Couple articles on Shawn in the Leavenworth Times
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Shawn,
Congradulation on a fantastic college career and we will be following you on the freestyle circuit. When your're in town make sure you stop by the wrestling room. We will be training either at Leavenworth or Lansing until July.
Again, we enjoyed following your career. You represented Leavenworth High and Kansas on the national stage with distinction.
Mike Flynn
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Looking for an opening — Times photo/Jason Nichols — Edinboro senior Shawn Bunch looks for an opening early in his 9-2 victory over fourth-seeded Mack Reiter of Minnesota in Saturday’s third-place match in Oklahoma City.
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Sports
Bunch rebounds with a vengeance
By JASON NICHOLS, Times Sports Editor
OKLAHOMA CITY — Shawn Bunch didn’t come to Oklahoma City for anything but a national championship. But Saturday afternoon, third place felt pretty good.
And it looked even better.
In his final match at Edinboro University, the 2001 Leavenworth High graduate rolled through his final two matches in impressive fashion to finish third in the 133-pound weight class at the NCAA Wrestling Championships, his second All-America finish.
"I feel real good about winning those last two matches," said Bunch, who was upset in the semifinal round. "It’s kind of hard (to come back), but I knew what I had to do to prepare myself mentally for the next day. I wanted to go out winning, so I did what I had to do and manned up."
Facing Minnesota’s Mack Reiter in the final match, Bunch (40-2) picked up an early takedown, earned some riding time and ended the opening period with a 2-0 lead. He stretched that advantage to 5-1 by the close of the second period and cruised to an impressive 8-2 victory.
Though he stumbled in a semifinal loss to Purdue’s Chris Fleeger, ending the top-seeded Bunch’s quest for a national crown, he finished in a flurry. By the time his run had ended, he had defeated the fourth-, fifth-, seventh- and eighth-place finishers — all four All-Americans.
"That’s the hardest thing in sports," Flynn said of Bunch’s comeback on Saturday. "If you truly think you’re going to win, to have your goals and dreams shattered, then to have to get up the next morning, weigh in and wrestle two pretty damn good kids today, I’m really proud of him."
"To beat them soundly, he showed up big," Flynn continued. "It’s the hardest thing you can do and he did it. And not only did he do it, he did it great. He beat those guys soundly and helped us score some points. It was a Herculean effort."
Many had predicted a matchup between Bunch and Wisconsin’s Tom Clum in the championship match. As unpredictable as wrestling tournaments are, the two wrestlers didn’t square off in prime time, but early Sunday morning, as many fans were just arriving at the Ford Center.
It wasn’t where Bunch wanted to be, but he showed no ill effects from a disappointing loss in Saturday’s semifinal round. Instead, he looked businesslike, as if the consolation semifinal match was an early-round bout against an overmatched opponent.
Bunch needed just six seconds to take Clum, the No. 3 seed, to the mat. He proceeded to record two more takedowns and a three-point nearfall in the opening period to take a commanding 8-3 lead. The rest of the way, he coasted to a 9-5 victory over the defensive-styled Clum.
After falling short in the semifinals, Bunch said he would be ready Sunday morning. But Flynn knows how difficult it can be to come back in the consolation round as a No. 1 seed. Bunch was also battling some past history. He had struggled early in career at battling back from tournament losses.
"I was just trying to stay focused and get myself mentally prepared for today to go out with a win," he said.
In five of his six matches, Bunch had taken control early and rolled from there. But as the final seconds ticked off the clock in the third-place match, Bunch didn’t seem to care about his comfortable lead.
He worked Reiter’s head from side to side, bobbed his head up and down, darted at his opponent’s legs. He was still trying to score, taking his final shot with about three seconds left.
"I think he knew it was toward the end of his career and he wanted to finish strong," Flynn said. "I’m just so proud of him. I still think he’s the best kid in the country."
Or maybe he was just preparing for the next step. It’s not over for Bunch.
"I feel pretty good about today," said Bunch, who fell in the national title match last year. "I feel better than I did last year, losing in the finals, that’s for sure. But there’s always more to come."
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