The Panther wrestlers have hit the mats running to open the 2022-23 season. After a dual win Thursday in Manhattan, Great Bend finished fifth in a tough Valley Center tournament that featured two of Class 5A’s top teams.
Twelve Panther wrestlers combined for 150.5 points for fifth place, just two points behind Valley Center. Second-ranked Newton, with 15 wrestlers, won the tournament with 224.5 points. No. 3 Rose Hill (4A) and No. 6 Bishop Carroll (5A) rounded out the top three.
Sixth-ranked Jace Schartz stayed unbeaten with a 5-0 showing at 150 pounds. The sophomore did it a variety of ways with two pins, a tech fall, and a 14-3 major decision. Schartz edged Newton’s Kamden Wise 10-9 in his final match.
Fourth-ranked Cooper Liles followed with a win at 157 pounds. The junior needed just 70 seconds to pin two pool opponents, and also won a 9-2 decision. Liles pinned his final two opponents, including Rose Hill’s No. 6 Rhett Briggs, for the championship.
Junior Matthew Johnson won a round-robin bracket at 175 pounds. Ranked No. 4, Johnson pinned all five opponents on his way to the title, including sixth-ranked Brody Harper of Newton in the championship match.
Senior Skyler McMullen advanced to the finals at 138 pounds. He pinned his first two opponents and won a 7-4 decision against a ranked Newton opponent in pool matches. McMullen opened the championship bracket with a pin before falling 10-3 to third-ranked Brady Duling of Bishop Carroll in the finals.
Junior Kaiden Hoffman suffered a pair of tech fall losses to good wrestlers from Newton and Rose Hill at 132 pounds. Hoffman pinned his other three opponents to place third in the bracket.
Sixth-ranked junior Keyven Schroeder finished fourth at 215 pounds with a 3-2 record. He went 3-0 in pool matches with a pair of pins but opened bracket competition with an 8-0 loss. Schroeder was pinned by Bishop Carroll in the consolation finals.
Sophomore Brody Schnoebelen had a similar day at 285 pounds, going 2-1 in pool matches with a pair of pins, and a loss to Rose Hill’s top-ranked sophomore Milan Colvin. That pitted Schnoebelen against Newton’s top-ranked senior Rio Gomez in the finals. Gomez pinned Schnoebelen on his way to the title. Schnoebelen was pinned in the third-place match.
Freshman Tristan Tomlinson went 1-2 in pool matches at 106 pounds with a quick pin. After a bye, he defeated his Bishop Carroll opponent 6-0 to finish fifth. Freshman Trenton Kern went 1-2 in pool matches with a pin at 190 pounds. He picked up another win by fall in the fifth-place match.
Freshman Hayden Kelly avoided top-ranked AB Stokes of Newton at 126 pounds but still went 0-3 in pool matches. He finished the day at 1-4 with a pin for sixth place. The 120-pound bracket featured two of 5A’s best. Panther sophomore Ambrose Kramer finished his day at 0-4 for seventh overall.