SILVER LAKE — A pair of familiar faces headlined Iola High’s marks Saturday at the Silver Lake Invitational. THE DAY WAS a bit tougher for Iola’s other wrestlers, although Carson said he still was impressed with how the team competed. THE TOURNAMENT ends the regular season for the varsity wrestlers, although Carson hopes to drum up another competition at some point this week.
The Mustangs’ senior Bryce Misenhelter took home second at the 195-pound division, with his first loss of the season at that weight level coming in the championship match against Tristan Speer of Doniphan West.
Speer is the state’s top-ranked Class 3A wrestler at 195 pounds. Misenhelter is ranked second among Class 4A wrestlers.
The match was hotly contested from the start, Mustang head coach Brad Carson noted.
Speer got the upper hand with a takedown midway through the first period. Misenhelter evened the score with a reversal 30 seconds later.
“We had the kid on his back, and we almost had him pinned, but he was so strong he was able to get out of it,” Carson said.
Misenhelter trailed 4-2 into the third period when Speer got a takedown 25 seconds in.
“Bryce was trying to readjust himself, and he paused. As soon as he stopped, the ref called the pin,” Carson said. “Bryce fought hard. He never backed down. I think he’s good enough to beat that kid. It was a good match. Hopefully, he learns from it and comes back a better wrestler.”
Iola’s other top-five finisher was sophomore Andrew Garber at 182 pounds. After a midseason switch to 182 pounds, Garber had won 11 of 12 matches.
He lost twice Saturday in a loaded field including the state’s top 182-pound wrestler in Class 5A, Trent Salsbury of St. James Academy.
Salsbury pinned Garber 52 seconds into their match. Garber lost a tough, 5-4, decision to Austin Tresner of Leavenworth before rebounding to pin Clay Center’s Zeb Bloom in the fifth-place match.
Still, Carson was pleased.
“He waited just a bit too long to get aggressive” in the loss to Tresner, Carson said. “Andrew looked pretty good the whole day, and he was able to get refocused after those losses. He was still able to finish with a win.”
Tavon Blazek went 2-2, but did not place, at 170 pounds. He was eliminated from medal contention by losing to top seed and eventual tournament champion Matt Pratt of St. James Academy and then to Joel Katzer of Baldwin in consolation bracket play.
“I’m happy with Tavon,” Carson said. “He never quits. He tries some silly stuff at times, but those are things we can correct.”
Mike Armstrong took sixth at 138 pounds. He defeated Steven Martinez of Leavenworth before falling to Tucker Clark of Baldwin, 9-0, and Derek Gentry of Rossville.
Armstrong pulled out of the fifth-place match because of illness.
Travis Rieske went 0-2 on the day, losing to Blaise Albers of Salina South, 15-0, and to Chayse Saia of Silver Lake, 10-0.
John Whitworth opened his day with a win, but then dropped his next two matches and did not place in the top six.
Colton Toney wrestled in the 285-pound division and went 0-3.
“If I had it to do over again, I would have put Colton in the junior varsity tournament,” Carson said. “I had said earlier that I was going to enter our freshmen only in JV tournaments the rest of the season, but they only had three heavyweights at the varsity level here, so we decided to give it a go.”
Freshman Seth Sanford did wrestle in the JV portion, taking third at 220 pounds with a 3-1 mark. He pinned Lawrence Miller of Doniphan West in 51 seconds before dropping a match to Chris Akin of St. Marys. He responded by pinning Clay Swanson of Baldwin and winning a 6-2 decision of Breck Schlup of Chase County.
“Seth did a good job,” Carson said. “I thought we were much better here than we were last year,” Carson said. “We competed much better.”
The Class 4A Regional Tournament in Burlington is Feb. 21 and 22. Iola wrestlers were denied one competition when a tournament in Fredonia was canceled due to wintry weather on Feb. 1.
“We’d liked to get some more competition points before regionals, but we’ll have to see,” Carson said.
The Mustangs wrestled Saturday without the services of senior 152-pounder Cody Conner, who was benched for the past week for disciplinary reasons.
Silver Lake Invitational
Mike Armstrong — 138 pounds
(1-3; sixth place)
Armstrong def. Steven Martinez, Lawrence, 2-1
Tucker Clark, Baldwin, def. Armstrong, 9-0
Derek Gentry, Rossville, def. Armstrong, pin 4:56
Chaz Epperson, Prairie View, def. Armstrong by injury default
Travis Rieske — 145 pounds
(0-2)
Blaise Albers, Salina South, def. Rieske, 15-0
Chase Saia, Silver Lake, def. Rieske, 10-0
John Whitworth — 160 pounds
Whitworth def. Michael Harrington, Leavenworth, fall 1:21
Owen Tuckfield, Baldwin, def. Whitworth, pin 4:27
Brett Hilkemann, Salina South, def. Whitworth, fall :38
Tavon Blazek (170 pounds)
(2-2)
Blazek def. Jake Harrington, Leavenworth, fall 3:30
Matt Pratt, St. James Academy, def. Blazek, fall :44
Blazek def. Ethan Simonson, Wamego, fall 1:47
Joel Katzer, Baldwin, def. Blazek, fall 4:39
Andrew Garber, 182 pounds
(2-2; fifth place)
Garber def. Taylor Jones, Baldwin, fall 3:49
Trent Salsbury, St. James Academy, def. Garber, fall :52
Austin Tresner, Leavenworth, def. Garber, 5-4
Garber def. Zeb Bloom, Clay Center, fall 4:18
Bryce Misenhelter, 195 pounds
(2-1; second place)
Misenhelter def. Matt Stalkfleet, Lawrence Free State, fall :55
Misenhelter def. Mario Garcia, Baldwin, 7-3
Tristan Speer, Doniphan West, def. Misenhelter, pin 4:45
Colton Toney (285 pounds)
(0-3; fourth place)
Trey Colborn, Erie, def. Toney, fall :37
Jake Katzer, Baldwin, def. Toney, fall :37
Tyler Sampson, Lawrence Free State, def. Toney, fall 2:31
Junior Varsity
Seth Sanford (220 pounds)
(3-1; third place)
Sanford def. Lawrence Miller, Doniphan West, fall :51
Chris Akin, St. Marys def. Sanford, fall 1:31
Sanford def. Clay Swanson, Baldwin, fall 2:16
Sanford def. Breck Schlup, Chase County, 6-1
Mustang wrestlers hit mats at Silver Lake
