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.