County Classic
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Written by Mark Dewar
Wednesday, 22 December 2010 00:00
(Editor’s note: Ryne Cokeley, a St. James Academy senior wrestler, is a three-time Class 4A state champion.
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JAKE PAULSEN/SUN PHOTO: STALWART ... St. James Academy’s Ryne Cokeley wins the 152-pound title at the Johnson County Classic Saturday.
On Saturday, Cokeley won the 152-pound title at the 17th Annual Johnson County Classic at Blue Valley High School via his 7-5 decision over Olathe Northwest’s Connor Middleton.
Adding to the day’s highlights for the accomplished Thunder senior, St. James won the Classic’s team crown over runner-up Gardner-Edgerton, 232 points to 213; and Cokeley’s younger brother, Reese Cokeley, won his first high school tournament at 103 pounds.
Later that same evening, Ryne Cokeley prepared for Sun readers this first-person account of his experience:
The Johnson County Classic is always a tournament to look forward to.
It’s not the toughest tournament in our team’s schedule, but it’s a great tournament for our team to get a lot of good experience, especially our underclassmen who haven’t wrestled as much.
What I like about this tournament is how close it is to home for us.
We get a lot of support from our friends and family at this tournament and that inspires us to go out and wrestle our best.
I also like to use this tournament to measure how our team will do at state.
This year we were pre-season ranked No. 3 in Class 4A, and I think we have a good shot at bringing home a state title, but we have to win the tournaments we go to in order to prove we are the best in the state.
This year we brought home the Johnson County Classic team title, and for us this is a big deal.
Being a smaller school and beating the bigger schools really shows that we have what it takes to win state as a team as well.
Watch out, Clay Center and Andale!
This year we brought a full lineup to the Classic, and we came to wrestle.
Seven of our wrestlers finished in the top four of their weight class:
Dustin Vielhauer took fourth at 135; Zach Pollom fourth at 171; Nick Mancuso second at 112; my little brother, Reese Cokeley, first at 103; Taylor Moeder first at 140; I took first at 152; and Rory Haug first at 160.
I want to say congratulations to Donny Parr from De Soto, who took first at 189.
Donny is a very close friend of mine, and it was really cool to see him win this tournament. He has a very legitimate shot at taking home a state title this year.
I also want to say kudos to my teammate, Taylor Moeder, who was voted Senior Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.
Taylor is a very accomplished wrestler and he will be very tough to beat even on his worst day.
As a senior, this tournament is probably the most fun out of any one of the ones I go to.
A lot of the kids that wrestle at this tournament are guys that I have grown up wrestling with.
(Blue Valley North’s) Zack Tanenbaum, the champion at 135, and I grew up wrestling together, and to win this tournament with him is one of the coolest things about the Classic.
Another person I am very proud of is my little brother, Reese. To come to a pretty tough tournament like this and win it as a freshman is something that I couldn’t even do, and I couldn’t be happier for him.
It was really cool to see him win his first high school tournament and even cooler to win it with him.
Needless to say, it was a party at the Cokeley house tonight.
One last thing I want to say is watch out for the Class of 2014.
With kids like Reese Cokeley (St. James Academy), Luke Henes (St. Thomas Aquinas), Zack Hoskins (Shawnee Mission North), Tyler Dickman (Mill Valley) and Dustin Williams (GE), along with many other freshmen in and outside the Johnson County area, this class could be some of Kansas’ best!
Thank you to Blue Valley High School and everyone who helped run this tournament smoothly.
Good luck to all the Johnson County area schools in the balance of the season.
(For results of the Classic’s first-, third- and fifth-place matches and diary from St. James’ Taylor Moeder, visit
www.sunpublications.com T
