Three Hays High wrestlers win Bob Kuhn Prairie Classic titles

After injuries the last two wrestling seasons, Gavin Meyers is out to make up for lost mat time. 

The Hays High junior improved to 12-0 on the season with a dominant showing in Saturday's Bob Kuhn Prairie Classic at Hays High.

He made quick work of his opponents, earning first-period pins in all four of his matches to win the 220-pound title. 

Meyers was top-ranked at 195 pounds last season but was injured in an early-season match and missed the rest of the year. He also missed significant time with an injury during his freshman season but returned to qualify for state and place fourth at 182 pounds that season. 

"It's definitely motivation," said Meyers, currently ranked No. 2 in Class 5A at 220 pounds. "I've missed out on so much the past two years. I haven't got a lot of mat time. Just working hard in the practice room just makes me want to come out here and whoop some butt; I love wrestling, and that's what I want to do."

A round-robin format was used for the five wrestlers in the 220-pound weight class. Meyers had quick pins against Goddard-Eisenhower's Cade Cook (59 seconds), Phillipsburg's Brock Buresh (49 seconds), Wichita Kapaun's Noah Redcorn (1:19) and Goodland's Dexter Dautel (43 seconds). 

"Didn't do anything unexpected but at the same time it was great to see him shine," Hays High coach Heath Meder said. "It was nice to see him get after it and get aggressive."

Junior Dalton Dale (152 pounds) and freshman Harley Zimmerman (126) also won Bob Kuhn titles for Hays High. 

"It was pretty exciting," Meyers said. "I'm happy for Dalton Dale and I'm happy for Harley Zimmerman for getting first. They're really hard workers in the room and it's great seeing them excel out here on the mat."

Dale went 3-0 in the 152-pound bracket with three pins. He pinned Phillipsburg's Kevin Russell in 2:50 before finishing the semifinal against Goddard-Eisenhower's Ashton Smith in 1:17. 

In the final, he needed just 28 seconds to pin Goodland's Kyan Ensign. 

"Last year he kind of had an up-and-down year," Meder said of Dale. "Sometimes he was wrestling really well and sometimes he was down. This year he's cleaning a lot of stuff up and he's making a lot less mistakes. That's translating into wins for him, which is great. His confidence is going up with that."

The 126-pound division also featured a round-robin format with four wrestlers. Zimmerman earned a 9-0 major decision over Hoisington's Nicolas Rubio in the first round. 

He pinned Goddard-Eisenhower's Vincent Al-Biekdar in 1:46 in the second round before closing the day with a 19-2  technical fall over Great Bend's Robby Gutierrez. 

"Harley wrestles really unorthodox at times, and it makes for some exciting matches," Meder said. "Right now he's really hitting his stride. It really gives you a lot of promise for the future."

Hays High finished fourth in the team standings with 96.5 points. Great Bend took home the title with 137.5 points, followed by Goddard-Eisenhower (102.5) and Wichita Kapaun (97.5). 

"I was happy overall with the entire team," Meder said. "This was the most wrestlers we've had in a single event really wrestle well. 

"Overall, we're picking up wins and we're just wrestling really smart right now."

Gavin Nutting, who placed at state last year at 220 and is now competing at 195, did not wrestle on Saturday. 

"Right now we're just getting him comfortable at his weight so he's ready for postseason," Meder said. 

The Bob Kuhn Classic, normally a two-day tournament, was scaled back to one day and from 25 teams last year to nine, with the Kansas State High School Activities Association limiting tournament participants because of COVID-19. 

"Of course you want the 24, 28 teams we've had in the past, and if you could have a normal finals schedule where you could get the lights and everything, it would be great," Meder said. "But right now, we're just happy to wrestle at all. And also, just happy to wrestle in a bracketed tournament. There's been so many small duals and things like that.

"Regardless of the size and how many schools are here, it's just awesome to have a home tournament and be able to wrestle."

Meder said he's encouraged by the progress the Indians are making. 

