Blue Valley West Wins EKL Championship

East Kansas League wrestling meet

Saturday, Feb. 13 at Blue Valley North

Dual format, final results

Team: 1. Blue Valley West (5-0, plus 155 point difference); 2. Blue Valley North (4-1, plus 66 point difference); 3. St. Thomas Aquinas (2-3, plus nine point difference); 4. Blue Valley (2-3, zero point difference); 5. Blue Valley Northwest (2-3, minus 25 point difference; 6. Bishop Miege (0-5, minus 205 point difference).

Round 1: Blue Valley West d. Blue Valley 48-20; Blue Valley North d. Blue Valley Northwest 47-22; St. Thomas Aquinas d. Bishop Miege 51-37.

Round 2: Blue Valley West d. Bishop Miege 63-9; Blue Valley North d. St. Thomas Aquinas 37-30; Blue Valley d. Blue Valley Northwest 36-27.

Round 3: Blue Valley Northwest d. Bishop Miege 57-23; Blue Valley West d. St. Thomas Aquinas 45-25; Blue Valley North d. Blue Valley 43-26.

Round 4: Blue Valley d. Bishop Miege 66-18; Blue Valley West d. Blue Valley North 47-19; Blue Valley Northwest d. St. Thomas Aquinas 33-31.

Round 5: Blue Valley West d. Blue Valley Northwest 46-21; Blue Valley North d. Bishop Miege 63-18; St. Thomas Aquinas d. Blue Valley 42-30.

Individual champions

103 – 1. Matt Paxton, Blue Valley West (5-0, 20 points); 2. Nathan Reed, Blue Valley North (4-1, 16 points); 3. Jacob Simms, Blue Valley (3-2, 12 points).

112 – 1. Tommy Williams, St. Thomas Aquinas (5-0, 19 points); 2. Tom Abrams, Blue Valley Northwest (3-2, 13 points); Kellen Rios, Blue Valley (3-2, 11 points).

119 – 1. Jacob Parise, Blue Valley West (5-0, 16.5 points); 2. Nick Colbert, Blue Valley North (4-1, 14 points); 3. Michael Pappas, Blue Valley Northwest (2-3, 10.5 points).

125 – 1. Connor Grantham, Blue Valley West (4-1, 14 points); 2. Josh Haug (4-1, 14 points), Blue Valley North; 3. Mitchell McCulley, Blue Valley (3-2, 12 points).

130 – 1. Daniel Baylog, Blue Valley North (4-1, 14.5 points); 2. Kevin O’Grady (4-1, 14.5 points), Blue Valley West; 3. Lucas Bjorgo, Blue Valley (3-2, 12 points).

135 – Zack Tanenbaum, Blue Valley North (5-0, 20 points); 2. Justin Erker, Blue Valley West (4-1, 15 points); 3. Diego Laramore, Blue Valley Northwest (3-2, 11 points).

140 – 1. Jacob Hoopes, Blue Valley North (5-0, 18.5 points); 2. Nick Swickard, Blue Valley West (4-1, 15 points); 3. Tommy Keearns, St. Thomas Aquinas (3-2, 11.5 points).

145 - 1. Grant Simmons, Blue Valley North (5-0, 17.5 points); 2. Johnny Perz, St. Thomas Aquinas (4-1, 16 points); 3. Alex Johnson, Blue Valley (3-2, 12.5 points).

152 – 1. Jake Walker, St. Thomas Aquinas (5-0, 19 points); 2. Pat Cervantes, Bishop Miege (4-1, 16 points); 3. Tom Dehart, Blue Valley West (3-2, 13 points).

160 – 1. Mike Arend, Blue Valley West (5-0, 18 points); 2. Jeff Lyons, Blue Valley Northwest (4-1, 15 points); Tyler Hendreickson, Blue Valley (3-2, 13 points).

171 – 1. Parker Madl, Blue Valley (5-0, 20 points); 2. (three-way tie) Jordan Burgress, Blue Valley West (3-2, 12 points); 2. Connor Rossier, Blue Valley North (3-2, 12 points); 2. Ryan Coupe, Blue Valley Northwest (3-2, 12 points).

189 – 1. Jared Hoopes, Blue Valley North (5-0, 18 points); 2. Patt McCann, Blue Valley West (4-1, 16 points); 3. Jacob Summerour, Blue Valley Northwest (3-2, 12 points).

215 – 1. Eric Mason, St. Thomas Aquinas (4-1, 19 points); 2. Nick Pearch, Blue Valley (4-1, 15 points); 3. Arbanas Elliott, Blue Valley Northwest (3-2, 13 points).

275 – 1. Ryan Kincaid, Bishop Miege (5-0, 20 points); 2. Ryan Graham, Blue Valley Northwest (4-1, 15 points); 3. Justin Walberg, St. Thomas Aquinas (2-3, 13 points).

215-eric mason sta was 5-0

Eric beat Pearch? What was the score?

pearch , chose not to wrestle eric

Congratulations to the BVWest Jags on sweeping to win the EKL Duals. With 4 league champions, 5 runner ups, and 1 third..........placed 9 of 11 kids competing. The depth of that program has grown considerably. Good luck on repeating as champions of the regionals.

