Varsity Kansas - The Blog

by joanna

Activity is picking up around here. The shenanigans have finished and guys are starting to warm up, practicing some with teammates. Others are running around the arena floor, others jumping in place.

Wrestlers are definitely fans of hoodies. Guess it’s a good way to warm up the head, too, or is it intimidation. Some of these 103-pounders, they don’t scare me. My little finger is bigger than them. Now those middle weight wrestlers, I’m intimidated.

Usher’s “Yeah” is on, which means there’s a lot of dancing going on. One guy from Manhattan has Usher’s dance moves down.

“Walk it out” just came on.That will get you focused.

Just talked to Cindy Montgomery, a South high staff member who’s been working the state wrestling meet for 26 years now. Um, wow.

“I used to do a lot of sports,” she said. “I did announcing for basketball, football, but I had to cut back.”

She’s stuck with wrestling, though. So if you want results, they’re on the KSHSAA Web site because of her.

I’m out.

by joanna

I’m out at Koch Arena, and there’s a break now. Gotta admit, the breaks are some of my favorite times. Just saw a kid, not a wrestler, doing some break dancing — spinning on his head. Man, I wish I could do that, seriously. I’ve always wanted to learn the running man, too. I’ve got the grocery cart down and the sprinkler, too.

There’s quite a few kids out here wrestling on the three mats here. None of them are participants in the meet. You know the participants because they’re resting, heads on pillows or arms. Kids, what an ability to sleep anywhere.

This place is less than full, but what do you expect? It’s only 6A here. I’m sure it will pick up in later rounds - -quarters start at 2:30, semis are at 6:30.

One thing I love about wrestling is the banners and how the different schools’ fans stick together in their own little area.

Uh-oh, it was just pointed out that on the brackets — which the champs will get tomorrow at each weight — that it says 275, not 285. Not good. Then again, not that big of a deal.

Ryan Jilka, the former Goddard coach, is out here. He’s an official now. I saw him at the Valley Center regional last week. Southeast coach Randy Lemon’s here. He’s finished coaching after this.

Love the cats with the bleached blond hair. One dude looks like Sisco, the singer with Dru Hill ( you know, the singer who sang the Thong song.) Tell me I’m not dating myself here. Please.

It’s really cool in here, temperature wise. Just doesn’t feel like a wrestling meet — you know, it’s supposed to be crowded and hot.

That’s all for now. Check back in later.

by joanna

What a day this has been. Please God, let my baby sleep through the night. I need it after a roller coaster of a day. First we hear Bryce Brown has orally committed to Miami. Already. Not really surprised to hear it. It’s pretty cool that he’ll be with Arthur.  I think their relationship is great — brothers who truly care about each other. But my next question is less sappy — does this mean Bryce won’t be here for his senior year? I’d love to know.

The day didn’t end there, though. Heights girls beat Carroll by two. Sounds like it was quite the game. But did anyone really expect anything but? Of course not.

Then Carroll boys knock Heights out of a tie for second with a one-point overtime victory.

And then Marky Nolen gets ejected yet again and South falls apart despite only trailing Kapaun by six points. Coach Deon Allen got T’d up as well, which led to eight straight free throws by Kapaun’s Brett Rickert. Kapaun shot 30 free throws in the fourth quarter, 25 in the last two minutes, 38 for the game.

Then North lets a golden opportunity — Southeast’s Adonis Gantt had three fouls in the first quarter, Jordan Cyphers had three with a minute gone in the second quarter — completely slip away. Southeast wins 100-55, with Taylor Salome leading the way with 25. The kid has a nice little shot. Then North coach Ben Mitchell gets T’d up, then immediately given another T, so he’s gone. Which means he won’t be coaching in North’s opening game of sub-state next week. Which means his season could be over with.

Tired yet?

The North girls lost to Southeast, but coach Edward Tate sure tried to make it interesting by starting to foul Southeast  with 2:51 remaining and a nine-point deficit. Huh!

Then Southeast has the longest parents night known to man. This was actually enjoyable, though. Loved seeing the parents — Southeast’s Brianna Allen and Demetria Williams look just like their mothers, Adonis Gantt gets his height from his dad, Jordan Cyphers from both his parents. Then Carl Taylor is  honored and given a framed reprint of The Eagle’s sports cover the day after he won his City League record 251st game.

But that sure delayed the game. Ugh. Until 8:30. Double Ugh. Making the night even crazier was that there were 60 fouls called in the girls game, 47 in the boys.

Then the Kapaun girls beat South. Come on! I know, Kapaun’s not a bad team. Fine. But South is supposed to be so good. What a frustrating team!

Andale boys beat Clearwater, a nice win and Andover only gives up 27 to El Dorado.

So you see why I’m tired? Why I need to get some serious rest here?

Oh, but life continues to be crazy. It’s state wrestling tomorrow! Yes! I’ll be at Koch Arena, chatting with the Goddard Lions and the Heights Falcons and the Northwest Grizzlies and the Derby Panthers, the list goes on and on.

All right. I bet you’re reading this in the morning because you were getting sleep, but after seeing how much ridiculous stuff happened, I’ll bet you need a nap. Enjoy it.

by joanna

Hard to believe, isn’t it, that the winter sports seasons are nearly over? Winter sports always seem so long when you’re looking at them in November — practice starts in mid-November and postseason awards are finished by mid-March. That’s a loooong time.

Of course, for me, it hasn’t seemed so long, thanks to a maternity leave that took me through the mid-way point of the season! Not that I was sitting back eating bon-bons during that time away. I’m sure my lack of sleep rivaled that of most coaches.

Anyway, we’ve got wrestling this week, and I have to admit I always have mixed feelings about this time of year. See, wrestling stresses me out like no other sport. This dates back to when my brothers wrestled, when my mom would sit in the stands crocheting something or other. She’d get so into the matches that she wouldn’t even realize her yarn had fallen under the bleachers until she pulled, pulled and pulled and the yarn didn’t move.

That intensity definitely affected me, even to this day. There are times in other sports where I can feel a rush of adrenaline when a game comes down to the final seconds. But in wrestling, it happens from the beginning of every match I watch. No lie. I feel it. I get stressed. Even though I have nothing involved in the match except what I’m going to write later.

I have to admit that there were years when I dreaded this time, but that was only because I was covering 4A, 5A and 6A. That’s a lot of schools in those three classes and a lot of kids to make sure you are watching for, story lines to check out. It was a lot.

This year, well, I’m looking forward to it. I’m going to 6A at Koch Arena. A huge difference in coverage. I know the teams, I know the athletes.  I don’t know the story lines yet, but that will come. That’s the fun part.

Goddard certainly looks to be the best story again this year. The Lions did well at their regional, and I can’t imagine that wouldn’t translate to state, too. There’s a lot of kids looking to defend their titles, and Boaz Beard and Tyler Caldwell are looking to become three-time champs. Heights also has a set of kids that could win titles — possibly as many as four. Northwest could make a statement there, too. Derby is strong again, too.

I know all those coaches, too, so I’ll know just who to go to for the information — and those story lines. I also wrote about some of those athletes last year, so they won’t be wondering who the chick is.

Wrestling’s not the only postseason starting up. We’ve got bowling sub-states on Saturday.  Isn’t it amazing how this sport has grown? When the City League decided to start up bowling — thanks to the proprietors who are footing the bill — it seemed a little crazy. Who didn’t ask if bowling’s a sport? Obviously it is, and what I appreciate about it is that it draws a different type of kid, many who don’t play any other sports at their high school. How can that be wrong?

As for teams to watch, the Northwest boys came on strong at the CL meet, and how about Maize sweeping boys and girls in Divisions I and II of the AV-CTL and Augusta doing the same in Divisions III and IV?

Basketball sub-states aren’t far off, either. I’ll be tracking down sub-state pairings for 2A, 3A and 4A on Wednesday. 5A and 6A will mostly be available on Saturday. I’m curious how this basketball postseason will pan out. You can’t count on really any locks to make it to state — if you think you can, look at what happened to Southeast and East last year in sub-states. If that didn’t shock you, you’re lying. OK, I will give you one lock — the Heights girls will advance. There.

That’s my last prediction, folks. But I think I’m pretty safe here.

by joanna

Well, the wrestling pairings are out, which makes it even more real that the sport has just a few days remaining in its season. We’ve already lost one sport — swimming — and bowling sub-state is this weekend. Basketball sub-states are next week. Amazing how a season seems so long, and then suddenly, it’s over.

Click here for the wrestling pairings below for any who haven’t seen them yet. Like a specific matchup? Feel free to chat about it.

Edit: Thanks to Jack, I put the pairings in as a link. Should have done it in the first place.

by joanna

I went to the Valley Center wrestling regional yesterday and was impressed. Impressed by how well it was run, impressed by how quickly it went, impressed by Bishop Carroll (7 champs and 11 through) and Valley Center (11 through).

Overall a good night there. I thought Bishop Carroll might have a tougher time because this regional was so difficult, but that proved to not be the case. I mean, seven finalists and seven champs? That’s nice. I know we write about Carroll quite a bit, but what are we supposed to do with a team that is so strong? I really enjoyed watching Kyle Detmer. He had some sweet moves and, of course, pinned his opponent.

Valley Center showed how deep it is. Even though it didn’t have any champs, it finished second.

In 6A, Goddard got 11 through and has got to be the favorite to win this year. The Lions probably should have won last year, too. No surprise, Tyler Caldwell and Boaz Beard advanced. I do enjoy watching those two wrestle. I’ve seen them since their freshman seasons, and they’re just so talented.

Northwest had three champs, including sophomore Kyle Caylor at 215. I’m also amazed when young wrestlers  do well at the higher weights. You know, you kind  of expect them to do that at the low weights, such as 103, where there’s so many youngsters. That’s not so much the case at the heavier weights.

Andale got eight through out of its meet at Clearwater, although Colby won the meet.

I see Derby handily won the Junction City regional. The Panthers had champs at 125, 152, 160, 171, 189 and 285. Wow. Heights got four through and had champions at 112, 119, 130 and 135.

Another expected finish was Hutchinson’s Romero Cotton advancing. He won 20-5 in his win at 189. Hutch had four champs.

In 3-2-1A, Hillsboro won at Eureka, but W. Independent wasn’t too far behind. Independent had three champs.

The state tournaments are Friday and Saturday and all will be separate. 5A in Hutch, 6A at Koch Arena — although these two will be back at the Kansas Coliseum next year. 4A is in Salina and 3-2-1A in Hays.

Should be a fun week.

by joanna

I’m headed out to the Valley Center wrestling regional on Saturday. Finals are expected to start at 6:30.

But check out these teams — Arkansas City, Bishop Carroll, Emporia, Kapaun Mount Carmel, Pittsburg, Valley Center, Wichita West, Winfield.

Wow. That’s a  tough draw. It’s unfortunate because you know no team will take all 14 kids to next week’s state meet. It’s just not going to happen. And can Carroll Class 5A win with only 8? Maybe so. The Eagles are tough, though.

Got a team or regional we should be watching out for? How about a wrestler?

I’d love to get some wrestling conversation going!

by joanna

•  No surprise that Bishop Carroll handled its business at the City League wrestling meet on Saturday. And did the Eagles do it handily, or what? 254.5 points to Northwest’s 157. That’s impressive. But not surprising.

