Norton Regional

Thought I'd ramp up some conversation on the 321A Regionals by doing a preview for each one. Enjoy!

This is how I see the team race going at Norton:
1. Norton
2. Plainville
3. Oberlin

Norton and Plainville will be duking it out for 1st place, but Oberlin could also be a contender.

Here are the wrestlers who should have the best shot at making it to State and some what of an order of finish with a little bit of info like records and state experience:

106
Ranking Name Record Previous State Experience
#3. Kyle Witmer-12-Phillipsburg (30-6) 1X Qualifier
#4. Caysean Campbell-10-Norton (21-9)
#5. Cale Rogers-9-Smith Center (25-7)
#6. Gunner Kerns-9-Plainville (22-12)
Dylon Niswonger-9-Leoti (19-7)
Hunter Leibbrandt-10-Rawlins Co.(19-8)

113
Ranking Name Record Previous State Experience
#5. Troy Juenemann-10-Oberlin (26-4) 1X Qualifier
Jacob Cronin-12-Smith Center (18-10)
Ethan Ross-11-Norton (23-5)
Macoy Rains-9-Oakley (29-9)
Isaac Stone-9-Tribune (25-8)
Joey McFee-9-Rawlins Co. (17-11)
Rocky Krueger-10-Lincoln (16-8)

120
Ranking Name Record Previous State Experience
#3. Gage Pfeifer-12-Hill City (23-6)
#4. Macrae Migchelbrink-10-Rawlins Co. (21-3) 1X Qualifier
#5. James Jurgens-10-Scott City (17-6) 1X State placer, 1X Qualifier
#6. Branson Addington-11-Norton (21-16) 2X Qualifier
Riley Juenemann-11-Phillipsburg (31-11)
Casey Keller-12-St. Francis (21-10) 1X Qualifier
Trever Houser-10-Plainville (23-12)
Brody Frieling-10-Smith Center (18-14) 1X Qualifier

126
Ranking Name Record Previous State Experience
#2. Alex Kough-12-Scott City (18-4) 2X State placer, 1X Qualifier
#3. Alec Hager-11-Norton (23-6) 1X State placer, 1X Qualifier
#5. Trevor Axelson-12-Plainville (28-6) 1X State placer, 3X Qualifier
#6. Clint Rogers-11-Smith Center (25-8) 2X State placer, 2X Qualifier
John Solko-12-Rawlins Co. (7-4) 1X State placer, 2X Qualifier

132
Ranking Name Record Previous State Experience
#1. John Risewick-12-Norton (31-3) 3X State placer, 3X Qualifier
#2. Dayton Dreher-11-Oberlin (29-3) 2X State placer, 2X Qualifier
#3. Caleb Studley-12-Phillipsburg (30-7) 1X State placer, 2X Qualifier
Taylor Murphy-10-Oakley (6-4) 1X Qualifier
Lucas Walker-12-TMP (9-3)
Adam Gehring-11-Plainville (19-14)
Zach Fischer-12-Smith Center (3-4) 1X Qualifier

138
Ranking Name Record Previous State Experience
#4. Michael Dusin-11-Phillipsburg (32-3) 1X State placer, 2X Qualifier
#6. Jared Tallent-10-Norton (25-12)
Kyle Helberg-Hill City (12-5)

145
Ranking Name Record Previous State Experience
#5. Nick Sells-12-Russell (4-0) 1X Qualifier
#6. Cody Ellis-12-Norton (17-7)
Trever Desair-11-Plainville (26-8)
Chris Anderson-11-Oberlin (28-6)
Shelton McCain-9-Rawlins Co. (22-7)

152
Ranking Name Record Previous State Experience
#2. Gage Younger-12-Ellis (30-1) 2X State placer, 2X Qualifier
#3. Kade Brown-12-Oberlin (19-3) 1X State placer, 2X Qualifier
Regis Weiss-12-Russell (21-5) 1X Qualifier
Grant Lambert-11-Smith Center (16-13)
Brad Blew-12-Phillipsburg (16-12)
Mikey Leibbrandt-12-St. Francis (25-9) 1X Qualifier

