I hate to steal a page from SichardDRalyer as this is his job, but here's a Hat Town Mercury article on a forum celebrity. And let me just say---Bingham, you no longer look like Haley Joel Osment. No you just look like a chick. Get a haircut, you fancypants.
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Bingham 'pumped' for a strong finish
Dennis Toll Sports Writer
Aaron Bingham says he's pumped.
"But I try not to let it be a big deal," said Manhattan High's senior 135-pound wrestler. "I just want to wrestle it like any other tournament."
What has Bingham — and the rest of his MHS teammates — excited is the chance to compete for a state tournament berth by finishing in the top four individually at the Class 6A regional tournament, to be held in Emporia High School on Saturday.
Bingham, who has been to state each of his three previous seasons, has been working all year to get back to state for the fourth time. But, don't mention the word "fourth" around him.
"Individually, I would like to wrestle as good as I can (at regional and state) and hopefully not get fourth again," Bingham laughed.
As a freshman, when he lived in Burlingame, Bingham finished fourth in the Class 3-2-1A state tournament. Before his sophomore year, Bingham moved with his family back to Manhattan, where his is from originally, and each of the next two seasons he finished fourth again for the Indians in the 6A state tournament in Wichita.
"We're counting on him getting an odd number this year, rather than an even number," Manhattan wrestling coach Lee Woodford said of his expectations for Bingham's placing in state next weekend.
Aaron Bingham
Bingham also wants that higher placing, so he can help the Indians defend the 6A state championship they won a year ago.
"We're having a great year this year," he said. "I am proud of our team and what we've accomplished and what we hopefully we still will accomplish."
The Indians have already won all but one tournament in which they were entered this season, including a Centennial League championship in their first time competing in the league tournament last weekend. That ended a 23-year stranglehold on the league title by Emporia.
Bingham, who is 27-3 on the season, went undefeated in the league tournament to claim a Centennial League gold medal in his weight class. He took gold with a 2-0 decision over Jackson Waechter of Shawnee Heights in the finals.
Most of his wins, however, have been by pins. Bingham leads the Indians with 14 pins this season, and is third on the team with 39 takedowns.
Now, however, Bingham is trying to get into the right frame of mind for the regional tournament.
"It's hard," he said. "You get to thinking, especially late at night as you go to bed. Stuff starts going through your mind."
It will take more than a few sleepless nights, however, to slow him down.
"He's one of the best practice-room wrestlers I've ever had," Woodford said. "He is a great workout partner. He goes 100 miles-per-hour all the time and he pushes everybody else in the group to go hard."
