By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden seniors Will DeVader and Clayton Stephenson extended their wrestling seasons after posting top-three finishes in Friday's Class 4A regional boys tournament at Jefferson West.
DeVader advanced to the 182-pound final before dropping a 14-8 decision to Louisburg's Aiden Barker in the championship match while 220-pounder Stephenson rebounded from a first-round loss to post three straight wins by fall and finish third, ending his day with a pin of Holton's Dalton Roush in the third-place match
DeVader improved to 19-5 on the season while Stephenson is now 29-6.
DeVader and Stephenson will compete in a 4A sub-state tournament at Chanute next Saturday, with the top four advancing to state competition.
SILVER LAKE, ROSVILLE COMBINE FOR SIX REGIONAL CHAMPS
Silver Lake finished second as a team in Friday's 3A-1A regional at Rossville with four individual champs while Rossville had a pair of individual titlists.
The Eagles got regional championships from senior Kai Allen (138), junior Daigan Kruger (170 pounds), junior Tristan VandeVelde (182) and junior Preston Gillen (195) while Rossville got titles from senior Layne Hurla (145) and junior Sam Twombly (152).
Allen (34-3 on the season) posted a 21-5 technical fall over Sabetha's Cole Hinton in the 138-pound final while Kruger (44-1) pinned Mission Valley's Justice Dunbar in just 1:33, ValdeVelde (39-4) pinned Onaga's Riley Mayginness at the 1:50 mark and Gillen (37-6) won the 195 crown with a 3-1 decision over Marysville's Patrick Smith.
Rossville's Hurla (24-3) and Twombly (14-2) both won their championship matches by major decision, with Hurla taking a 13-2 win over Osage City's Elijah Collins and Twombly taking a 12-2 win over Atchison County's Bricon Lee.
The Eagles qualified six wrestlers for next Saturday's 3A-1A sub-state at Marion while Rossville had seven qualifiers.
In addition to its four champions, Silver Lake got a second-place finish from junior Justin Rakestraw (132 pounds) and a third from sophomore Kaden Walker (220).
Rossville freshman Mason Broce was second at 106 pounds while the Bulldawgs got a third-place finish from freshman Barrett Lietz (195) and fourth-place finishes from junior Colby Hurla (132), sophomore Krew Lacock (138) and junior Corey Catron (160).