160
Ranking Name Record Previous State Experience
#1. Calvin Ochs-12-Hoxie (34-0) 3X State placer, 3X Qualifier
#2. Warren Kropp-11-Scott City (18-5)
#4. Dylan Wiesner-11-Plainville (29-5) 1X Qualifier
#6. Cody Faulkender-11-Oakley (20-8) 1X Qualifier
Dylan Wolaver-12-Saint Francis (21-5) 1X Qualifier
Wyatt Oliver-11-Smith Center (25-10)
Gavin Lively-9-Norton (21-7)
Matt Glading-12-Oberlin (20-12)
Austin Seltmann-12-Hill City (12-10)
Dylan Walker-12-Russell (9-5) 1X Qualifier

170
Ranking Name Record Previous State Experience
#3. Jason Berkgren-12-Oakley (31-2) 2X State placer, 2X Qualifier
#6. Cameron Staples-12-WaKeeney-Trego (19-7)
Raleigh Wishon-12-Scott City (14-7)
Colton Wise-12-Plainville (26-10)
Dylan Kitner-12-Phillipsburg (23-13)
Dalton Brand-10-Russell
Rex Diederich-10-Oberlin (19-11)
Clayton Beckman-12-Hill City (4-1)

182
Ranking Name Record Previous State Experience
#1. Kyler Atwood-12-Smith Center(28-1) 1X State placer, 2X Qualifier
#4. Andrew Malin-12-Plainville (20-6) 1X Qualifier
#5. Steve Yergey-Dible-12-Hoxie (29-6) 1X State placer, 2X Qualifier
Zach Gienger-12-St. Francis (20-4) 1X Qualifier

195
Ranking Name Record Previous State Experience
#1. Harrison Gilliland-12-Plainville(15-0) 1X Qualifier
#2. Brandon Salmans-12-Hoxie (27-3) 1X State placer, 2X Qualifier
Dylan Gassmann-10-Oakley (4-1)
Thomas Duthit-12-St. Francis (8-3)
Brice Mason-11-Leoti (20-12)
Luke Jacobs-10-Phillipsburg (22-11)

220
Ranking Name Record Previous State Experience
#5. Channing Fortin-12-Oberlin (26-3) 2X Qualifier
#6. Kane Washington-12-Hoxie (15-2) 2X Qualifier
Andrew Ochampaugh-12-Russell (20-5) 1X Qualifier
Paul Barrientes-12-Lincoln (22-8)
Skyler Mason-12-Leoti (20-8)
Lucas Engel-12-Norton (15-8)
Seth Boswell-11-Phillipsburg (20-9)

285
Ranking Name Record Previous State Experience
#2. Bradey Chard-12-Plainville (22-1) 1X State placer, 2X Qualifier
#3. Michael McEachern-12-Scott City (21-5) 1X State placer, 2X Qualifier
Fritz Berger-11-Sylvan-Grove (19-11) 1X Qualifier
Cody Wurm-11-Oberlin (18-10)


Good luck to the all of the wrestlers and coaches across the state, it will be an interesting and fun weekend of wrestling!

This is by far the toughest regional in the state for 321A, it looks like some possible state placers may have to stay home and watch.
Norton regional 37 ranked wrestlers and 6 ranked teams
Onaga regional 21 ranked wrestlers and 2 ranked teams
Fredonia regional 15 ranked wrestlers and 0 Ranked teams
Garden Plain regional 11 ranked wrestlers and 2 ranked teams

I heard that Younger dropped to 145. Also, I thought Gilliland was out for the year.

Landon Younger is Ellis 145.

Norton Regional Website

Some day one upsets

120

Addington - Norton beats #1 seed Pfeifer in the Semis

145

Schoenthaler - WTC beats #1 seed Desair - Plainville in the Quarter finals

182

#4 seed Yergey-Dible - Hoxie beats #1 seed Atwood Smith Center in the Semis

Several #3 seeds got passed #2 seeds.

