Three teams dominated the field Friday and Saturday at the Bob Kuhn Prairie Classic in Hays. Manhattan and Junction City, ranked No. 9 and 10, respectively, in Class 6A, took the top-two spots with 202.5 and 181.5 points. Great Bend placed third with 176.5 points. Hays finished a distant fourth with 109 points, edging out Salina Central and Pratt by just a point.
Jace Schartz remains unranked at his new 144-pound weight, but the sophomore still won the title Saturday. Schartz was 2-0 with a pin and decision before beating second-ranked Jarret Mader of Ellis (3-2-1A) 7-4 in the semifinals. Schartz edged Junction City 7-6 in the title match.
Junior Cooper Liles took over for Schartz at No. 3 in the Class 5A ranks at 150 pounds. He made short work of his first two opponents with two pins to meet Pratt's Taye Wilson in the finals. Wilson, who was ranked No. 6 at 138 pounds (4A), defeated Liles 5-4 for the championship.
Sixth-ranked Triston Tomlinson made it to the finals at 106 pounds. After pinning his first two opponents, he ran into second-ranked Caeleb Hutchinson of Manhattan in the finals. The freshman Hutchinson was able to get the pin for the crown.
Matthew Johnson also made it to the finals at 175 pounds. After a bye, he pinned his first two opponents to reach the championship match against third-ranked Adrian Turner of Kapaun. Turner was able to hang on 1-0 for the title.
Keyven Schroeder also fell victim to a Kapaun wrestler in the finals at 215 pounds. He had a pin and a tech fall to advance to the semifinals against fifth-ranked Jaxon Vikander of Manhattan. Schroeder won that match 7-5, but was pinned by Kapaun's fourth-ranked Omari Elias in the championship.
Trenton Kern had a tough draw at 190 pounds but still managed a fourth-place finish. He pinned his first opponent before getting pinned by second-ranked and eventual champion Nathan Fury of Kapaun. Kern pinned his next opponent and won an injury default to advance to the consolation finals. There he lost an 8-0 decision to Larned's Luke Fischer, who has just three losses on the season.
Junior Kaiden Hoffman wrestled to a fifth-place finish at 126 pounds. After losing an 8-6 decision on the front side, Hoffman pinned his next two opponents on the back side of the bracket. After a loss to the eventual fourth-place finisher, Hoffman pinned his Hays opponent to secure fifth.
Sixth-ranked Skyler McMullen had to settle for third place at 138 pounds. He pinned his first opponent, then won a 9-6 decision to reach the semifinals. There he was defeated 7-4 by the runner-up from Ulysses. McMullen pinned both opponents on the backside to take home the bronze.
Brody Schnoebelen finished a 1-2 at 285 pounds. Freshman Hayden Kelly dropped both of his matches at 132 pounds.
The rest of the Panther squad headed west to Cimarron. Michael Montoya pinned all five opponents at 165 pounds to capture first place. Nathan Campbell finished seventh in the bracket.
Ambrose Kramer finished second at 113 pounds, followed by Aaron Ramirez in third. Luis Gonzalez finished second at 126 pounds, and Camden Melton followed with a second-place finish at 132 pounds.
Trevin Maciel placed third at 157 pounds, and Kenton Grauerholz placed fourth in the same bracket. Zaiden Burkes finished fourth at 120 pounds. Cruz Folk-Robinson placed sixth at 150 pounds, and Ryder Morris finished sixth at 215 pounds. Jordan Angel went 0-2 for third place at 285 pounds.