Bachman second, trio take third

By RYAN RICHTER

Staff writer

The second half of the wrestling season got off to a good start Saturday with the Trojans, competing at Herington’s Charles McMillen Invitational.

Out of 17 schools, Hillsboro finished sixth with 108 points.

Six wrestlers secured medals — something coach Scott O’Hare doesn’t remember happening during his lengthy tenure.

Council Grove was the only team in Class 3A to finish higher, at third place. Four of the top five were from Class 4A.

Abilene cruised to an easy championship, beating runner-up Mulvane 237-178½.

“Overall we were pleased with how the team competed Saturday,” O’Hare said. “We continue to see improvements each time out, and several of them are starting to really show a strong competitive nature.

“It’s been several years since we’ve been near the top of the leader-board in a large tournament like this, and I don’t remember the last time we came out with six medalists.”

Jordan Bachman, a 138-pound sophomore, paced the Trojans with a second-place finish, including a sudden-victory semifinal match against Larned’s Samajay Alboyd, 5-3.

Bachman just missed a gold medal, dropping a 7-5 decision in overtime to Clay Center’s Reed Knitter. Bachman finished the day 4-1.

Raymond Johnston, Tristan Rathbone, and Kyle Horton all finished third, and Andre Patton and Lane Flaming were fourth to round out medalists.

Charlie Major finished fifth, Austin Rempel, sixth, and Garrett Helmer ninth.

Johnston was 3-2 with a bye, tumbling the first- and second-place winners Trint Rogers and Trent Moses.

He bounced back in the third-place match, topping Clay Center’s Alek Tipsword with a 15-10 decision.

Rathbone also was 3-2 despite suffering a pin by Jefferson West’s eventual runner-up, Evan Davis, to start the day.

Larned’s eventual champion, Braydon Lemuz, was too much in the championship bracket, taking Rathbone down in 1:16 to ruin any chance of a rematch with Davis.

Rathbone rebounded for his third-place match, outlasting Abilene’s Austin Wuthnow, 9-8.

A first-round bye left Horton with a 4-1 day, but he stormed out of the gate for a 15-0 technical fall on Onaga’s Riyln Mayginnes in 2:43.

Horton was on track for a title match, but Clay Center’s runner-up, Ethan Alquist, swiped the ticket with a 2:39 pinfall.

Horton avenged the loss in a third-place match, whipping Chase County’s Cory Owen with a 14-4 major decision.

Patton disposed of his first two opponents by pinfall in less than 1:45 before being derailed by Wabaunsee’s runner-up, Derek Wallin in a 4-0 decision.

Abilene’s Dakota Laun spoiled Patton’s chance at a top-two finish, securing a pin with just seconds to go in the first period of the championship bracket.

Patton ended the day at 2-3 with Mulvane’s Zane Schlick pinning him in 5:16 for third.

Flaming, too, was 2-3 on the day with a third-round bye after going 1-1 in his first two matches.

Flaming closed out his day falling to Chapman’s eventual champion Chance Hayden with a 2:18 fall and a technical 18-2 fall score in the third-place match against Abilene’s Colby Mohr.

“There are definitely several technical and positional things that we need to improve on as a whole,” O’Hare said. “As they continue to gain additional competition experience and bring some of that back into the practice room, they can help each other in many of these areas.”

The Trojans will compete in another tournament Friday and Saturday at Halstead.