Rossville's Lambotte shooting for third mat title

By Brent Maycock
THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

HAYS — The moment Tagen Lambotte heard a pop in his left knee, he could only think about one thing.

“Wrestling was definitely the first thing that went through my mind,” Lambotte said.

Indeed, there were some anxious moments for the Rossville junior when he injured his knee during the Bulldogs’ War on 24 showdown with Silver Lake in mid-October. A returning two-time state champion in wrestling, a major knee injury almost certainly would have wiped out his bid to become a three-time state champion this year.

Fortunately for Lambotte, the injury wasn’t severe. Instead of a torn ACL or MCL, Lambotte suffered only a strain.

It did cause him to miss the remainder of the football season and Rossville’s run to the state semifinals, but Lambotte has shown no ill effects of the injury during wrestling season.

He heads to this weekend’s Class 3-2-1A state meet in Hays on track to capture his third state title in as many years. Ranked No. 1 at 145 all season, Lambotte has put together a 37-1 record.

“I went through therapy and recovered good from it,” Lambotte said. “It hasn’t bothered me at all.”

Dealing with injury isn’t anything new to Lambotte. Last season, he injured his shoulder early in the season but fought through it to win his second straight state title, winning at 145 pounds after taking the 135 title as a freshman.

“It’s not fun having injuries, but it’s part of it,” Lambotte said. “It’s just something you have to deal with.”

This season, Lambotte has been nothing short of dominating. His only loss came to Darick Lapaglia of Blue Springs, Mo., in the finals of the Basehor-Linwood Bobcat Invitational.

At regionals last week, Lambotte pinned three of his four foes, including Beloit’s Tanner Niemczyk in the finals. Niemczyk is ranked No. 3.

His road back to the title isn’t exactly easy. On the same side of the bracket is Hoisington’s Chance Demel, who is 37-0 and ranked No. 2.

The two met in last year’s state semifinal with Lambotte taking a 7-3 victory.

“I don’t really gear toward anyone in particular,” Lambotte said. “You just have to show up for every match; it doesn’t matter what round it is. I just have to show up and do my thing.”

Lambotte is one of four wrestlers in the state vying to become a three-time state champion along with Fredonia’s Brogan Humphrey (3-2-1A 138, won at 132 in 2012 and 125 in 2011), Colby’s Dustin Reed (4A 126, won at 120 in 2012 and 112 in 2011) and Leavenworth’s Nathan Butler (5A 285, won at 220 in 6A in 2012 and 215 in 6A in 2011).

Andover Central’s Zac Gentzler is the only wrestler in the state shooting to join the four-time champion club. Gentzler previously won titles at 113 and 103 (twice) and is one of three returning state champions in the 5A 120 bracket this year.

DRIVEN TO FINISH: The way Jefferson West’s Justin Scott and Pleasant Ridge’s Jared Johnson have wrestled this season, one might think an undefeated season was pretty important to each of them.

Instead, the perfect records are merely a byproduct of a different motivation. Each has been driven by state championship near-misses a year ago.

“I think about it every day,” Scott said of his runner-up finish at 220 pounds in Class 4A last year. “I always think about what I could have done differently to get the win.”

Scott saw his bid to become just the second state champion in Jefferson West history end when he was pinned by Baldwin’s Colten Bonner in the second period. Scott had beaten Bonner at regionals, but got caught in a spiral move and was pinned.

This season, Scott has been nearly untouchable. His closest match was a 6-2 win over Sabetha’s Tyler Edelman and he heads to the 4A meet in Salina ranked No. 1 and sporting a 35-0 record.

“I just think I know what I’m doing more this year,” said Scott, who also posted his 100th career victory this season. “I’ve gotten taller and stronger and I’ve gotten better on bottom. I’ve just improved overall.”

Johnson, meanwhile, reached the 3-2-1A 152 finals last year before falling 7-3 to Central-Burden’s Ky Biddle. Up to 170 this year, Johnson also has been dominating and takes a 37-0 mark to Hays.

Each has big obstacles standing in the way of their title run. On the same side of the bracket of Scott is Pittsburg’s Gershom Avalos (31-6), who is ranked No. 2. Johnson, meanwhile, could be headed for a finals showdown with fellow unbeaten Nick Wuthnow of Sacred Heart, who is 36-0.