Nationally Ranked Opponents

Leavenworth and Topeka High will have a dual at Topeka High this Wednesday. This event will feature Nathan Butler (ranked #8 nationally by flo) and Will Geary (ranked #15 nationally by flo). This dual will feature many other state ranked wrestlers as well. Topeka High will wrestle Topeka West at 6:00 pm and Topeka High vs Leavenworth will follow directly. Come support Kansas wrestling as some of our finest go head to head!

See you there!

We need someone to film this and post for us that can't be there.

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I would love to see a video of this match. Both Geary and Butler are beasts.

I am planning to be there tonight. I will video the match and put it on YouTube.

I'll add a link from this thread.

Scott your the man!! Have you tried posting matches on www.flowrestling.org ? The guys at flow would appreciate it and it is easy to use.

No, I haven't posted videos to flowrestling.org, but I can this time. I'll have to look at the website and see if I can post it to the wrestler's page or if it can be searchable by wrestler name. If you have any tips, let me know. I will post it to YouTube either way and then add a link on this thread in case the Flo thing doesn't work out.

All I can say is.....WOW!

I just got back from Topeka and still have a grin on my face. That was one awesome HWT match.

Butler beats Geary 6-3.

1st period: Some great scrambles as the crowd was electric. The Topeka faithful screaming for Geary. The Leavenworth crowd chanting NATHAN BUTLER. 0-0 No score.

2nd period: Butler escapes after about 30 seconds. He shoots on Geary and it looked like he just hit an oak tree. Of course he did as Will is basically an oak tree. 1-0 Butler.

3rd period: Geary escapes very quickly, immediately turns and hits a textbook blast double driving Butler to the mat while almost sinking a half. Butler escapes at the 1:38 mark and it's now 3-2 Geary. At this point Geary knows no other gear than forward. He pushes the action instead of sitting on the lead. Reacting to a Geary reach, Butler gets the arm drag as Will tries to counter with a whizzer but gets tilted to his side. Butler gets the takedown and Geary rolls across his back costing him an additional two back points. I disagree with the near fall call but Nathan definitely earned the takedown. Geary gets to his feet at least 3 times in between at 4 blood time breaks. Butler fails in attempting to return him and was warned. The match ends in a 6-3 decision for Nathan Butler as he thrusts his arms in the air to a roaring crowd.

Man do we have two quality heavyweights in Kansas!!!

Congrats to Nathan Butler and thanks to both guys for a blast of a time!

I agree with you Chief! What a match! Two fine heavyweights put on quite a show!

I have the video edited and will be uploading it shortly.

Wow! Exciting color-commentary Chief!

I look forward to seeing the match when it gets uploaded to the net (Thanks Mr. Crider)!

Here is the link to the video on YouTube
http://youtu.be/GyAwhZFby0g
I will upload it to Flo later.

WOW!!!

Great match. I thought the near fall count was 2.

I agree that this was a great heavyweight match. Lots of excitement. I too thought the near fall criteria was met. Congrats to both of these young men for putting on a great match and showing great sportsmanship.

Great match!!!

I can honestly say that I have never seen a match of that caliber at the high school level, and I'm not sure I ever will again.

I do not want to discuss the match itself because the video shows it all in its glory.

I would like to, however, talk about the two young men that went to war last night. This match truly symbolizes sportsmanship at its finest. Something we fans might overlook is that both of these young men are not only FABULOUS wrestlers, but they are young men who are highly respected in their community for their character, integrity and academic prowess. It is my understanding that both young men, and I can speak for Butler since he's one of my wretlers, are both in the running for valedictorian/saludatorian in their respective high schools. Both wrestlers have been recruited to IVY League schools for their academics as well as their athletic ability. As a coach, a teacher and a father I could not be more proud of 2 young men with the grace and composure they handled this high profile, high stress matchup.

