By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Everything had to go right for Great Bend High School junior Jace Schartz to pick up his 100th career win at a difficult Class 5A super-regional Friday and Saturday in Arkansas City. The 157-pound bracket featured the top-five ranked wrestlers in the classification.
That's how everything played out in Ark City. As the No. 4 seed, Schartz opened with an 11-7 decision against Ark City. He won a 13-7 decision against fourth-ranked Eli Means of Bishop Carroll in round two. That pitted Schartz against top-ranked Kade Smith of Hutchinson in the semifinals. Schartz got a late escape point to force overtime, eventually hanging on from the top position in the ultimate tie-break to beat Smith 3-2. The No. 2 and 3 seeds were knocked out in the other half of the bracket. On Saturday, Schartz pinned Goddard junior Eastyn Vieyra for the 157-pound regional title.
Schartz placed fifth at the Class 5A State Championships at 144 pounds as a sophomore. He qualified for state as a freshman at 145 pounds but lost matches to the eventual fourth and fifth-place finishers to come up one win shy of a state medal.
Schartz will be one of 10 Panther wrestlers competing at this year's Class 5A State Wrestling Championships at Park City's Hartman Arena Feb. 22-24.