Five Area Wrestlers Claim 3-2-1A State Championships
Five wrestlers from the nckssports.com area claimed state titles at the 3-2-1A State Wrestling Championships in Hays at Gross Memorial Coliseum this weekend. At 106# was Brogan Monty of Beloit. AJ Polansky of Republic County took the 120# championship. Smith Center had three champions with Alex Wilkinson at 144#, Bentley Montgomery at 150# and Eli Franklin at 215#.
Monty opened the tournament with a win over Trenton Grimm of Cherryvale by fall in 1:47. In the quarterfinals, he beat Jai Sean George of Larned by fall in 2:56. In Friday's semis, Monty won a 10-2 major decision over Benson Eggleston of Herington. Looking to finish his freshman season undefeated, Monty picked up an 8-2 decision over Kash Schlitz of Hoxie. Monty went 4-0 on the weekend and 41-0 on the season at 106#.
Montgomery had the second best record on the year as far as state champions from our area were concerned, finishing 46-1. He opened the tournament with a win over Justin Widler of Herington by an 11-5 decision. In the quarters, he pinned Josef Planasky of Chaparral in 3:50. A battle in the semis resulted in a sudden victory 3-1 overtime decision over Skyler Geer of Halstead. Montgomery fought for a 2-1 win over Easton Schletzbaum of Atchison County in the 150# championship bout to finish the tournament 4-0.
Franklin was actually the first area wrestler to pick up a state championship, as on the random draw, he wrestled the fourth match of the finals. Franklin opened on Friday with a pin in 2:21 over Brandon Price of Wichita County. In the quarters, he made quicker work of Dalton Rokey of Sabetha, taking the match by fall in 1:58 before going on to beat Ivan Jirak of Oakley by a 5-2 decision in the semis. In the championship match, Franklin avenged a regional championship loss to Jefferson Otter of Norton, winning a 3-2 tie-break overtime thriller to finish the season at 42-6 at 215#.
Alex Wilkinson finished his final season for the Redmen at 38-8 and the 144# state champion. He opened with a win by fall in just a minute against Calvin Noonan of Burlingame and then picked up a sudden victory 6-4 overtime win over Duncan Bell of Hoxie in the quarters. In the semis on Friday, Wilkinson fought for a 5-4 win over Jarret Mader of Ellis. He finished the tournament with his second sudden-victory overtime win, beating Wyatt Gardner of Wichita County 3-1 for the championship.
Polansky of Republic County opened with a 16-0 technical fall over Payton Haley of Chaparral on Friday in the 120# weight class. In the quarters, he won by fall over Garret Holmes of Silver Lake in 3:57. A competitive semifinal saw Polansky pick up a 3-1 decision over Tate Weimer of Hoxie. In Saturday's title bout, Polansky won over Kaden Sisson of Phillipsburg for the second straight week with a 2-0 decision. He finished his senior season at 43-6 for the Buffs.
Full results for the area and the 3-2-1A and 4A State Tournaments can be found below.
nckssports.com Area State Wrestling Results