Mustang seniors Colton Toney and Tavon Blazek have accomplished a lot in their wrestling careers and on Thursday the duo was honored in front of their home crowd as they took the mat in Iola for the final time.
Both Blazek and Toney qualified for the state tournament last season and they each appear to have a strong chance to repeat that feat this year, but what has been even more important to coach Jason Bates and the program has been the leadership that each has provided while Bates attempts to build a program in Iola.
“These two seniors have been with me since I’ve been here,” the third-year coach said. “Both of them have their own personalities and they are both unique. They both bring something different to the table and they are going to be missed.”
Despite their individual successes, Toney and Blazek have endured a lot of losing as a team in their time wearing a Mustang singlet and that continued on Thursday with a 42-6 loss to West Elk and a 48-18 loss to Osawatomie.
Those loses are less about the individual talent on the Mustang squad and more about a lack of numbers out for the sport, but as they have their entire careers Toney and Blazek don’t complain and they control what they can control: Wrestling their individual matches.
Blazek got the team off to a good start with a first period pin against West Elk sophomore Conery Noll in the first contested match of the night.
“Tavon is a very athletic and gifted kid, but sometimes he gets in slumps and it is hard for him to get out of it,” Bates said. “But there is no doubt in my mind that he can place at state if he sets his mind to it.”
Blazek wrestled both his matches with a protective mask shielding a face injury that he has battled through this season.
In Blazek’s second match of the night against Osawatomie senior Cody Hazlett, the Mustang again got off to a strong start with a first period takedown and took a 2-1 lead into the second period.
Hazlett opened the second with an escape to tie the match, but Blazek countered a shot from Trojan with a big throw to take Hazlett down again and build a 4-2 lead entering the third and final period.
Blazek began the period in the down position and in an incredible scramble, Hazlett was awarded three back points, but Blazek ended up on top with a reversal and maintained a lead at 6-5.
It appeared Blazek would be able to ride out Hazlett, but with five seconds left Hazlett scored an escape to tie the match and force overtime.
“Right now, he is scared to make mistakes,” Bates said. “He gets that early lead and he just watches the clock and watches the clock. They whittle that score back to tied and then they end up winning the match.”
In sudden-victory overtime, it was Hazlett who got on the offensive attack with the move of the match — and really the dual.
The senior hit a double-leg takedown with on explosive burst to get the victory.
“We need to keep wrestling to score points instead of just wrestling to stay ahead,” Bates said.