"After missing some of the stuff with COVID quarantine and schedule changes and everything, it put a lull at the beginning of our season," Meder said. "Now we're really getting into it. It's great to see our kids really make that climb up to get into the best possible position for postseason. Right now, I think we're on the right track."

Bob Kuhn Prairie Classic 

106

Final 

Spragis, Great Bend, def. Keesee, Phillipsburg, 7-4. 

Semifinals 

Spragis, Great Bend, def. Hall, Salina Central. def. 3-1

Alderdice, Hoisington, def. Keesee, Phillipsburg, 7-4. 

Third-place match 

Alderdice, Hoisington, def. Hall, Salina Central, 4-3. 

113 

Final 

Ball, Hoisington, def. Wolf, Great Bend,  MD, 18-5. 

Semifinals 

Ball, Hoisington, def. Knox, Goodland, fall (3:53). 

Wolf, Great Bend, def. Pimvongsa, Salina Central, MD 18-5. 

Third-place match 

Knox, Goodland, def. Pimvongsa, fall (0:43). 

120 

Final

Wright, Kapaun, def. Blasi, Goddard Eisenhower, fall (3:25). 

Semifinals 

Wright, Kapaun, def. Vajnar, Hays, TF (23-8)

Szot, Great Bend, def. Blasi, Goddard-Eisenhower, fall 2:24. 

Third-place 

Szot, Great Bend, def. Gonzalez, Goodland, 13-11. 

126 (round-robin) 

Round 1 

Gutierrez, Great Bend, def. Al Biekdar, Goddard-Eisenhower, MD, fall (1:44). 

Zimmerman, Hays, def. Rubio, Hoisington, MD 9-0. 

Round 2 

Gutierrez, Great Bend, def. Rubio. Hoisington, fall (1:55). 

Zimmerman, Hays, def. Al-Biekdar, Goddard-Eisenhower, fall (1:46). 

Round 3

Zimmerman, Hays, def. Gutierrez, Great Bend, def. tech. fall (19-2). 

Rubio, Hoisington, def. Al Biekdar, Goddard-Eisenhower, Dec. 12-8. 

1st — Zimmerman, Hays 

2nd— Gutierrez, Great Bend 

3rd — Rubio, Hoisington 

4th — Al-Biekdar, Goddard-Eisenhower 

132

Round 1 

Matthews, Goddard-Eisenhower, def. Riley, Kapaun, fall (3:43). 

Yott, Hoisington, def. Macias, Hays, fall (3:31)

Round 2 

Adam, Salina Central, def. Macias, Hays, fall (1:02)

Matthews, Goddard-Eisenhower, def. Yott, Hoisington, fall (1:05). 

Round 3 

Adam, Salina Central, def. Yott, Hoisington, fall (0:38). 

Riley, Kapaun, def. Macias, Hays, fall (2:25). 

Round 4 

Adam, Salina Central, def. Riley, Kapaun, maj. dec., 12-0

Matthews, Goddard-Eisenhower, def. Macias, 5-1 

Round 5 

Adam, SC, def. Matthews, fall (4:54). 

Riley, Kapaun, def. Yott, Hoisington, fall (0:40). 

1st — Adam, SC

2nd — Yott, Hoisington 

3rd — Riley, Kapaun 

4th — Matthews, Goddard-Eisenhower 

5th — Macias, Hays 

138 

Final 

Weber, Great Bend, def. Meitl, Phillipsburg, 4-3 

Semifinals 

Weber, Great Bend, def. Taliaferro, Hays, fall (3:04). 

