Class 5A championship finals complete
Emporia High won its 10th State wrestling championship in school history, completing the run to the Class 5A crown with an individual championship for Lorenzo Serna. The Spartans finished with 159.50 points, 7.50 ahead of Lansing.
Serna, a junior making his first State appearance, came back from a 1-0 deficit at the end of the second period, taking down Bishop Carroll's Tony Marquez by a 6-2 score and joining Sal Tovar as EHS's first individual champions since 2004. The team title was Emporia's first since 2000. Nine Spartans medaled in this weekend's action.
For complete coverage of the Spartans' victory, please see Monday's Gazette.
Championship finals, 135 and 140 pounds
Sal Tovar won a State title and set Emporia High's all-time win record with 132, defeating Winfield's Vance Oliver in a 7-3 decision in the 135-pound championship match.
Tovar broke a 2-2 tie late in the third period with a takedown after hooking Oliver's right leg, then scored three near-fall points to put the match away. His 132nd and last career win broke Dusty Spaulding's record, which had stood for nine years.
In the 140-pound title match, Tavo Dikin fell behind 3-0 in the first two periods against Valley Center's Cade Blair, the defending state champion, and despite a late escape, couldn't make the comeback, losing 3-1 to finish second at State in his senior year.
Lorenzo Serna is the Spartans' remaining finalist. He'll close Class 5A action by wrestling in the 285-pound title match against Tony Marquez of Bishop Carroll.
Third-place matches complete; team scores
Only the championship finals remain, and Emporia's lead is at 13.5 points. The Spartans have 151.5 points to Lansing's 138. Carroll is in third with 115, Liberal at fourth with 92, and Valley Center is in fifth place at 90 points.
Like Emporia, Lansing has three wrestlers in the finals: Bo Pursel at 103 pounds, Spencer Blew at 130 and Grant Hinckley at 171.
Third-place matches- Emporia wrestling complete
Chase Sanchez at 145 pounds and Mark Kolmer at 189 earned third-place finishes for the Spartans after Colby Walecki fell in his third-place match at 125.
Walecki was shut out by Salina South's Steven Plott by a 7-0 count. Sanchez earned a 10-1 major decision over KC-Washington's Byron Roath, and Kolmer recorded a takedown with around 20 seconds remaining in the third period to break a 2-2 tie and defeat Kapaun's Dylan Matheny 4-2.
With three wrestlers in the championship finals later today, the Spartans will end the tournament with nine medalists. Thus far, they have two thirds, one fourth, one fifth and two sixth-place finishers.
Fifth-place matches- Emporia wrestling complete
Justin Rose won his fifth-place match at 130 pounds over Nick Schwager of Great Bend in a 4-1 decision, becoming the first Spartan to end his tournament with a victory. Zeb Peak and Logan Gaskill finished in sixth place after dropping their fifth-place bouts at 152 and 160, respectively. Austin Willis of Shawnee Heights pinned Peak at the 2:11 mark, and Valley Center's Cody Sherwood defeated Gaskill in a 4-2 decision.
Consolation semifinals complete- team scores
Emporia's lead is now at 18.5 points following completion of the consolation semifinals. The Spartans have 144.5 points, ahead of Lansing's 126. Carroll is in third at 108.
Consolation semifinals- Emporia wrestling complete
Emporia will have three wrestlers going for third place this afternoon. Colby Walecki, Chase Sanchez and Mark Kolmer won their consolation semifinals to advance to the third-place bouts, while Justin Rose, Zeb Peak and Logan Gaskill dropped their semifinals and will wrestle for fifth place.
At 125 pounds, Walecki scored a takedown with about 13 seconds left to defeat Andover Central's Jake Umscheid 4-3. Rose lost to Carroll's Dylan Penka at 130 pounds by a score of 5-3. Sanchez pinned Tyler Terron of Lansing to advance at 145 pounds, and then Peak dropped a 5-2 decision to Cullen Demarest, also of Lansing. Gaskill went all the way to the ultimate overtime with Andrew Rogers of Mill Valley before a Rogers escape with 10 seconds left won the match by a 2-1 count. Kolmer defeated Steven Cooksley of Seaman 2-0.
Consolation quarterfinals- Emporia wrestling complete
Wins in the consolation quarterfinals by Colby Walecki and Justin Rose helped Emporia's cause.
Walecki edged Turner's Forrest Carrol by a 5-4 victory at 125 pounds, and Rose then earned a 5-0 victory over Rylan Dalke of Newton. The Spartans' next matches will be in the consolation semifinals this afternoon.
Consolation cross-bracketing complete
With Taylor Lee's defeat to Joe Newberry at 171 pounds, Emporia completed consolation cross-bracketing with a 2-3 mark. Newberry pinned Lee with 11 seconds remaining in the third period.
The Spartans' lead in the team standings shrunk slightly in the cross-bracketing round. They had 119.5 team points through cross-bracketing, with Lansing in second at 99 points. The consolation quarterfinals are now under way.
Cross-bracketing begins
Heading into Day 2 of the Class 5A State wrestling tournament at Valley Center with a 23.5-point lead in the team standings, Emporia High started the day with two wins and two losses in the first four matches of its morning cross-bracketing action.
Bryce Dakin, wrestling at 103 pounds, had a 5-0 lead on Shawnee Heights' Aspen Kmiec before Kmiec came back to pin Dakin at the 3:12 mark. At 119, Jared Dakin lost to Pittsburg's Mario Corado 7-1. But the Spartans then got pins at 125 and 130 pounds: Colby Walecki pinned Chris Strimple of Shawnee Heights, and Justin Rose pinned Devin Ellison of Mill Valley.
Comments
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Local_Hispanic (anonymous) says...
Hell Yeah! Congrats to Emporia's newest individual State Champions Sal Tovar and Lorenzo Serna and the Emporia High Wrestling team 2009 State 5A Champions!
Viva La Raza!
February 28, 2009 at 8:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
Excellent job Spartans and Coach Buckbee who was part of the Championship Team when I was a senior.
Congrats to Sal for securing the most wins record too, awesome HS wrestling career.
February 28, 2009 at 9:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Pollyanna (anonymous) says...
Congrats to ALL EHS wrestlers, coaches, parents and supporters! The time, energy, blood, sweat and tears put into wrestling is amazing. This championship is icing on the cake for a fabulous season!
February 28, 2009 at 10:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )