Spotlight on wrestling

Written by Gene Morris

Wednesday, 14 January 2009 08:00

Bronco Taylor Kettler (left) and Panther Cale Karigan lock arms under the spotlight near the center of the mat during an old-fashioned one-on-one team dual for Paola on the road in Spring Hill. The spotlight was brought in to make the wrestling the center of attention that night, adding to the excitement of the rivalry between the Broncos and the Panthers. (Photo by Gene Morris)

The clock was turned back a few years in Spring Hill as the Broncos went old-school for a wrestling dual against the rival Paola High School Panthers.

High school programs have gone away from the duals that dominated high school wrestling for decades, opting for more tournaments to see more competition.

There are so few league duals, like the one the Broncos and the Panthers have kept alive, that the Frontier League no longer has a league dual title.

Spring Hill coach Tucker Woofter remembers what the high school duals were like and wanted to add some excitement for the fans, pulling out all of the stops for Spring Hill’s home dual against Paola on Jan. 7.

It was dark in the Spring Hill auxiliary gymnasium, except for a single light on the wrestling mat, putting the spotlight on the wrestlers.

“I had the opportunity to wrestle under the spotlight as a kid and thought it was a pretty cool feeling,” Woofter said.

Paola coach Russ Hermreck, who wrestled in high school for the Panthers, said he likes what Woofter has done to promote the sport and a dual is a great way to build the rivalry.

“Tucker does a great job of promoting our sport,” Hermreck said. “He told me about the spotlight and I liked the idea because it puts excitement back in it for the kids.

“You don’t have many duals so we both wanted to keep the Spring Hill and Paola rivalry going with our dual,” he said. “It is fun for our kids and that is great when you come from a basketball town. This gets the kids excited and enthusiastic.”

The dual event, spotlight and all, is not just something neat for the wrestlers, Woofter said, but a great experience for the fans.

“I am so pleased we were able to get the Paola dual back,” Woofter said. “It is great to build that rivalry.

“I think the duals are great for the spectators and put the spotlight on the sport,” he said. “We do a lot of tournaments where you have to wait to see someone wrestle. At the duals, even if you can only be there 30 minutes, you are getting to watch your team the whole time.”

When it got down to the wrestling, the Broncos did not leave room for a lot of suspense, winning the first three matches by pins to take an 18-0 lead in the dual. Spring Hill held a commanding lead the rest of the dual and won it 45-20.

Spring Hill’s Michael Nemer pinned Brian Ebeling of Paola with 1:11 left in the first round, opening the varsity action at 103 pounds.

Shane Squire of Spring Hill pinned Taylor Harris of Paola with 1:35 left in the second round in the 112-pound match.

Spring Hill made it 18-0 as Aaron Barnes pinned Jake Pursley of Paola with 20 seconds left in the second round to win the 119-pound match.

Josh Wade put Paola on the scoreboard, holding against Trent Schartz for a 13-12 decision. Wade had a near fall near the end of the second round to push his lead to 13-9 and was able to withstand a late rally by Schartz to win the 125-pound match, making the dual score 18-3.

Josh Taylor of Paola (left) moves in against Spring Hill’s Jesse Chadwick, who defends with his hands during a match at 152-pounds in a dual between the Broncos and the Panthers. Chadwick won a 9-6 decision and the Broncos won the dual 45-20. (Photo by Gene Morris)

Josh Taylor of Paola (left) moves in against Spring Hill’s Jesse Chadwick, who defends with his hands during a match at 152-pounds in a dual between the Broncos and the Panthers. Chadwick won a 9-6 decision and the Broncos won the dual 45-20. (Photo by Gene Morris)

Duals are scored with three points for a decision (a win of one to seven points), four points for a major decision (a win of eight to 14 points), five points for a technical fall (a win of 15 points) and six points for a pin.

Tanner Staats of Paola made it two wins in a row for the Panthers, scoring an 11-5 decision against Austin Adkins at 130 pounds, moving the dual score to 18-6.

The momentum was short lived as Spring Hill’s Charlie Briggs pinned Parker Boyer of Paola with 38 seconds left in the second round to increase the Broncos’ lead to 24-6.

Mitch Mosley of Paola took a 5-1 lead against Shane Slyter of Spring Hill in one of the most contested bouts of the evening at 140 pounds. Mosley then held off Slyter in the fourth to register a 5-4 decision for a dual score of 24-9.

“It was fun being the center of attention like that,” Mosley said. “I have never wrestled under the spotlight like that. It was a great experience. I liked having the dual with one team against one team.”

Ethan Heinker of Spring Hill won a 7-3 decision against Eric Timpe of Paola at 145 pounds. Coach Hermreck was penalized for walking too far onto the mat during the match and Paola was deducted one team point to 24-8. The decision gave Spring Hill three points for a dual score of 27-8.

Spring Hill’s Jesse Chadwick and Josh Taylor of Paola had a back-and-forth match at 152 pounds. It went to 6-4, 6-6 and 7-6 in favor of Chadwick, who then scored a late takedown to seal a 9-6 decision.

Tyler Henness of Paola pinned Spring Hill’s Weston Stiles with 22 seconds left in the second round to win the 160-pound match.

Cody Spader of Spring Hill pinned Paola’s Brad Hall with 1:05 left in the first round of the 171-pound match.

Parker Staats gave the Panther fans something to cheer about in his match at 189 pounds, pinning the Broncos’ Patrick Goldman with seven seconds left in the first round. Paola closed the dual score to 36-20.

Taylor Kettler of Spring Hill fought back from a 0-4 deficit against Paola’s Spencer Trumbly and scored a 6-4 decision to win the 215-pound match. Kettler scored a late takedown to break a 4-4 tie in the third round.

Jesse Sloan ended the night for Spring Hill with 1:27 left in the first round of the 289-pound match, pinning Jordan Blanc of Paola, making the final dual score 45-20.

Junior varsity results were:
Kettler of Spring Hill scored a 6-4 decision against Paola’s Cale Karigan. Sloan of Spring Hill pinned Tony Wilson of Paola. Luke Wilson of Paola scored an 18-3 technical fall against Chris Terrazas.

Set as favorite

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