Meitl, Phillipsburg, def. Foltz, Hoisington, 4-3 

Third-place match 

Holmgren, Goddard-Eisenhower, def. Taliaferro, Hays, 7-2 

145 

Final 

Hogan, Salina Center, def. Hernandez, Goodland, 1-0 

Semifinals 

Hernandez, Goodland, def. Flock, Hays, fall (0:37)

Hogan, Salina Central, def. Boxberger, Hoisington, 5-0 

Third-place match 

Flock, Hays, def. Garza, Goddard-Eisenhower, fall (2:06) 

152 

Final 

Dale, Hays, def. Ensign, Goodland, fall (0:28)

Semifinals 

Dale, Hays, def. Smith, Goddard-Eisenhower, fall (1:17)

Smith, Hoisington, def. Ensign, Goodland, fall (2:17)

Third-place match 

Russell, Phillipsburg, def. Smith, Goddard-Eisenhower, MD 13-0 

160 

Final

Sutton, Salina Central, def. Russell, Phillipsburg, fall (4:32)

Semifinals 

Russell, Phillipsburg, def. Spresser, Goodland, 9-7 

Sutton, Salina Central, def. Morris, Hoisington, fall (1:42) 

Third-place match 

Cook, Goddard-Eisenhower, def. Spresser, Goodland, 3:56 

170 

Final 

Fury, Kapaun, def. Rodriguez, GSOS, MD 11-3

Semifinals 

Fury, Kapaun, def. Lewin, Goddard-Eisenhower, fall (2:30)

Rodriguez, GSOS, def. Steinert, Hoisington, MD 11-3 

Third-place match 

Levin, Goddard-Eisenhower, def. Steinert, Hoisington, 6-3 

182

Final

Ball, Hoisington, def. Heilman, Great Bend, fall (0:32)

Semifinal 

Ball, Hoisington, def. Burgoon, Salina Central, 1:49 (fall)

Heiman, Great Bend, def. Elias, Kapaun, fall (0:32) 

Third-place match 

Burgoon, Salina Central, def. Elias, Kapaun, 7-4

195 (round robin)

Round 1

Schroeder, Great Bend, def. Putz, Hays, fall (0:51)

Traglia, Kapaun, def. Packard, Goddard-Eisenhower, fall (3:13)

Round 2

Schroeder, Great Bend, def. Packard, Goddard-Eisenhower, fall 2:18

Tragila, Kapaun, def. Putz, Hays, fall (2:45)

Round 3 

Schroeder, Great Bend, def. Tragila, Kapaun, fall (1:56) 

Putz, Hays, def. Packard, Goddard-Eisenhower, fall (3:40) 

220 (round-robin) 

Round 1 

Dautel, Goodland, def. Redcord, Kapaun, 10-8

Buresh, Phillipsburg, def. Cook, Goddard-Eisenhower, fall (0:51)

Round 2 

Meyers, Hays, def. Cook, Goddard-Eisenhower, fall (0:59)

Buresh, Phillipsburg, def. Dautel, Goodland, 3-1 

Round 3 

Meyers, Hays, def. Buresh, Phillipsburg, fall (0:49)

Redcorn, Kapaun, def. Cook, Gardner-Eisenhower, fall (1:07) 

Round 4 

Meyers, Hays, def. Redcorn, Kapaun, fall (1:19). 

Dautel, Goodland, def. Cook, Goddard-Eisenhower, fall (1:20). 

Round 5 

Meyers, Hays, def. Dautel, Goodland, fall (0:43). 

Redcorn, Kapaun, def. Buresh, Phillipsburg, fall (1:41). 

1st — Meyers, Hays 

2nd — Buresh, Phillipsburg 

3rd — Redcorn, Kapaun 

4th — Dautel, Goodland 

285 

Final

McAuliffe, Kapaun, def. Yuza, Goddard-Eisenhower, 3-2 

Semifinal 

McAuliffe, Kapaun, def. Davis, Great Bend, fall (4:55) 

Yuza, Goddard-Eisenhower, def. Duell, Goodland, 1-0 

Third-place match 

Duell, Goodland, def. Davis, Great Bend, fall (0:59). 

Team scores 

Great Bend 137.5, Goddard-Eisenhower 102.5, Kapaun 97.5, Salina Central 88, Hoisington 84, Goodland 81, Phillipsburg 73, Southeast of Saline 15.