Wrestlers are MCAA champs
Six HHS wrestlers take first at league meet
Staff writer
The Hillsboro High School wrestlers did it again — winning first place at the MCAA league round-robin tournament held last Saturday in the Robert C. Brown Gymnasium in Hillsboro.
The Trojans also won the league in 1999 and 2001.
Hillsboro led as a team throughout the meet and defeated Nickerson on team points 179 1/2 points to 178 points.
"We knew it would be close," said Head Coach Corey Burton. "Our scores were posted early because some of our wrestlers were finished in the earlier rounds. I knew Nickerson would get a lot of its points at the end, so I knew it would be close," he said.
"It came down to a total team effort," Burton said. "They did a great job — to have six champions out of a team of 13 is pretty awesome."
Taking first place for the Trojans were Bri Ratzlaff in the 103-pound weight class; Ryan Janzen in the 119-pound weight class; Danny Yoder in the 125-pound weight class; Carson Greenhaw in the 145-pound weight class; Wade Sorensen in the 189-pound weight class; and Ronnie Davis in the 215-pound weight class.
According to Burton, the victories in the matches of Yoder, Bina, Sorensen, and Davis were all important for scoring team points against Nickerson.
"If any of those matches had gone the other way, we would not have won the tournament," Burton said. "It was that close."
One of the highlights of the Hillsboro-Nickerson battle, was the match of the third round between Davis and Justin Mathias of Nickerson. Davis is ranked third in the state in 3A, and Mathias is ranked fourth in 4A.
Davis, behind 3-0 going into the third period, used a reversal move to escape from Mathias after being in the down position.
"Mathias was pretty strong," assistant coach Scott O'Hare said. "His strength was a factor. He's probably the strongest kid Ron has wrestled this year. And he did a good job of controlling Ron on bottom using his legs."
Davis managed to roll from under Mathias and went for a Gramby or Peterson roll.
"We practiced that move at least 10 times a day all last week," said Burton.
Even though Mathias managed to slip out of the hold, Davis caught and held onto Mathias' leg and rolled him onto the mat pinning him at 4:29 in the third period.
"He had me a little nervous there at first," said Burton. "It was a pivotal match for us."
During the tournament, the HHS Booster Club honored the senior wrestlers, Davis, Greenhaw and Sorensen. Ratzlaff, a junior, who is not eligible to wrestle after this year, according to KSHSAA rules, was also honored.
Burton said he would like to thank everyone who help with the tournament.
"They did an awesome job," he said.
The team will travel Friday and Saturday to Garden Plain for regional action. The meet starts at 2 p.m. on Friday and will conclude at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
Wrestlers must place in the top four to advance to state competition that will be Feb. 22 and 23 at Fort Hays State University in Hays.
"We hope to place at least seven of our kids in the top four," Burton said. "We hope we can get some breaks at regionals and sneak in a few more kids to go to state."
MCAA League tournament
Team Standings: 1. Hillsboro 179.5; 2. Nickerson 178; 3. Haven 112; 4. Halstead 96.5; 5. Hesston 86; 6. Lyons 47.
103 — 1. Bri Ratzlaff (HIL), 2-0, pinned Graber (HES); won 15-0 over Eames (HAV) 4:00 second period. 112 — 3. Lance Bartel (HIL), 0-2, pinned by Ballard (NIC) 2:57 second period; lost 15-0 to Strunk (HAL). 119 — 1. Ryan Janzen (HIL), 1-0, pinned Graber (HAV) 1:45 first period. 125 — 1. Danny Yoder (HIL), 3-0, pinned Mason (HES) 3:51 second period; pinned McVey (NIC) 3:03 second period; pinned Baxter (HAL) 1:14 first period. 130 — 4. Wade Kimbrel (HIL), 0-3, pinned by Unruh (HES) :29 first period; pinned by Staib (HAV) 1:45 first period; pinned by Collier (NIC) :22 first period. 135 — Ryan Kaiser (HIL), 0-4, pinned by Jones (HES) 1:51 first period; pinned by Fahrbach (HAV) 1:29 first period; pinned by Myres (LYO) 1:02 first period; lost 21-6 to Adkins (HAL). 140 — 4. Tim Glahn (HIL), 0-3, pinned by Harper (HAV) 2:57 second period; lost 15-0 to Berger (NIC); pinned by Kroulik (HAL) :29 first period 145 — 1. Carson Greenhaw (HIL), 3-0, pinned Campa (HES) :53 first period; pinned Galloway (HAV) 5:49 third period; won 21-9 over Barger (HAL). 152 — 2. James Bina (HIL), 4-1, pinned Hamilton (HES) 1:23 first period; won by forfeit over Morgan (HAV); won 9-5 over Krause (NIC); lost 9-3 to Davis (LYO); pinned Potts (HAL) 3:26 third period. 160 — 3. Billy Winegarner (HIL), 2-2, pinned Schneider (HES) 5:22 third period; pinned by Branscum (HAV) 4:49 third period; pinned by Bruce (NIC) 2:12 second period; pinned Showalter (LYO) 3:01 second period. 171 — 4. Tracy Jost (HIL), 0-3, pinned by Trego (HAV) 1:49 first period; pinned by Howell (NIC) :52 first period; lost 11-4 to Toler (HAL). 189 — 1. Wade Sorensen (HIL), 3-0, pinned Wray (HES) 1:43 first period; won 12-4 over Webster (NIC); pinned Nelson (HAL) :52 first period. 215 — 1. Ron Davis (HIL), 2-0, pinned Lesslie (HAV) 3:53 second period; pinned Mathias (NIC) 4:29 third period. 275 — 4. Cody Pankratz (HIL), 0-3, pinned by Alison (HES) :57 first period; pinned by Miller (NIC) 4:29 third period; pinned by Trujillo (HAL) 4:54 third period.
