PITTSBURG — Nine Allen County Wrestling Club team members brought home top-four finishes at their most recent tournament, thus staying alive for a potential state wrestling berth.
Curt Shannon led the way, winning his age and weight bracket to headline the Allen Countians’ weekend at the District 1 South Sub-Regional Tournament in Pittsburg.
Those who finish in the top four are state qualifiers.
Others earning state berths were Trenton Jones and Andrew Garber, both of whom took second in their respective divisions; third-place finishers T.J. Taylor, Dylon Reiter and Guisseppe Mangrella; and Tavon Blazek, Clay Shannon and Seth Sanford, who took fourth in their groups.
“I am so proud of these boys,” Wrestling Club head coach John Taylor said. “They show me every time they step on the mat the dedication they have to this sport and themselves.”
Six others also brought home top-seven finishes but did not qualify. They were Adam Atwell, Gage Scheibmeir and Jacob Benedict, each of whom took fifth; Nate Hammond, sixth, and Drayden Reiter, seventh.
“This season has been our most successful in my four years of coaching this team,” Taylor said. “We had more kids want to go on to the qualifying series this year, and of those who did, we had a lot of success. Many people don’t realize that most of these kids are first- or second-year wrestlers. They’re only going to get better as the years go on. Our goal is to feed dominant wrestlers to the high school program, and are really on our way.”
The qualifying wrestlers will be in Kansas City, Kan., this weekend for the District I Championship, where the top four finishers in each bracket will advance to the state series in Topeka.
