Lorenzo Serna had more in him than his opponent, Bishop Carroll’s Tony Marquez. More aggressiveness, more stamina, and — after Marquez was whistled for stalling for a second time in their heavyweight championship match — more points.
“I felt like I was the only one really taking action in the match,” Serna said. “He was pretty tired, and I didn’t want to disappoint Coach and not do anything, so I just kept going at it.”
Serna’s 2-1 overtime victory over Marquez was the highlight for Emporia High in Saturday’s concluding day of the Derby Invitational, which saw the Spartan team end tournament action the same way it started on Friday: in second place behind Goddard, the top-ranked Class 6A team in the state. Emporia, the top-ranked team in 5A, finished with 174 points, with Goddard notching an even 200. The Spartans just bested Derby, which finished with 172.5 points for third.
Ten Spartans earned top-six placings in their weight classes, and four reached Saturday’s championship bouts. Serna was the only Spartan to take home a title, doing so upon Marquez’s stalling violation in overtime. After Marquez had previously been called for stalling late in the third period, Serna said he wasn’t at all surprised to see it happen again in overtime.
“I think endurance gave me the advantage,” Serna said. “I was in a lot better shape, I thought. I just kept working my moves and it all turned out for the better at the end.”
“Lorenzo wrestled a great match, very smart match,” Spartans coach Greg Buckbee said. “He was by far the more offensive and aggressive wrestler, and that’s what ended up winning it for him. He stayed on the offense, stayed aggressive, and the Bishop Carroll wrestler did not. He was very defensive, and we talk about that all the time — being offensive and being aggressive. It pays off for you, usually.”
Spartan runners-up included on Saturday included Sal Tovar at 135 pounds, Tavo Dikin at 140 and Mark Kolmer at 189. Kendrick Maple of Wichita Heights defeated Tovar by an 11-4 count, Garden City’s Joey Dozier pinned Dikin at the 3:04 mark and Goddard’s Boaz Beard pinned Kolmer at 5:42.
“Beard kind of wore Mark down in the second period,” Buckbee said. “Again, like I talked... about Friday night, we couldn’t get out from underneath, so we were caught underneath, and it’s a little hard to carry a 190-pound person for two minutes on top of you. So that just kind of wears on you, so he just kind of got worn out, and in the third period, Beard just kind of capitalized on that.”
Zeb Peak (145 pounds) and Jordan Barr (215 pounds) each earned fourth-place finishes, losing in the consolation finals of their classes. Fifth-place finishers for the Spartans were Justin Rose at 125 pounds and Logan Gaskill at 152. Bryce Dakin finished sixth at 103 pounds, and Colby Walecki — wrestling his first-ever varsity matches while filling in for a sick Chase Sanchez — impressed Buckbee with a sixth-place finish at 130 pounds.
“I don’t know if it surprised me,” Buckbee said. “He’s one of those wrestlers that could wrestle varsity probably a lot of other places. He’s got a lot of skills... he’s wrestled for several years. It just so happens he hasn’t been able to break into the lineup, and I’m not sure it surprised me. It was pleasing, because you don’t know what to expect.”
Not being satisfied with the Spartans’ overall performance in the post-holiday break Derby Invitational is something that’s become the usual for Buckbee each year.
“It just seems like we don’t wrestle up to our capabilities coming off of our break, and I think that was the case again this year,” he said. “But I think finishing second and not performing as well as we could have, it makes me feel good. Because I know we will get better.”
Derby Invitational
Team scores
1. Goddard 200, 2. Emporia 174, 3. Derby 172.50, 4. Valley Center 139, 5. Wichita Heights 133.50, 6. Bishop Carroll 132, 7. Arkansas City 92, 8. Shawnee Heights 78, 9. Garden City 77, 10. Pittsburg 71, 11. St. James Academy 58, 12. El Dorado 55, 13. Winfield 52, 14. Putnam City West (Okla.) 50, 15. Great Bend 48, 16. Wellington 27, 17. Rose Hill 26, 18. Wichita South 18.