Will Geary is a beast of a man with the highest of character. Too often in this sport we see guys lose on the mat then lose their heads after. There was no headgear throw, no whining to officials, no pouting after the match was over. The embrace after the match was a showing of mutual respect and admiration for one another. You might not notice, but it sticks out to me, that both of these wrestlers were the first on their teams through the team lineup to congratulate their opponents.

I got to talk with Will after the match and he is a very well spoken, polite and respectiful young man. He spent about 5-10 minutes after the match talking with Nathan and Nathan's family, and as an outsider you would think that they've been friends for years.

I know I speak for the Leavenworth Wrestling family that we wish Will the best in all that he does both this year and in his future. KU will be getting an amazing young man to be a part of their football program...that is if Will doesn't decide to go to college to wrestle.

Thank you Nathan and Will for demonstrating the truest sense of sportsmanship and reaffirming the greatness of this sport!

Chief,

It was great to finally meet you in person finally. That match was a great match. I have to respectfully disagree with you on the 2 nearfall. Nathan has hit that takedown a ton of times. If you look he has the legs split and is working the upper body to turn his opponent. I feel it was a legitimate 2 NF and not just a roll through that got caught.

Having said that.....it was an awesome match and huge kudos to both Nate and Will for stepping up and challenging themselves to test themselves against the best. They will both go very far in whatever they choose to do.

I would like to personally thank both of them for giving the wrestling community a match for the ages! Great young men!

Shawn Budke

Great match! Geary is a warrior but he got tired. I think Butler's conditioning won it for him.

Great video, thank you! Did you use a tripod?

Where they both undefeated state champs last year? What weight classes did they wrestle last year?

What are their records this year?

What are their classifications this year (ie. 4a, 5a, 6a)?

It sure was fun watching big guys move like smaller ones and to see them each have a big gas tanks.

Thank you again for posting the high quality video for all of us to see.

I used a mono-pod instead of a tri pod because it allows me to move a lot easier.

I know that Will, from Topeka High School, was the 6A State Champ last season as a junior at 285lb with a 33-0 record and was 11-0 with 8 pins before this match.

Nathan was the 5A State Champ as a junior at Leavenworth HS in 2012 at 220lb. The best I can tell is Nathan was 42-1 last season. I couldn't find Nathan's record this year, though he is undefeated. Maybe someone on here can fill in that blank.

I want to add a personal note...the entire Topeka Tornado wrestling club was at this match. I was DELIGHTED to see how these two fine young men wrestled but more importantly, how they handled themselves before, during and especially after the match. The sportsmanship they showed was refreshing. I know it comes naturally for both of these young men, but the way they modeled exceptional behavior after an extremely tough match made my heart swell....especially with all of those youngsters in attendance. I hope every one of those young wrestlers understand what they witnessed and will strive to emulate, not only the intensity of the wrestling, but also the sportsmanship of these young men.

Nathan Butler is a 2x Class 6A State Champion. He won his first title as a sophomore at 215lbs with a 44-3 record. He defended his title last season with a championship at 220lbs with a 42-1 record. His losses as a sophomore were to McPhail from Liberal at the Newton ToC, a Missouri kid from Lee's Summit West and to J'Den Cox from Colombia Hickman (see Flowrestling to see Cox's credentials). Last season his only loss was a 7-3 decision to J'Den Cox.

Thanks for the additionally info Coach and Mr. Crider.

So . . . post HS plans still up in the here? I inferred that Will might have an opportunity to play football at KU?

Take care,

Dean

Nathan will be wrestling Stanford next season. I believe Will, based on our brief discussion last night, is still undecided.

Nice to see two quality big guys with motors go at it. I can personally attest to the quality of both sets of coaches, nice to see these guys do well, thanks for posting Chief...and though i am partial to Geary and Nick Gray the ref is someone i would love to say made the wrong call,,it was nearfall in my opinion..lol,,,thanks for posting

What a match! Those two showed how champions handle themselves, either win or lose.

Agreed! What a great example for all!