The Emporia High wrestling team, despite being short-handed because of illnesses or injuries, still managed a top-10 finish as a team at the Rocky Welton Invitational in Garden City on Saturday, placing 10th out of 24 teams.
“It was a tough tournament, and we were light four varsity wrestlers due to sickness and illness and injury, but it’s still a tournament that’s a lot of fun,” EHS coach Greg Buckbee said. “There are at least 15 teams out there that we only see once a year, and it’s fun to see some different competition.”
Four Spartans placed on Saturday, led by the second-place finish of senior Josh Rodriguez.
Rodriguez made it to the championship bout of the 285-pound division, but fell to Taylor Stamm of Ponderosa, Colo., 7-4.
“It was a good match,” Buckbee said. “It was one of the more exciting matches of the tournament.”
Sophomore Mark Kolmer, competing in just his second tournament of the year after sitting out the first part of the season to recover from football, managed to place third at 189 pounds, defeating Stephen Fox of Lamar, Colo., 4-3 in the third-place bout.
“It’s hard to jump into the middle of competition when everybody else has been wrestling all season long and compete at your highest level,” Buckbee said. “But Mark’s getting better, and he’s improving each time out.
“He understands the next few weeks are just practice, and then it’s time to get serious.”
Sal Tovar finish fourth, losing 6-3 to Trent Cox of Andale in the third-place bout, while Ryan Bass came in sixth at 215 pounds, falling to Brandon Vaughan of Lamar, Colo., 6-3 in the fifth-place match.
EHS was without the services of Justin Rose (119 pounds), Tavo Dikin (135), Tyler Trahoon (103) and Pedro Gonzales (171).
“Not having those four didn’t help matters,” Buckbee said.
EHS will be back in action on Thursday when it travels to Shawnee Mission West.