This was the first EKL Championship for the Blue Valley West Jaguars....Congratulations to the boys and coaches on achieving this important milestone for their wrestling program!

This gets a little more interesting next year w/ Gardner-Edgerton joining the mix.

Pearch hurt his ankle in one of his earlier matches. Why would he risk injurying it even more if regionals is next week, it was a smart move. If he would have wrestled he would have beaten mason again for like the third time.

Yes I agree it was a smart move to sit him out, but it is a bold statement to say Perch would have beaten Mason again. Mason and Perch always have close matches, it could have gone either way.

Actually I disagree. Unlike some of the district matches the dual format with all teams getting to wrestle each of their long time rival schools head to head in a one day event adds a dimension to this league champioinship that is unique unless you have experienced it and the history associated with these fine schools. It is truly a TEAM event and Blue Valley West has consistently shown over the last two years that they have one of the strongest wrestling TEAMS in Eastern Kansas. If anything..the tournament may be less interesting next year when the league is expanded by two teams and the format changes.

No offense against Gardner-Edgerton, as they have some great wrestlers, however BVW, St. Thomas Aquinas and BVN (current EKL members) all finished ahead of them in the Husky this year in TEAM POINTS and BV West won the last head to head team dual at Lousburg last year. It is great to see the league grow and Gardner-Edgerton is a great addition to the league...along with Southwest who I am sure will have a great wrestling program as well..but make it more interesting???...I doubt it!

You also have to undrstand pearch has never been taken down this year. Or even close even with mason

The score between Perch and Mason was 1-0 according to the online results for the Bobcat. Sounds like a close match to me. Also at the Johnson County Classic it was 7-2. That might not seem like a close match but it only takes one move to tie it up.

Jag Fan...you honestly don't think it will be more interesting to add another strong program to the league? That sounds more like a case of just not wanting change. Your arguement about where GE finished at the BVNW tournament doesn't hold a flame to my statement about making it more interesting. For one, Curtis didn't wrestle in the tournament(not saying GE wins w/ him in) and secondly, a dual format is TOTALLY different than a tournament...and anyone that knows anything about wrestling would agree. In a dual format, it is your TEAM vs their TEAM! Head-to-head w/ no other elements. FYI...GE beat BVN this season 54-24. And if you want to add a thirdly, GE and STA over the last couple seasons have established one heck of a rivalry due in large part to the football teams. As I stated...it will make an already exciting league "a little more interesting"!

Sorry..but that was not my point. My comments were related to the EKL WRESTLING DUAL FORMAT and with expansion from six to eight teams the current one day dual FORMAT will no longer accomodate a head to head competition between all of the schools in the league. I stated I thought both GE and SW are "great additions to the league." I simply disagreed this EVENT would be more interesting with the addition of ANY SCHOOLS due to the change in format that this will necessitate. It is a unique event given the format and number of schools in the league. Most of these schools (including GE) go up against each other in at least three traditional tournaments during the year. So call me sentimental, but for me, not getting to see the TEAMS compete in this format for the league championship is just not "a little more interesting."

A dual league tournament does have some zing to it!

Why not - Set up two pools of four and then have top two teams in each pool meet in Championship Semis - winning teams wrestle for first place
losers wrestle for third.

last two in each pool meet in consolation semis for 5th-6th or 7th 8th.

5 Matches!

Dual tournaments definitely have some zing to it as stated by back in the day. It breaks up the traditional local tournaments where these kids continue to meet and actually adds to the excitement and stategy involved of the coaches moving kids around to match up and field your best overall TEAM. I would suspect like most league teams, this format creates a healthy TEAM rivalry in a sport that sometime can become individualistic. Having followed West for the past four years, I can attest to how far they have come as a TEAM from those early days of the program. Both Tournaments and Duals are much more exciting when as a whole you have talent throughout your line up. And the cameraderie it develops between teammates, parents, and fans makes those long Saturdays well worth it. I agree, even a pooled dual format is better than another tournament.

Who did Baylog lose to?

130 Record TOTAL
1 4-1 14.5 Daniel Baylog (Q) BVN
2 4-1 14.5 Kevin O'Grady (Q) BVW
3 3-2 12 Lucas Bjorgo BV
3-2 11 CJ Ikenberry STA
1-4 4 Anthony Kotzias BM
0-5 4 Jacob Wilcox BVN

Got it....


130 CJ Ikenberry Daniel Baylog 3 Dec 6-4

Look, when you say, "No offense against Gardner-Edgerton, as they have some great wrestlers, however BVW, St. Thomas Aquinas and BVN (current EKL members) all finished ahead of them in the Husky this year in TEAM POINTS and BV West won the last head to head team dual at Lousburg last year."...well, that tells me that you are challenging the idea that GE would be competitive in the EKL. And you know what? Nobody really knows what next year has in store considering we haven't even hit regions yet this year. They should keep the dual format even if it pushes to 2 days because duals are more exciting and team oriented than tournaments. But regardless of format, when you add 2 more talented programs into any league it gets more interesting.

GE has won the JC Classic two of the past three years and only missed 3 in a row by .5 point. They have a young talented team, only 4 seniors. It is going to be fun moving to the EKL!