By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The margin of error was razor-thin in Class 5A at 157 pounds last year. Great Bend's Jace Schartz, then a junior, defeated then No. 1 Kade Smith of Hutchinson in an ultimate tie-breaker en route to a regional title. Smith avenged that loss in another ultimate tie-breaker in the state semifinals a week later. Ahead of entering his senior season, Schartz recently signed a letter of intent to continue his wrestling career at Fort Hays State University next year.
"I picked Fort Hays for a few reasons," he said. "They have a really good construction management program, and that’s what I want to get to my major in. I’ve known the coaches for a quite a while and they're both very knowledgeable and very good people. When I went on my visit, the whole team is bought in on changing the culture and becoming national champs, which I love."
Last year was a big one for Schartz, who rebounded from the Smith loss to finish third at state. He reached another milestone the week before at regionals with his 100th career win. Coming off a football season where he helped the Panthers win nine straight games with a team-high 732 rushing yards, Schartz is ranked No. 2 in the preseason wrestling charts at 165 pounds behind Smith.
"Approaching this senior year, I’m way better physically than I was last year," he said. "So really, I’m just making sure I’m in shape to compete a whole six minutes and tuning up some small positioning adjustments and I should be ready to roll."
Great Bend finished fourth at state as a team in 2023, and finished sixth last year. Jace is the son of Darin and Lindsay Schartz.