•  Does Southeast deserve to be the No. 1-ranked team this week? It’s a question I would love your thoughts on, for I am waffling a bit here. Jeff does the rankings, so I’ve pointed out to him that the loss to Carroll is not a good loss. It’s not, I’m sorry. I just don’t think you can ignore the fact that Southeast, while it pummeled a strong Heights team, laid an egg at Carroll.
• Will you be at the East-Southeast game? If not, why not? Is it because it’s Valentine’s Day?
• I seemed to have stirred the pot with my comments about the officiating at the Northwest-South game, although I’ve been called out for not naming the official. You know, I have no good reason for not naming him, I just haven’t. Can’t even come up with a great reason.
• Regional wrestling is this weekend, always a fun time. Jeff and I will be heading out to two sites and correspondent Jon McGillivray will as well. But you know what? We’re still not going to miss league bowling meets. Matt Browning will be on top of those.
• Onto Your comments:
  

From Austin: I was at the game and i agree. I felt like the ref thought it was a Saturday pick-up game at osage. I will also say Good for Coach Allen for standing up for Marky. He got off his butt and let the ref know he thought the ref was wrong. I will also say that I am at most South High games and Marky Nolen is well known by all the refs. He has a rep and thats not good sometimes. His rep is that he is a passionate player who can run his mouth at times but last night he did nothing but bite his tounge and let the ref rip him. This is a horrible example of how to handle a situation.”

I agree with your assessment, although I do believe Nolen has brought some of this on himself. Regardless of that, no official should act in such an unprofessional manner.

From Vegas (regarding story ideas for wrestling): Boaz Beard from Goddard. Missed almost the entire year, and took first in his first match back in a crushing win over Tyler Koehn`(PIT) at the Chanute SEK Invitational.

Goddard is a great story because of its team, which we’ve written about in the past. I’d love to sink my teeth into a story about Beard or Tyler Caldwell, but coach doesn’t want individual stories. Too bad, they are studs.

From Brother17: the state should take the best teams. the substate systems does not work. that’s why teams with losing records in up in the finals ever year in all sports. Derby and Goddard (girls) are among the best in the state and someone will stay home. that’s a shame. the state isn’t that big and all of these schools can afford to travel. fix it and make right.

It would be nice if the top teams would always go, but it just doesn’t always work that way. This happens at times where a deserving team is left home, but there’s no easy answer. Really, schools don’t have a lot of money. Seriously. The way I look at it, though, is if you’re truly one of the best teams, you will get there because you will win.

From Opportunityknocks concerning the story on Carroll’s Brayden Burris: Joanna, you get an A+ from me for that story, AND for not including your opinion in it. I think Prince closed some doors with this deal in Wichita. And as for the email, hey guy, I know this girl and it wouldn’t make a bit of difference with her story what college it was. Her story was right on.

Wanna know why I put this on here? Because it was a compliment. Don’t see too many of those.

From teakusc regarding the East-Southeast game at Kansas Coliseum: man i wish they would have move it to saturday that would have been better. at least for the guys sake anyways. there are going to be a lot of guys sleeping on the couch talking about how good of a game that was.

Sorry guys. My husband will be home with the kids while I’m covering this game. Neither of us is bitter — we’ll celebrate on Wednesday.

by joanna

The championship of the City League wrestling meet is Saturday night and, even if you’re not an avid fan, it’s something to check out.

Fact is, Heights has always done this thing right, from the introductions at the start, to how quickly the meet runs. It’s good wrestling, a great atmosphere. Check it out. (Check out our story on Heights wrestling and our Getting to Know on Southeast’s Nathan Goens)

Wrestling regionals are next Saturday, which means the state meets are only two weeks away.

Who’s a wrestler we should be looking at? Who’s got a good story out there? If you don’t want to comment on the blog, e-mail me at jchadwick@wichitaeagle.com. I’d love to hear from you.

Count on seeing angry comments from parents regarding Wichita area school districts canceling school today. I understand their point, but when I got the call at 5:30 this morning, it was crazy outside. The snow was heavy and you knew the morning commute would be brutal. Who knew that now, at 1:10 p.m., that it would be 70 degrees and sunny?

But there have been postponements, which is how this is a sports-related thing. Andover’s postponed its wresting, and Andover Central has postponed its wrestling with Andale and bowling, as well. Campus at Newton bowing is ppd.

The City League hasn’t decided yet.

Any more out there? Let us know!