Depth carries Seaman wrestlers to county title
Vikings crown three individual champs to edge Silver Lake
By Rick Peterson
The Capital-Journal
Sure, Seaman wrestling coach Dennis Switzky would liked to have seen his team fare better than a 3-7 record in the championship round of Saturday's Shawnee County Classic at Shawnee Heights.
It didn't matter, though, as the Vikings had already tucked the team championship safely in their pockets before the finals ever started.
Seaman built a huge lead by putting 10 of 14 wrestlers in the championship round en route to earning its first Shawnee County title since 2001, a 196-162 win over Silver Lake.
"Our semifinals, we really kind of won the tournament in that round," Switzky said. "Getting 10 in the finals really helped.
"We could have wrestled a little bit better in the finals, but there was some tough competition in the finals."
The Vikings got first-place finishes from Cody Wasson (112 pounds), Drew Cohorst (119) and Trevor McCullah (275) and runner-up finishes from Luke McKee (125), Caleb Malone (130), Ian Hahn (140), Nathan Miller (145), Aaron Rahmeier (152), Josh Krahn (171) and Thadd Taylor (215).
Switzky said that McCullah's championship at 275 pounds and Hahn's runner-up finish at 140 were pleasant surprises for his team.
"Our 140-pounder getting in the finals was a big surprise and we decided just to put a heavyweight in there that only weighed 192 pounds and he wins the tournament," Switzky said. "That had to be a big surprise there."
Silver Lake, which put seven wrestlers in the finals, got wins from Jason Corwin at 130 pounds, Brady LaMar at 145, Jeremy Mellies at 152 and Curtis Hamilton at 215.
"We just had some young kids that really battled close on the front side and we lost some tough matches, but we had a great final round," Silver Lake coach Harry LaMar said. "The kids did a nice job there."
Washburn Rural finished third with 116 points, getting wins from Ryan Taylor at 125 and state-ranked David Ehret at 189 pounds.
Trevor Tast won for fourth-place Shawnee Heights at 140 pounds and top-ranked (Class 5A) Blake Malloy successfully defended his county title at 171 pounds.
Topeka High's lone win came from undefeated 103-pound sophomore Larry Perez, No. 1 ranked in Class 6A.
TEAM SCORES
Seaman 196, Silver Lake 162, Washburn Rural 116, Shawnee Heights 105 1/2, Topeka High 74 1/2, Topeka West 74, Highland Park 57, Hayden 50, Rossville 16.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
103 -- Perez, TH, pinned Deiter, SL; 112 -- Wasson, Sea, maj. dec. Taylor, SL, 9-0; 119 -- Cohorst, Sea, dec. Meng, WR, 4-0; 125 -- Taylor, WR, dec. McKee, Sea, 3-2; 130 -- Corwin, SL, dec. Malone, Sea, 4-3 (OT); 135 -- Guerrero, TW, dec. Rickabaugh, SH, 4-3; 140 -- Tast, SH, winner by technical fall over Hahn, Sea; 145 -- LaMar, SL, dec. Miller, Sea, 3-1; 152 -- Mellies, SL, pinned Rahmeier, Sea; 160 -- Ingenthron, Hay, dec. Torrez, TH, 5-4; 171 -- Malloy, SH, pinned Krahn, Sea; 189 -- Ehret, WR, dec. Gonzales, SH, 7-4; 215 -- Hamilton, SL, pinned Taylor, Sea; 275 -- McCullah, Sea, dec. Bahm, SL, 13-6.
CONSOLATION FINALS
103 -- Jones, WR, pinned Bean, TW; 112 -- Fouts, WR, pinned Hayes, HP; 119 -- Palmer, HP, dec. Donnelly, TH, 5-0; 125 -- Alatassi, TW, dec. Johnson, TH, 12-10; 130 -- Turner, TW, pinned Fleming, WR; 135 -- Hawkins, SL, pinned Hanna, Sea; 140 -- Trimble, TH, pinned Binns, TW; 145 -- Graves, Ross, winner by injury default over Killinger, TW; 152 -- Torrez, Hay, dec. Hoeme, SH, 7-2; 160 -- Reedy, SH, pinned Smith, HP; 171 -- Moore, HP, pinned Murray, WR; 189 -- Best, Sea, dec. Willett, SL, 7-3; 215 -- Wright, WR, pinned Kent, Hay; 275 -- Ducksworth, HP, dec. Cox, SH, 5-4.