Some great wrestling on day 1!

.

Team Scores Day 1
1. Norton Community 144.0
2. Oberlin-Decatur Comm. 115.5
3. Plainville 94.5
4. Hoxie 89.0
5. Scott Community 65.0
6. Oakley 59.5
7. Smith Center 52.0
8. Phillipsburg 50.0
9. Russell 48.0
10. St. Francis 39.0
11. Atwood-Rawlins County 37.5
12. Wakeeney-Trego Community 32.0
13. Hill City 29.0
13. Leoti-Wichita County 29.0
15. Ellis 25.0
16. Sylvan-Lucas Unified 14.0
17. Hays-Thomas More Prep-Marian 11.0
18. Lincoln 4.0
18. Stockton 4.0
20. Kensington-Thunder Ridge 2.0
21. Osborne 0.0
21. Tribune-Greeley County 0.0

That 120 lb. bracket will be pretty interesting today on the backside. At least 2 former state qualifiers will not be making the trip to Hays next week.

That upset really hurts Plainville's chances of contending for a team title at Regionals. Norton really pulled away from the pack with the help of Addington getting into the finals and Cody Ellis having an easier road to a championship with Desair out of his path. Plainville will need a big backside day if they want to catch Oberlin for 2nd place.

Upsets:
Champ. Round 1 - Hunter Kohler (Phillipsburg) 11-18 won in overtime over Gavin Lively (Norton Community) 26-10 (OT 10-5)

This was one of the bigger 1st round upsets with #4 seed Gavin Lively losing to Hunter Kohler at 160. I'm guessing the freshman had a tough time dealing with the 15 lb. bump up from 145.

Final Team Scores
1. Norton Community 188.0
2. Oberlin-Decatur Comm. 145.5
3. Plainville 134.5
4. Hoxie 124.0
5. Scott Community 106.0
6. Oakley 101.5
7. Smith Center 100.0
8. Phillipsburg 97.0
9. Russell 80.0
10. Atwood-Rawlins County 58.5
11. St. Francis 49.0
12. Leoti-Wichita County 45.5
13. Hill City 40.0
14. Wakeeney-Trego Community 37.0
15. Ellis 34.0
16. Sylvan-Lucas Unified 24.0
17. Lincoln 20.0
18. Hays-Thomas More Prep-Marian 17.0
19. Stockton 10.0
20. Tribune-Greeley County 6.0
21. Kensington-Thunder Ridge 3.0
22. Osborne 0.0

Individual Tournament Results
106 Results
Guaranteed Places
1st Place - Kyle Witmer of Phillipsburg
2nd Place - Caysean Campbell of Norton Community
3rd Place - Dylon Niswonger of Leoti-Wichita County
4th Place - Cale Rogers of Smith Center
1st Place Match
Kyle Witmer (Phillipsburg) 34-6, Sr. over Caysean Campbell (Norton Community) 26-12, So. (Pin 4:27).
3rd Place Match
Dylon Niswonger (Leoti-Wichita County) 25-8, Fr. over Cale Rogers (Smith Center) 29-11, Fr. (Dec 5-3).

113 Results
Guaranteed Places
1st Place - Macoy Rains of Oakley
2nd Place - Troy Juenemann of Oberlin-Decatur Comm.
3rd Place - Ethan Ross of Norton Community
4th Place - Joey McFee of Atwood-Rawlins County
1st Place Match
Macoy Rains (Oakley) 33-10, Fr. over Troy Juenemann (Oberlin-Decatur Comm.) 30-7, So. (Dec 10-4).
3rd Place Match
Ethan Ross (Norton Community) 28-7, Jr. over Joey McFee (Atwood-Rawlins County) 25-14, Fr. (Pin 0:29).

120 Results
Guaranteed Places
1st Place - Macrae Migchelbrink of Atwood-Rawlins County
2nd Place - Branson Addington of Norton Community
3rd Place - James Jurgens of Scott Community
4th Place - Gage Pfeifer of Hill City
1st Place Match
Macrae Migchelbrink (Atwood-Rawlins County) 33-3, So. over Branson Addington (Norton Community) 26-17, Jr. (Maj 9-0).
3rd Place Match
James Jurgens (Scott Community) 26-5, So. over Gage Pfeifer (Hill City) 27-8, Sr. (Dec 13-7).

