FREDONIA — Iola High wrestlers Andrew Garber and Tavon Blazek returned to their customary spots near the top of the medal stand Saturday at the Fredonia Invitational.
They were joined by teammates Colton Toney, who took second at 285 pounds, and Chandler House, who secured fourth place at 220 pounds.
Garber swept through the quarterfinals and semifinals before falling short in the 195-pound title match against Tyrekus Birch of Wichita South. Birch pinned Garber 39 seconds into the third period. Prior to that, Garber pinned Seth Yost of Shawnee Mission South, and won a major decision (12-1) over Dayton Watkins of Valley Center. (Garber wrestled only three times because he earned a first-round bye).
Toney followed the same path. After earning a first-round bye, he earned a 5-1 decision over Quentintavous Bowen of Wichita South and an 8-4 decision over Daylan Fell of Leon-Bluestem.
Kolvin Berry of West Elk stopped Toney’s quest for gold with a first-period pin in the title match.
At 182 pounds, Blazek opened with a pin over Isaac Black of Valley Center. He then dropped a heart-breaking decision to Kyhiem Matthews of Shawnee Mission South. Matthews secured a late takedown of Blazek to earn the additional 2 points in a 3-2 win.
Undaunted, Blazek racked up an 8-3 decision of Kaden Lewis of Valley Center and a 6-2 decision over Warren Dean of Wichita South to secure third.
House opened his day by pinning Brian Andrews of Central-Burden, before losing via late pin to Isaac Helms of Chaparral. House rebounded to take a 3-1 decision of Nathan Nelsen of Fredonia. Trenton Willert of Wichita South defeated House with a late pin in the third-place match.
Jackson Cone went 0-2 on the day. He lost to Rein McConnaughey (unaffiliated) in the first round, and to Fredonia’s Mason Claiborne in a consolation match.
HUMBOLDT sent several wrestlers to Fredonia.
Dagen Goodner worked overtime to secure his fourth-place medal at 160 pounds.
After a first-round bye, Goodner took a 7-2 decision over Evan Morales of Valley Center.
He was relegated to the consolation bracket in the semifinals with a 5-2 loss to Matt Brungardt of Erie. Goodner had to work to sudden-death overtime to defeat River McCann of Chapparal after the wrestlers forged their way to a 10-10 deadlock. Goodner earned a single point in the overtime to advance to the third place match.
It was deja vu all over again in the third-place match. This time, however, it was Philip Landrum of Wichita South who secured a sudden victory win with a 2-point takedown in the extra period.
Brent Yost (132 pounds), Tyler Garner (152 pounds), Seth Hegwald (182 pounds) and Levi Habiger (285 pounds) went 0-2 on the day.
“It’s been a tough year for the Cubs,” head coach Tell Wyrick said. “But they keep coming back for more. The hard work will pay off.”
