, because I’ve been there before and I know what it’s all about.”
But another element to Tovar’s self-assuredness is the fact that as a team, the Spartans believe they are as well-prepared for the State tournament as any team could hope to be.
Emporia year after year goes through a gauntlet of a schedule during the regular season before contending with the likes of Manhattan at the Centennial League meet. Then its off to Regionals, where the Spartans meet some of the state’s best teams, as was especially the case this year.
Emporia High coach Greg Buckbee called last weekend’s Regional at Valley Center “by far the toughest Regional compared to the others.”
It’s the hope that by the time State rolls around, there are no more surprises.
“We’re seasoned, and I think we’re ready,” Buckbee said. “That’s why we have such a tough schedule, so that we prepare ourselves for the State tournament.”
The Emporia High squad will take nine wrestlers to this year’s championships, which begins at 9 a.m. Friday and runs through Saturday at the Salthawk Activity Center at Hutchinson High School in Hutchinson.
Joining Tovar at the State meet will be seniors Ryan Bass (215 pounds) and Josh Rodriguez (285), juniors Jared Dakin (112), Justin Rose (119), Tavo Dikin (135) and Zeb Peak (140) and sophomores Logan Gaskill (152) and Mark Kolmer (189).
Two Spartans coming off Regional titles a week ago are Kolmer and Rodriguez, but both have particularly tough roads ahead of them if they hope to make runs at the State title in their respective weight classes.
For Kolmer, ranked third at 189 pounds, his side of the bracket features a potential semifinal matchup with Liberal’s Nate Davis, who handed Kolmer his first loss of the season. Should Kolmer advance to Saturday’s title bout, he’d most likely have to face either the state’s No. 2 or No. 1 wrestler in the weight class, Clinton Bruce of Arkansas City or Romero Cotton of Hutchinson. Cotton is undefeated this season and already has signed to wrestle at Nebraska next year.
As for Rodriguez, ranked fourth at 285 pounds, he could see No. 2-ranked Edgar Roman of Great Bend in the semifinals, with undefeated Atticus Disney of Shawnee Heights most likely the championship match opponent should he advance that far. Disney has signed to wrestle at Minnesota next year.
But, Rodriguez said, none of that will matter this weekend.
“I’m just going to treat every match like it’s the championship match and do the best that I can,” said Rodriguez, who finished third at State last season. “I feel like I got a good seed, and if everything goes right, I could be in the finals.”
Kolmer placed sixth at last year’s State meet, while Rose is the only other returning placer from a season ago, as he finished fourth.
But despite EHS having two fewer wrestlers at State this year than it did when it finished third as a team last season, Buckbee believes his squad could be in the running to move up this year, though it will be tough to go much higher.
“They’ve been pretty focused in practice,” Buckbee said. “Bishop Carroll’s got to be a clear No. 1, and after them, it’s wide open for just about anybody. But, everybody is 0-0 at State. We don’t worry about records, we don’t worry about Regional placings. It’s 0-0, and everybody’s got a chance to win.”