126 Results
Guaranteed Places
1st Place - Alex Kough of Scott Community
2nd Place - Alec Hager of Norton Community
3rd Place - Clint Rogers of Smith Center
4th Place - Mason Bannister of Phillipsburg
1st Place Match
Alex Kough (Scott Community) 26-4, Sr. over Alec Hager (Norton Community) 27-7, Jr. (Dec 9-2).
3rd Place Match
Clint Rogers (Smith Center) 31-10, Jr. over Mason Bannister (Phillipsburg) 28-18, Jr. (Pin 1:41).

132 Results
Guaranteed Places
1st Place - John Risewick of Norton Community
2nd Place - Dayton Dreher of Oberlin-Decatur Comm.
3rd Place - Caleb Studley of Phillipsburg
4th Place - Taylor Murphy of Oakley
1st Place Match
John Risewick (Norton Community) 36-3, Sr. over Dayton Dreher (Oberlin-Decatur Comm.) 34-4, Jr. (Maj 8-0).
3rd Place Match
Caleb Studley (Phillipsburg) 35-8, Sr. over Taylor Murphy (Oakley) 18-13, So. (Dec 6-2).

138 Results
Guaranteed Places
1st Place - Michael Dusin of Phillipsburg
2nd Place - Jared Tallent of Norton Community
3rd Place - Steven Kriley of Smith Center
4th Place - Weston Bainter of Hoxie
1st Place Match
Michael Dusin (Phillipsburg) 37-3, Jr. over Jared Tallent (Norton Community) 30-13, So. (OT 9-7).
3rd Place Match
Steven Kriley (Smith Center) 19-15, Jr. over Weston Bainter (Hoxie) 20-16, Sr. (Pin 4:07).

145 Results
Guaranteed Places
1st Place - Cody Ellis of Norton Community
2nd Place - Chris Anderson of Oberlin-Decatur Comm.
3rd Place - Trevor Desair of Plainville
4th Place - Brandon Schoenthaler of Wakeeney-Trego Community
1st Place Match
Cody Ellis (Norton Community) 22-7, Sr. over Chris Anderson (Oberlin-Decatur Comm.) 34-8, Jr. (Maj 14-6).
3rd Place Match
Trevor Desair (Plainville) 31-9, Jr. over Brandon Schoenthaler (Wakeeney-Trego Community) 16-15, Jr. (Dec 8-6).

152 Results
Guaranteed Places
1st Place - Regis Weiss of Russell
2nd Place - Gage Younger of Ellis
3rd Place - Kade Brown of Oberlin-Decatur Comm.
4th Place - Jared Bohl of Norton Community
1st Place Match
Regis Weiss (Russell) 37-5, Sr. over Gage Younger (Ellis) 36-2, Sr. (Dec 8-4).
3rd Place Match
Kade Brown (Oberlin-Decatur Comm.) 26-5, Sr. over Jared Bohl (Norton Community) 19-19, Sr. (Pin 1:40).

160 Results
Guaranteed Places
1st Place - Calvin Ochs of Hoxie
2nd Place - Dylan Wiesner of Plainville
3rd Place - Warren Kropp of Scott Community
4th Place - Cody Faulkender of Oakley
1st Place Match
Calvin Ochs (Hoxie) 39-0, Sr. over Dylan Wiesner (Plainville) 33-6, Jr. (Maj 15-6).
3rd Place Match
Warren Kropp (Scott Community) 29-5, Jr. over Cody Faulkender (Oakley) 25-11, Sr. (Pin 4:27).

