Day one of the Kansas State Wrestling Championships is in the books at four locations around the state. In Park City, five of 10 Great Bend wrestlers advanced to the semifinals, but Kaiden Hoffman is the lone Panther to wrestle for a state championships Saturday. In Hays, Hoisington's Josiah Ball and Larned's Luke Fischer each advanced to the title match.
The junior Hoffman made a brief appearance in the Class 5A rankings at 126 pounds. Unranked heading into state, he opened with a 13-2 win against Bonner Springs before defeating second-ranked Jett Schwartz of Valley Center in sudden victory to reach the semifinals. That match was far less dramatic as Hoffman pinned Basehor-Linwood's fifth-ranked sophomore Brody Ballard in just 55 seconds to advance to the title match. Top-ranked AB Stokes of Newton pinned his way to the finals in the other half of the bracket.
Also for Great Bend, freshman Triston Tomlinson (106), senior Skyler McMullen (138), sophomore Jace Schartz (144), and junior Cooper Liles (150) each reached the semifinal round before falling to the backside of the bracket. Junior Matthew Johnson won his first match at 175 pounds and is still alive on the back side of the bracket.
At 132 pounds, freshman Hayden Kelly opened with a loss to second-ranked Kaden Allen of St. Thomas Aquinas, who will wrestle in the finals Saturday. Kelly stayed alive with a 14-12 thriller on the back side. Freshman Trenton Kern also had a tough draw against top-ranked Sean Carroll of St. Thomas Aquinas in the 190-pound opener. After a loss, Kern pinned his next opponent to advance to day two of action.
Junior Keyven Schroeder lost his first match at 215 pounds but pinned his Bonner Springs opponent on the back side to advance to day two. Brody Schnoebelen lost his first match at 285 pounds against second-ranked Jaxson Thomas of Topeka Seaman, but advanced to day two with a 48-second pin against Spring Hill.
Class 3-2-1A in Hays:
Hoxie is looking for a record run with wrestlers in most final matches. The Indians scored 201.5 points on day one, followed by Sabetha in a distant second-place with 87 points. Hoisington sits fifth after one day of action with 49 points.
Hoisington's junior Ball, ranked No. 2 at 132 pounds, won a trio of decisions, including wins of the No. 3 and No. 4 wrestlers from Plainville and Haven, to reach the finals. He draws top-ranked and unbeaten junior Carson Ochs of Hoxie.
Larned's junior Fischer needed an upset in round two to advance. Ranked No. 3 at 190 pounds, Fischer pinned his first opponent before going to a tie-break to beat second-ranked Kyle Werner of Plainville in the quarters. Fischer pinned fifth-ranked Ace Monihen of Council Grove to reach the finals, where he will face top-ranked Garrett Urban of Norton.
Two area wrestlers remain active at 126 pounds. Hoisington's fourth-ranked Eastin Redetzke won a pair of decisions to reach the semifinals where he was defeated by second-ranked Wayne Shepard of Hoxie. Ellsworth sophomore Will Donley won his first match but lost his second to move to the back side.
Hoisington senior Deryk Yott has spent time in the 3-2-1A rankings at 150 pounds. He opened that bracket with a pin, then won a 6-4 decision against Hill City's fourth-ranked Dayton Stephens to reach the semifinals. Yott fell to the back side with a loss to fifth-ranked Easton Schletzbaum of Atchison County.
Hoisington's sixth-ranked Teron Kraft also made it to the semifinals at 157 pounds with a pin and a sudden-victory win against second-ranked Jonathan Renyer of Sabetha. The tough road continued with a 5-2 loss to third-ranked Joseph Ord of Chaparral in the semifinals. Russell's Brady Suchy went 1-1 in the bracket to advance to day two.
Larned's third-ranked senior Carter Attebury opened action at 215 pounds with a pin. He lost the ultimate tie break against fifth-ranked Colsen Perry but advances to day two. Hoisington senior Cole Gilliland entered the 285-pound bracket unranked despite an impressive 28-4 record. He pinned his first opponent but dropped the back side with a loss to second-ranked Joshua Grimm of Sabetha.
Larned sophomore Jai Sean George pulled up upset in round one at 106 pounds. He could not repeat the feat against unbeaten Brogan Monty of Beloit in round two but advances to day two. Lyons freshman Easton Benavidez also got the pin against sixth-ranked Keaton Rottinghaus of Nemaha Central in round one, but lost a tech fall to Hill City's fourth-ranked Alexander Hamel in round two.
Hoisington freshman Jhadyn Turner lost his first match at 113 pounds but won a decision on the back side to advance to day two. Lyons sophomore Isaac Fall lost his first match to the third-ranked wrestler at 120 pounds but pinned his next opponent to punch his ticket to day two.
Russell sophomore Teagan Pfeifer dropped his first match at 165 pounds but stayed alive with a 36-second pin in round two. Teammate Brayden Strobel lost his first match at 175 pounds but stayed alive with a 12-2 major decision on the back side.
Russell freshman Xzephren Donner went 0-2 at 106 pounds. Hoisington junior Alex Mater lost his first two matches at 165 pounds. Larned sophomore Landon Haney dropped a pair of matches at 175 pounds. Ellinwood junior Jonathan Mason finished the 285-pound bracket at 0-2.