Wrestling standout a state champion

LINDSBORG — It’s only been three years, but Seth Sanford has taken great strides on the wrestling mat.
The Iola Middle School eighth-grader’s latest achievement was winning his 189-pound weight class at the Kansas Middle School State Championships Sunday, an event hosted by USA Wrestling.
Sanford swept past four opponents — 12 were entered in all — to win his weight class.
“I thought it was going to be a lot harder than it actually was,” Sanford said.
He won by default in the opening round, then pinned his next two opponents in short order — one in 10 seconds — before being matched up against Garden City’s Zeke Herrera in the final.
“I saw him before the competition started, and my first thought was, ‘Wow, I hope he’s wrestling somebody else,’” Sanford said. “He was pretty big.”
Advanced scouting — Sanford and his father, Adam, watched as Herrera won his opening three matches — helped him devise a strategy.
“I knew he was going to be pretty good on his back,” Sanford said.
He was, although Sanford held the upper hand when both wrestlers were upright.
“I was able to get him on his back pretty quickly,” Sanford said. “But he escaped pretty easily.”
Sanford got Herrera on his back again, but this time intentionally let him escape, even though doing so cost him a point.
Sanford realized losing the point was preferable to potentially losing the match by being caught off guard during Herrera’s escape attempts.
The strategy worked to perfection. Sanford emerged with a 6-3 victory, a medal commemorating his state title and a hoody. More importantly, he will represent Team Kansas at another USA Wrestling competition in Des Moines, Iowa, April 12.
But first things first.
Sanford hopes to compete for the Allen County Wrestling Club this weekend at a district competition in Holton. The winners will advance to another state tournament the following week in competition.
In order to qualify, Sanford must wrestle at a different weight level — the 235-pound division.
Doing so means Sanford hopes to weigh 200 or more by Friday’s weigh-in, or at least 10 pounds heavier than he weighed at the Lindsborg competition.
“That means lots of water,” he said.
“And meat and potatoes,” his father interjected.
The weight issue prevented Sanford from wrestling at sub-district competition Saturday with the wrestling club.
“He weighed in Friday evening, but they didn’t let us know until the next morning that he didn’t make weight,” Seth’s mother, Penny said.
Sanford was prohibited from wrestling because he was 35 pounds lighter than his heaviest potential opponent.
“It’s a safety issue,” Penny Sanford said.
The disqualification left Sanford disappointed.
“I’d beaten most of those guys in that competition,” he noted.
Now, after shedding a few pounds to compete at Lindsborg, Sanford must go the other direction.
“It’s a lot easier losing weight than gaining it,” he admitted.
Sanford credits his Allen County Wrestling Club coach, John Taylor, for his newfound love of the sport.
“John saw him playing football and told him he should try wrestling,” Penny Sanford recalled.
Sure enough, young Sanford embraced the solitary nature of the sport.
“I have to count on myself to do things,” he said. “It’s better that way.”
The new sport also meant a new hobby of sorts for Sanford’s parents.
Now, their weekends typically are spent in gymnasiums, frequently waiting hours between their son’s matches.
“Sometimes you have to take two or three days, like when you have weigh-in on Fridays and competitions on Saturdays,” Adam Sanford said.
The Sanfords aren’t complaining.
Adam Sanford enjoyed the atmosphere so much, he became a certified coach this year in order to work more frequently with his son.
Young Sanford enjoys the sport, so much that he tries to convince his friends and classmates to give it a whirl.
“I haven’t been too successful with that,” he said.
Still, he looks forward to high school wrestling, and perhaps beyond.
He’s grateful to Coach Taylor and his parents for his achievements.
“He’s a good coach,” Sanford said. “He definitely knows what he’s doing.”