170 Results
Guaranteed Places
1st Place - Jason Berkgren of Oakley
2nd Place - Cameron Staples of Wakeeney-Trego Community
3rd Place - Rex Diederich of Oberlin-Decatur Comm.
4th Place - Colton Wise of Plainville
1st Place Match
Jason Berkgren (Oakley) 36-3, Sr. over Cameron Staples (Wakeeney-Trego Community) 26-7, Sr. (Pin 1:55).
3rd Place Match
Rex Diederich (Oberlin-Decatur Comm.) 27-13, So. over Colton Wise (Plainville) 30-12, Sr. (Pin 2:29).

182 Results
Guaranteed Places
1st Place - Steven Yergey-Dible of Hoxie
2nd Place - Zach Gienger of St. Francis
3rd Place - Kyler Atwood of Smith Center
4th Place - Andrew Malin of Plainville
1st Place Match
Steven Yergey-Dible (Hoxie) 33-6, Sr. over Zach Gienger (St. Francis) 24-5, Sr. (Dec 5-1).
3rd Place Match
Kyler Atwood (Smith Center) 35-3, Sr. over Andrew Malin (Plainville) 25-9, Sr. (Pin 1:29).

195 Results
Guaranteed Places
1st Place - Brandon Salmans of Hoxie
2nd Place - Harrison Gilliland of Plainville
3rd Place - Dylan Gassmann of Oakley
4th Place - Brice Mason of Leoti-Wichita County
1st Place Match
Brandon Salmans (Hoxie) 31-3, Sr. over Harrison Gilliland (Plainville) 22-1, Sr. (Maj 8-0).
3rd Place Match
Dylan Gassmann (Oakley) 8-2, So. over Brice Mason (Leoti-Wichita County) 24-15, Jr. (Pin 0:00).

220 Results
Guaranteed Places
1st Place - Kane Washington of Hoxie
2nd Place - Channing Fortin of Oberlin-Decatur Comm.
3rd Place - Andrew Ochampaugh of Russell
4th Place - Lucas Engel of Norton Community
1st Place Match
Kane Washington (Hoxie) 20-2, Sr. over Channing Fortin (Oberlin-Decatur Comm.) 31-5, Sr. (Dec 3-2).
3rd Place Match
Andrew Ochampaugh (Russell) 36-7, Sr. over Lucas Engel (Norton Community) 21-11, Sr. (Dec 3-2).

285 Results
Guaranteed Places
1st Place - Bradey Chard of Plainville
2nd Place - Cody Wurm of Oberlin-Decatur Comm.
3rd Place - Fritz Berger of Sylvan-Lucas Unified
4th Place - Michael McEachern of Scott Community
1st Place Match
Bradey Chard (Plainville) 30-1, Sr. over Cody Wurm (Oberlin-Decatur Comm.) 24-12, Sr. (Pin 4:43).
3rd Place Match
Fritz Berger (Sylvan-Lucas Unified) 26-12, Jr. over Michael McEachern (Scott Community) 29-8, Sr. (Dec 5-4).

Interesting 195 Championship Results.....Gilliland have a bad match? Take nothing away from Salmans....fourth time to wrestle him and he was able to get it done!

Also, Niswonger o pulled two upsets at the regional tournament! He upset #4 seed and 6th ranked Gunner Kerns and then upset #3 seed Cale Rogers in the 3rd and 4th place match!

Niswonger has been somewhat flying under the radar all year. He has wrestled well this season. I believe he has won a couple tournaments, but just hasn’t had the opportunity to wrestle some of the wrestlers ranked above him until the Norton regional. He should have a good chance of make the podium in Hays this weekend, if he puts together another good tournament.

I am surprised to see McEachern of Scott City only took fourth was he sick or injured, wrestle bad or is the 4th place finish just where he belongs?

Not to mention these boys are cousins!!! I bet that was tough!!

Also, Bohl from Norton pulled an unexpected upset over 29-14 senior Leibranddt from St. Francis in the consolation semi-finals.

This regional continues to show how tough it is/was. If my math is correct 26 out of 56 semi finalists are out of the Norton regional. This is just short of half of all the semi finalist coming out of one regional. Pretty impressive.

