The majority of the North Central Kansas League sent its wrestling teams to familiar gyms for their regional wrestling tournaments as five of the six NCKL teams had their wrestlers compete in the regional hosted by one of their own: Abilene.
The lone NCKL team that was not wrestling at Abilene was Marysville because Marysville is the lone NCKL school that is not in the 4A classification. The Bulldogs are in Class 3-2-1A and they wrestled at Onaga.
As a league the NCKL had 18 individuals qualify for this weekend’s state tournament led by Marysville, which qualified six individuals for the Class 3-2-1A state tournament.
The Bulldogs also had the best team finish of the six NCKL schools as the Bulldogs scored 142 points in their regional and finished in second place as a team.
At the Abilene Regional, which was won by Colby, the host Cowboys were the top winners as they had five individual state qualifiers and finished in fifth place as a team with 120.5 points. Concordia, NCKL wise, finished just behind Abilene with four state qualifiers and 104.5 points to finish in sixth place.
Clay Center had one state qualifier and finished in 12th place while Wamego and Chapman had one state qualifier each and finished tied for 9th place with 54 points each.
Concordia
The Concordia High School wrestling team earned 104.5 points and placed 6th at the Abilene Regional tournament and had four individual place in the top four to earn trips to the state tournament this weekend in Salina as Cameron Miller (113), Drake Hake (138), Skyler Hittle (195) and Kyle Marks (220) all qualified for the state wrestling tournament.
The Panther and Lady Panther basketball teams split with Phillipsburg on Tuesday as the girls lost 48-44 but the boys bounced back for a 63-50 victory and then Friday Concordia got swept by Wamego with the girls falling 75-24 and the boys falling 76-71.
Abilene
The Cowboy wrestling team hosted the Regional tournament on Friday and Saturday where they qualified five individuals for this weekend’s Class 4A state tournament in Hays and finished with 120.5 team points to place fifth. Individually the Cowboys qualified Logan McDowell (106), Zane Baugh (113), Junior Morgan (120), Seth Strauss (132) and Jacob Hagedorn (152) for this weekend’s state tournament.
On the basketball court Abilene split two games with Hays High School on Tuesday and then also split two games with NCKL rival Clay Center on Thursday. Tuesday the Cowgirls fell 51-30 but the Cowboys bounced back for a 62-44 victory. Thursday the Cowgirls lost 54-46 to Clay Center but, once again, the Cowboys bounced back for a 60-35 victory.
Clay Center
The Tiger wrestling team competed in the Abilene Regional where they had one individual earn his way to this weekend’s Class 4A state tournament in Salina and finished the regional tournament with 42 points to place 12th. Individually Grady Ware (145) placed in the top four to earn his way to the state tournament.
On the basketball court Clay Center got swept by Wamego on Tuesday and split with Abilene on Thursday. Tuesday the Lady Tigers fell 59-40 and the Tiger boys fell 43-28. Thursday the Lady Tigers earned a 54-46 win over Abilene while the Tiger boys lost 60-35.
Marysville
Marysville High School, the lone Class 3-2-1A school in the NCKL, qualified six wrestlers for the Class 3-2-1A state tournament as they competed in the Onaga Regional tournament where they finished with 142 points to finish in second place as a team. Individually the Bulldogs had Chris Deters (106), Josh Goepfert (113), James Landoll (138), Tim Cramer (152), Josh Nelson (160) and Mikah Nietfeld (170) all earn trips to the Class 3-2-1A state tournament in Hays this weekend.
In basketball the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs had Tuesday night off and then swept Chapman on Friday with the Lady Bulldogs opening the sweep with a 61-43 victory and the Bulldog boys completed the sweep with a 49-47 victory.
Wamego
The Red Raider wrestling team competed in the Abilene Regional on Friday and Saturday where they finished with 54 points to tie with Chapman for ninth place and had one individual earn his way to this weekend’s Class 4A state tournament in Salina. Individually Wamego’s Kyle Wilson (132) earned a trip to the state wrestling tournament.
In basketball Wamego swept Clay Center on Tuesday and swept Concordia on Friday. Tuesday the Lady Raiders won 59-40 while the Red Raider boys won 43-28. Friday the Red Raider boys won 76-71 and the Lady Raiders won 75-24.
Chapman
The Chapman wrestling team remained in Dickinson County for its regional wrestling experience as they competed at Abilene where they finished tied with Wamego for ninth place with 54 points and had one individual qualify for this weekend’s Class 4A state wrestling tournament in Salina as Jason Zook (285) earned his way to the state tournament by placing in the top four individually.
On the basketball court Chapman got swept by Rock Creek High School on Tuesday with the girls falling 49-34 and the Fighting Irish boys falling 49-37 and then Chapman got swept by Marysville on Friday with the girls falling 61-43 and the boys falling 49-47.
