Breakdown by Western Ks. Leagues at State:

North West Kansas League:
12 placers (13 if you count McGinty at 171 lbs. that wrestled for Hoxie before Christmas break then won a medal for Southeast of Saline at state.
Top 10 Teams:
3rd-St.Francis (5 placers)
6th-Hoxie (3 placers)
10th-Oberlin (3 placers)


MCL
25 Placers
Top 10 Teams
1st-Norton (9 placers)
2nd-Smith Center (6 placers)
4th-Phillipsburg ((5 placers)

All other Leagues put together:
47 placers
Top 10 teams:
5th-Silver Lake (3 Placers)
7th-Eurka (4 placers)
8th-Beloit (3 placers)
9th-Garden Plain (3 placers)

Granted MCL & NWKL schools had 6 of the top 10 spots in the 3-2-1A tourn. But many other schools back east (I don't consider Beolit east but they are not in the MCL or NWKL)competed well and look to be breaking up the Western Kansas dominance. Are the dwindling number of students catching up with Western Kansas ???? Well the answer is yes more medals are being won but 16 out of the 28 finalist are still from MCL or NWKL.

Also the Oberlin Regional did place all 4 wrestlers at 215 lbs. and the only weight that did not have a placer from either the MCL or NWKL was 171 lbs. (But then again consider the McGinty transfer at Christmas break).

Just some thoughts to ponder:
Hillsboro (Basketball USA, had a state finalist)
Garden Plain did very well
Co-op Schools Fredonia and Neodesha had two HWTS. that placed.
Gossel had a placer (birth place of my wife).

Thanks for the recognition Coach Johnson. Added notes to the Hillsboro and Goessel placers. Bina became the first person in school history to wrestle for a state championship and only the second placer for Hillsboro, joining Mike Dawes, multiple X placer for Andale, who wrestled for Hillsboro as a freshman, when the program was just getting started. Oddly enough, the first time I ever coached a wrestler in the state finals was when I was in Ellis. Our opponent...Mike Dawes. Cress, representing Goessel, has wrestled in the Hillsboro program since kids club and is with us through a coop.

I have a few thoughts I would like to share as well.

Norton:
To all wrestlers, fans, and coaches all i can say is wow. You never let me down. Being from eastern ks wrestling gets almost no respect. Going out to Hays and seeing the quality of wrestlers, coaches, number of fans, and the sportsmanship you give is very impressive.

Clay Madden:
Congrats. Four titles is a very impressive thing. You are now apart of a very elite group. Congrats again.

Dylan Loyd:
Your a class act. I met Dylan after the finals at the Holidome. He was very content with how he finished even though he was dissappointed. Good luck in the future.

Jason Pyle:
Keep it up. You dominated this year. Next year you have to one up your brother!

Duane Zlatnik:
My bigger younger brother, you did real good kid. Keep up the hard work, and you will be unstoppable.

Duane Zlatnik & Collin Hase:
FAERIES FOREVER

Congrats to Norton 9 of 9 placers. They seemed to know how to win all the close matches.

Next year will be interesting. Norton comes back to the pack a little and it may be a dog fight to see who comes out on top.

Returnee's

Norton 1 champ 3 placers
Smith Center 4 placers 1 qualifier
Silver Lake 1 champ, 2 placers 6 qualifiers
Philipsburg 3 placers 2 qualifiers
St. Francis 2 placers 3 qualifiers
Beloit 1 champ, 1 placer, 4 qualifiers
Eureka 2 placers 4 qualifiers
Garden Plain 2 placers 2 qualifiers
Oberlin 1 placer 4 qualifiers
Sabetha 1 champ 4 qualifiers

Also the Oberlin Regional did place all 4 wrestlers at 215 lbs. and the only weight that did not have a placer from either the MCL or NWKL was 171 lbs. (But then again consider the McGinty transfer at Christmas break).

Terry Urban from Oberlin took 3rd and hes from the NWKL.

The MCL looked really good and Norton looked un-real. I told several people and made a post on here saying that if things broke the wrong way Sainty could really win and i belived that cause they could have if everything went their way. The thing i forget is norton always steps it it up at the right time and got 6 into the final and placed the rest. Always amazes me that they always do it when they need to. Congrats to norton and to the rest of the MCL for a very strong performance.

If McGinty had stayed at Hoxie, how big of a difference would his points have made for Hoxie based on what he did?

I would have to agree the Norton Fans are something special. Wow is an understatement. We are lucky enough to sit next to them and at times you have to think- Holy Cow bells batman will someone keep them quiet I am tryring to sleep here *L*

Yes the are annoying at times to but have that kind of support would be awesome. I wish we all had the fan support they did- wouldn't it make for an awesome state tournament for all.

Congrats to Norton-

About McGinty- it is true he transfered at Christmas and would have helped in team points for Hoxie. He seems to still have his heart in Hoxie somewhat as he was wearing his Hoxie Wrestling shirt at regionals and not a Southeast of Saline one.

Also Great Job by Beloit- they are young with talent coming back next year. Alot fo great wrestling to be done in the NCAA next year I hope.

Pretty obvious that the MCL and NWKL dominated again this year. That should be no surprise as they do it every year. As I stated on earlier posts the Oberlin regional was going to be sending the majority of tough wrestlers to the state tournament. I think the placings prove this to be true. I would like to hear from some of the other posters that said this would not happen now that the proof is in.

3-2-1A is a joke. The only good HWT there is Zlatnick from rossville. 5A RULES THE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!

I think there were some 5a schools at Newton. Did a JVa (5a) school win Newton?

yea 5a rules. look at the shawnee heights regional. why, there were 5, count em 5 hwts. oh my G-d that means somebody doesn't get to be a SQ. meanwhile those puds at 3a oberlin only had 13 hwts. I say we combine 5a-6a so that they get 16 man regionals like 3a -4a.

bowen55

I enjoyed watching you pull one out for the Metro team the other night. Great job! But, 3-2-1A is far from being any type of a joke. In fact the 3-2-1A classification has produced one of, if not the best heavyweight wresters in state history. If you ever saw Jeff Boyle wrestle I don’t think you would want to call him a joke. Most concrete buildings are not built as sturdy as he was.

3-2-1a has produced some great wrestlers (mat gilliland and madden both 4 timers just to name a few i havent heard of 2 many 4 timers in 5 a

Probably do not need to get into the toughest class argument again. However the last time this was discussed on another post 5A was the concensus "weak sister". IMHO all classes have some great teams and wrestlers and to call any class a "joke" is showing a serious lack of brains and sense.

Wow Mr. Bowen so r u saying you would just walk through 3-2-1A state and your only tough match would be the Zlatnick kid. Speaking of him didnt he beat u this year and if i remeber reading right it was by 5 or so points?