56 kids were eliminated after day 1. Only 3 of those were from the norton regional

Also 42% of all placers were from norton. Mr lentz please read this and do something about this because there were too many good wrestlers that could of placed at state but didnt even qualify.

Being a former western kansas wrestler & coach, I know all too well how tough the wrestling is out that way. I realize that the Norton Regional was tough as nails this year, but to say a bunch were left at home that could have placed...during your count, did you notice that 106 was the only weight class that all four Norton Regional wrestlers placed in. Five other weights had 3 placers from that Regional. That leaves 8 brackets with no more than two placers coming out of Norton. Maybe those wrestlers in the other Regionals should feel fortunate that the state allowed them to show up and at least compete for some of those remaining medals...sarcasm...

I for one felt it was an exciting state tournament once again. Congrats to all that competed, to all that placed, & especially to those that reach the goal of becoming a STATE CHAMPION!

Just think how much more dominate these Western Kansas schools would be, if the state wasn't always bunching them together in one regional. Their rhyme or reason for doing so often eludes us out here in this part of the state.

At 220 4 of the placers were from the Norton Regional as well.

You are correct about 220. Forgot about Russell going that way (although I caught it at 152) However, at both 106 & 220, 2 of the 4 placers were the 5th place match. I am in no way disputing its tough out there...been there, done that as a competitor & coach. I'm just stating that it was not common for all wrestlers from that regional to place at state. That's not to say that the best 16 were there...but seems like few, if any placers were obviously left home.

I get the frustration & don't always get the regional assignment that makes sense. Three of the last five years, we've travelled over two hours to a regional when there is one within about one hour of our community.

For a few years there, seemed like they split the west up a bit...this wasn't one of those years. I do believe however that many of the wrestlers out there or better prepared for the rigors of the state tournament because they have experience the physical & mental grind just to get there. Just my thought based on experience...

Only four kids from this regional were eliminated after the first day.

38 of the 84 placers were from the Norton regional (45%).

Five of the top six teams were from the Norton regional.

Six of the 14 individual champions came from the Norton regional.

How many kids out of this regional beat eachother out on the backside? Hwt and 182 come ti mind first. The weights where there were 4 placers, how many of the other 3 regionals were shut out. My last question is how many weights did the Norton regional not have a placer?

I know at 170, all four wrestlers were on the same side after cross bracketing, so it eliminated two. Oakley & Trego kid met in the consolation semi's.

Wah!!!!!

Norton regional had all 4 placers medal in 106 & 220. 3 placers medal in 120,126, 152, 160 & 182. All other weights had 2 placers medal.

Onaga regional was the next best with having placers medal in 13 of the 14 weights.

Fredonia & Garden Plain both had placers medal in 7 of the 14 weights.

medal totals by regional

Norton / Onaga / Fredonia /Garden Plain
St Champs 6 - 2 - 2 - 4
2nd 8 - 5 - 1 - 1
3rd 4 - 3 - 5 - 2
4th 8 - 5 - 1 - 0
5th 5 - 7 - 1 - 1
6th 6 - 3 - 1 - 4

Ok, the Norton Regional was tough, very tough. Now here is the reality, you are going to have really tough regionals from time to time. With these tough regionals, good kids are going to get left at home. The Ark City region has always been the toughest in class 5A. This was the most evenly distributed regional for 5A I have seen in YEARS. Tough regionals are just part of wrestling, sometimes your the windshield, sometimes your the bug.

Beeson i agree that sometimes people get a tough regional. But for 321A if you live out west its always the tough regional. Every single year. Here's a fact for you. Since 321A became its own classification in 1979 a school that is in western kansas has won all but 8 state team titles.

I agree the Ark City regional is always the toughest. I remember one year when I was at Goddard, 2000. The top five teams in the regional were top five at state: Ark City, Goddard, Kapaun, Bishop Carroll, Valley Center. Sick! There were a lot of really good kids that didn't even make it to state out of the Ark City regional that would have medaled at state. Agree this year was the most evenly balanced I can ever remember.
But I also hear what their saying about the Norton regional, a beast.