After a few days to think about it, I had to chime in on how great of an effort that our Kansas seniors gave. Every wrestler contributed!
Some random thoughts...
The bookend weights at 103 and 285:
A couple of redemption stories were really fun to see. Tyler Stokes making weight at 110 was a big help. He completely dominated his undersized, but game opponent. I also like his pre-match video that they showed giving a public "thank you" to the organizers and coaches for giving him the opportunity to represent Kansas in this event. Jake Woten was giving up around 40 pounds. As Jake took his shirt off, I saw the MO HWT give what was seemingly a sly grin as if to say, "This will be fast". Jake on the other hand had a plan of his own. I have watched Jake wrestle many times and you can always expect that when he sets that determined chin, it really doesn't matter who he's wrestling, they had better be ready to get after it. My initial thoughts were, DO NOT get under that big boy with an extended shot! I have not seen the playback yet, but Jake had to have taken at least FIVE low level shots. Each time he got so low that the weight difference was taken away from MO kid. Even when there were 17 seconds left and he basically could not have been warned twice, he STILL took a shot. All I can say is, that's the way to finish your High School career!
Callahan knew that he was in a tight spot with a heavier, nationally ranked opponent but we all know that he has only one gear and that's all out! Sure he could have kept the match closer but leaving it on the mat was exactly what I expected out of him. We all have seen that for years and this was no exception.
Wauer is another one of those wrestlers that you can always count on to compete. In this match he did much more than that! A State Champion from MO, had to be asking himself, "Who is this guy?" That was a BIG win for us and kind of set the tone for the entire dual.
Linwood Peoples. After all he's been through, here he was matched against a State Champion who had also placed 2nd at the UNI Dome Folkstyle Nationals, losing 6-5 in the final! Linwood making 137 was also a big help to Team Kansas. Those 6 losses on his record were deceiving. Five of them were to Parker Madl and were VERY close. You can say what you want about Linwood Peoples, but there were entire families that came to watch him wrestle this year. He's got mad skills and it was nice to have a wrestler of his caliber beating a wrestler like Zach Bintliff!
I wait anxiously for Randy's report, so I'll cut this a bit short. I'm sure he will have fun describing Lalo and Hinckley's matches as well as Sommer and Nowak setting us up for the win. One thing was for sure. It was a proud moment for the Kansas wrestling community. I also applaud all of those involved in this event. It could hardly have been improved upon!
GO KANSAS!
-Chief
