By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's girls and boys wrestling teams were unable to keep pace with Manhattan in Saturday's Centennial League tournament at Rural, with the Indians sweeping the team championships.
But both Junior Blues teams had plenty to celebrate, and Rural girls coach Damon Parker and girls coach Josh Hogan plan to use the league meet as a primer to get ready for upcoming Class 6A regional competition.
Washburn Rural's girls, ranked No. 5 in Class 6A by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association rolled to wins in its first three duals of the day -- 66-16 over Emporia, 45-33 over Junction City and 84-0 over Topeka High -- before the No. 3 Indians built a huge early lead and held off the Junior Blues down the stretch for a 45-32 win.
"Manhattan's loaded for bear,'' Parker said. "(Shawn) Bammes and those guys have done a great job over there. We knew going into that one that there were going to be a couple of key swing matches and we'd have to pull an upset. We had a couple of opportunities and they didn't go our way.''
Washburn Rural freshman Aliyah Tangpricha (right) won the 105-pound Centennial League girls wrestling title and was named the league girls newcomer of the year. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Emme Blanco won the Centennial League girls 145-pound title with four straight pins Saturday at Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Elia Smith won the 170-pound Centennial League championship and reached the 100-win milestone Saturday. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural junior Lily Davis won the 190-pound title in Saturday's Centennial League tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural got league individual titles from 105-pound freshman Aliyah Tangpricha, 145-pound senior Emme Blanco, 170-pound senior Elia Smith and junior 190-pounder Lily Davis, who all went 4-0 on the day.
E. Blanco posted four straight pins while Smith recorded three pins and a 16-1 technical fall and Davis recorded three straight pins after receiving a first-round forfeit.
Smith, 125-pound senior runnerup Lacey Middleton and 140-pound senior runnerup Madi Blanco were all recognized Saturday for reaching the 100-win milestone for their careers while Tangpricha was voted the Centennial League girls newcomer of the year.
Now the Junior Blues will turn their sights on Saturday's 6A regional tournament at Wichita South.
"We got film and we're ready to game plan,'' Parker said. "We don't learn a lot if we come out and thump everybody. The best opportunity to learn is when somebody takes it to you and (Manhattan) took to us today. Tip of the top hat to them.''
The No. 3-ranked Rural boys went 4-0 to open the tournament -- 44-36 over Emporia, 40-38 over Junction City, 52-27 over Topeka High and 46-33 over Hayden -- before the No. 2-ranked Indians took a 58-18 win over the short-handed Junior Blues, who were missing four starters.
Despite the loss to the Indians, Hogan was proud of the way his Junior Blues wrestled Saturday.
"We had a solid day,'' he said. "We had a bunch of guys that stepped into the lineup that weren't varsity guys and any time somebody goes down we have a big enough team that somebody's got to be the one to step up.
"I was proud of the kids that stepped up today and plugged themselves into the lineup. Little did they know, but we needed them and it was enough to beat everybody else except for Manhattan today, so that's something. Even with four guys out we still beat some good teams.''
Two-time Class 6A state champion Landen Kocher-Munoz won the Centennial League 144-pound title Saturday at Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Rural got individual league titles from freshman 106-pounder Hayden Broxterman, freshman 113-pounder Andrew Peterson, senior 120-pounder Ryder Harrison and senior 144-pounder Landen Kocher-Munoz, who all went 5-0.
Washburn Rural senior Ryder Harrison (right) went 5-0 with five pins to win the 120-pound Centennial League title Saturday. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural freshman Andrew Peterson (top) was named the Centennial League boys newcomer of the year after winning the 113-pound title. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Harrison posted five straight pins on the day while Peterson pinned all three of his on-mat opponents and was named the Centennial League newcomer of the year.
And with a week off before Washburn Rural's regional tournament at Wichita North on Feb. 21, Hogan said the Junior Blues will use that time to get everybody back to 100 percent physically and tune things up for postseason.
"They'll all be back for regionals,'' Hogan said. "In fact, I think everybody but one of them was cleared as of this morning, but past weigh-in time.
"We got to see a number of guys that we'll see from Manhattan at regionals and then at state. To be able to see them here gives us a look and an idea to go back to the drawing board and start gaming them for the next couple of weeks.''
Hayden senior Jude Krentz went 5-0 with five pins to win the Centennial League 190-pound championship Saturday at Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden junior Caleb Menke (back) won the 175-pound title in Saturday's Centennial League tournament at Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden finished sixth as a team, but got league titles from junior 175-pounder Caleb Menke, who eclipsed the 100-win milestone earlier in the week, and senior 190-pounder Jude Krentz, who pinnned all five of his opponents.
Wildcat coach Jacob Torrez was voted the Centennial League coach of the year by his fellow league coaches.
