The Lansing Lions took second at their Kaw Valley League Dual Tournament Saturday, winning four of five duals at the event. Five Lions � Kevin Keller at 112, Bo Pursel at 125, Spencer Blew at 140, Dillon Scanlon at 152 and Tyler Baughman at 171 � started their seasons 5-0 at the meet.
Head coach Ron Averill said he was pretty happy with the Lions� season-opening performance.
�We were disappointed with not being able to pull off the win against Turner, but on the day as a whole it was a strong showing,� Averill said.
Lansing earned dual wins over Bishop Ward, Basehor-Linwood, Mill Valley and Bonner Springs before falling to Turner 33-27 in the title dual. Since Mill Valley and Turner are both ranked in Class 5A, No. 8 and No. 10 respectively, and Bonner Springs is rated No. 7 in Class 4A, Averill said it was a challenging day for the Class 5A No.1-rated Lions.
�Years ago this was a nice little dual tournament to start the year, it had some good competition but it sort of eased you into the season,� Averill said. �This year with us, Mill Valley, Bonner Springs and Turner all ranked in the top 10 in our respective classes, we knew it�d be a tough day. ... We stepped into tough competition real quick with Mill Valley, Bonner and Turner. All three of those are highly respected teams.�
It was a big day for Baughman, the senior 171-pounder pinning each of his opponents on the day in the first round. Blew used first-round pins for four of his five wins at 140-pounds, the other coming in a 5-1 decision over Bonner Springs� Jonathan Blackwell who was second at the 5A state meet at 130-pounds last season. Pursel moved the 125-pound slot on Saturday, using three pins, a technical fall and an 11-5 win over the Braves� Caleb Seaton, who�s been a state medalist at 119 for the past three seasons and is the top-ranked 125-pounder in Class 4A, for his 5-0 day. Keller, at 112-pounds, had a pair of pins in his five wins, as did Scanlon at 152.
�Most of our returning state placers had good competition all day,� Averill said, noting nearly all of the Lansing wrestlers who swept the day took down at least one ranked opponent. �We had some dominant performances.�
Litton Van Der Werff went 4-1 at 189-pounds with three pins on Saturday, while 119-pound Dustin McCombs recorded pins for both of his wins. Garret Hinckley went 4-1 on the day at 145 pounds, including one win by pin. Hinckley�s only loss was to a returning state-placer, Bonner�s Aaron Puckett who was fourth at 140 a year ago.
Cameron Trout was 3-1 at 160 pounds for Lansing on Saturday, also with one pin, and Derique Cary was 3-2 with a pair of pins in his debut in the 285-pound class. Clayton Bogner at 130 was also 3-2 with one pin, and Andy Walter was 2-3 with one pin.
Averill said he saw good things out of all his wrestlers on the day.
�I was pleased with how Bogner stepped up to the competition,� Averill said. �Cameron Trout had a good start to the season and Litton Van Der Werff had a good day throughout. ... Derique Cary at heavyweight was in his first varsity competition, starting off your career at 3-2 isn�t bad. It�ll be exciting to see where some of these guys end up by the end of the season.�
The Lions will continue to face the best competition, heading to a tough Eudora tournament on Friday and Saturday.
�Looking through the season, there�s not hardly a week for us to catch our breath,� Averill said. �We have a grueling schedule all the way through.�
Pool action at Eudora starts on Friday afternoon at 1:30 and finishes on Saturday morning, determining who�ll compete in championship brackets on Saturday afternoon.

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