For the No. 1-ranked team in 4A, the regional weekend went better than expected. Andale cruised into Mulvane and won the regional by 17 points over Augusta and secured eight spots in the state tournament at Salina. Of the Indians’ eight state qualifiers, five made the finals and three of those five will go to Salina as regional champions.
“We were able to get eight guys in and by putting so many guys in the finals and having three different champions, we’ll have easier draws coming into next week,” said Andale head coach Brad Lies. “Even the guys that might not have enough to get into the finals, they will still be coming through the back side.”
Helping Andale with an opportunity to pick up extra points at state was 285-pound Kyle Banz who came into the regional with a record below .500 and wrestled his way into fourth place to provide an extra body in Salina.
“We weren’t sure that he was going to be able to get in, but he fought hard and he was,” said Lies.
Augusta had a good regional as well, qualifying six wrestlers, and opening the finals with a Jake Goldenstein pin over Mulvane’s Levi Carver at 106 pounds. Rose Hill qualified a 106-pounder with Hunter Black picking up an 8-5 decision over Bryce Garcia from Maize South. Garcia slips into Salina with his fourth-place finish.
Click here for complete results from Mulvane Regional.
Tyler Mies picked up the first Andale championship of the tournament with a 4-1 decision over Jason Perez from Ulysses. Mies, the top-ranked wrestler at 113 pounds faced a tough test in Perez who is ranked No. 3. However Mies confidently stuffed the Perez shots and held the Tiger to a single escape in the match.
Cesar Regalado from Pratt is in at 113 pounds with a 4-0 win over Rose Hill’s Nathan Lamb in the third place match.
No. 6 Kyle Miller from Buhler had to battle his way to a regional championship at 120 pounds, edging Maize South’s Jaysten McClure in a 3-2 decision. McClure got a takedown early using Miller’s aggression against him, but Miller got the points back for the narrow decision.
Circle and Hugoton got wrestlers in at 120 pounds as well with Zeb Edson giving the Thunderbirds an 11-4 win over Logan Livengood from Hugoton.
Jake Wilson from Rose Hill backed up his No. 5 ranking with an impressive 7-2 win over Circle’s Yancey Edson, controlling the action throughout. Andale qualified Clay Kear through the consolation match with a 3-1 win over Clearwater’s Dylan Stroot at 126 pounds.
At 132 pounds, Kyle Macy from El Dorado took the championship over Andale’s Aaron Engles by injury default. Macy, the No. 6 wrestler in the state picks up a regional championship over No. 2 Engles due to the injury. Seth Gunter from Mulvane also won at 132 by injury default over Kevin Kissane from Maize South for third place.
At 138 pounds, El Dorado made it two champions in a row when No. 3 Austin Hughey flexed to a 7-0 win over Taylor Miller from Andale. Hughey took Miller down at will and took full advantage of a hand injury hindering the Andale wrestler. Buhler qualified at 138, along with Cheney, when the Crusaders’ Jake Gehring out-pointed Davey Parker from Cheney 3-0 in the third-place match.
At 145, Lawson Fiss from Hugoton showed why he is the No. 4 wrestler in the state with a 5-1 decision over Buhler’s Scott Whitson in the championship match. Fiss picked up a slick takedown at the boundary, slipping behind Whitson and bringing the Crusader down while keeping his feet in the ring. Pratt’s Mitchell Baird pinned Wellington’s Jason Haydon in the third place match.
Ulysses wrestler Razzy Morales picked up an upset at 152-pounds when the No. 4 wrestler took down Mulvane’s No. 2 late in the championship match to get a 3-2 decision. Andale qualified Kyle Armstrong who beat Hugoton’s Patrick Weaver 3-1 for third place.
In another matchup of ranked wrestlers, 160-pound No. 2 Colton Duhr from Andale got a 4-1 championship decision over No. 5 Kolby Fennewald from Mulvane. Duhr used a reversal to turn the match in his favor. Darick Jones from Clearwater beat Chase Wells from Augusta in the third-place match.
The 170-pound championship featured top-ranked Levi Eck from Andale against Clearwater’s No. 2 Tanner Gardner. However the clash at the top of the class wasn’t much of a clash. Eck put a stamp on his No. 1 ranking with a 10-3 decision, controlling the match throughout, and scoring 6 of his 10 points on near falls.
“I was thinking, ‘Wrestle him like I wrestle and it shouldn’t be a problem,’” said Eck. “I’ve wrestled him before and I just needed to wrestle good; don’t be stupid.”
Ty Haller from Hugoton took third at 170 with a 7-0 win over Augusta’s Jacob Hill.
At 182 pounds, Pratt’s No. 6 Kasey Crump got a narrow 1-0 upset over No. 5 Armondo Sandoval from Ulysses. After picking up an escape, Crump rode Sandoval to close out the match and hang on to the shutout. Michael Bird from Mulvane took third with a quick pin over Wright Bosley from Augusta.
Eastin Dockers from Rose Hill guarded his 195-pound No. 3 ranking with a second-period pin of Michael Salas from Ulysses, taking home a regional championship with ease. Colby Willis from Augusta pinned Marcus Walker from El Dorado in the first period for a third-place finish.
It didn’t take 220-pound No. 2 Colten Lissolo long to finish his championship match with Pratt’s Austin Gates. Lissolo pinned Gates with a cradle in 30 seconds to pick up a regional championship. Buhler’s Jon Yates took third with a 6-2 decision over Steven Degollado from Ulysses.
El Dorado freshman Jacob Burnett is sitting pretty well heading into his first state tournament, winning his first regional tournament with a 285-pound pin of Anthony White from Cheney in the third period. Chance Runnion from Augusta and Kyle Banz from Andale are the other two heavyweights to make it out of Mulvane after Runnion pinned Banz in 48 seconds.
While Andale took the regional crown in Mulvane, qualifying more wrestlers than it thought it would, the goal is to win in Salina.
“We’ll enjoy it for about another 45 minutes,” said Lies, “then we will go home and start watching film.”
