I remember Michael Sprigg's comment after the Honas match that won the Championship for Norton, he said he was going to be either the "hero or the zero."

1997: Norton had five in the finals, won 4 and got second to Sainty in the team standings. Emphasizes the importance of points on the backside!

1998: Norton had what seemed to be an insurmountable lead at the end of Friday night. On Saturday Hoxie won EVERY DANG backside match they wrestled, snatching the Championship out of our hands. Emphasizes the importance of points on the backside!

2007: Norton's quest for a fourth straight State Championship falls short by 1.5 points and we finished THIRD . . Smith Center and Beloit tied for the championship. Had to be the closest championship race ever

1998 Norton had a heavyweight, Rusty Miller, who won state as a senior and his first year as a varsity wrestler. Rusty MAYBE weighed 210 after a big meal and long shower. He had spent three years wrestling behind Josh Kellerman at 215 and Jeff Boyle at 285.

If I remember correctly back in the early years of the 80's, when they had both 4A and 3-2-1A under the same roof in Gross, one year Beloit won 3-2-1A with 5 champs out of 12 weights and then the next year went up and won 4A with 6 champs out of the 12 weights. Having both tournaments there was very intense and fun. Thinking they just started televising around then.

I remember when Jeff Boyle won his heavyweight match in 22 seconds over the Minneapolis kid in the finals.

This would be the match you were talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKU6I-g63Y0

Don't know if we'll ever see a heavyweight like Boyle in the state of Kansas ever again!

Boyle by far one of the most imprssive HWT from kansas ever.

But I think I was more impresed how young the official Chuck Reinert looked. :):)

Wow! What great memories I was young but I was there for most of these matches and I was reading through this thread last night and taking a trip through memory lane .

Not my favorite for sure, but most memorable was seeing Wes Harding get an unfavorable call his senior year. I can't remember the details now, but I remember our whole house yelling at the t.v. and ref. Would have been his fourth championship.

Number 1 on my list, Ryan. In my opinion that match is the most memorable in the history of 321a state. Favorable, or unfavorable is irrelevant. Everyone in Gross Memorial was on the edge of their seats or toes waiting to see that outcome.

How about this 321A gem:

In 1998 at 130 lbs., Pat Dykstra of Mission Valley beating Travis Baker of Hoxie in the semifinals via an injury default caused by Baker throwing a hard cross face. Dykstra was leading in the match and Baker was trying to comeback and in doing so he got a little carried away with his cross faces. It kept Baker from going for a second straight state title, and from being a three timer.

The result let Dykstra get into the finals where he met his opponent, Jay Hrabe of Plainville, and a host of boos from the pro-Northwest Kansas wrestling crowd. Dykstra took the early lead with a quick shuck to a side-by-side headlock and Hrabe earns an escape before the crew at Smoky Hills Television cut to a replay of the action from the previous night's semifinal match of Dykstra vs Baker. When the TV crew gets back to the actual finals match it is now 4 to 3 in favor of Dykstra heading into the second period. I don't know what happened in that minute and a half of non-coverage as they didn't address it on the broadcast.

During the second period it is revealed by the TV crew that the head coach for Mission Valley has been ejected from the tournament for something unrelated to the Baker cross face. If memory serves me correctly it was for having chewing tobacco. There was no scoring in the second with Dykstra getting ridden out by Hrabe.

Hrabe takes bottom and Dykstra rides him out for the first minute before the match is stopped for a stalemate. After the final stoppage, Dykstra had the match stopped for additional time so he could readjust his contact, take a breather, and in the process get booed some more. Hrabe quickly gets the escape at the restart and a takedown before the half-minute mark to take a 6 to 4 lead. Then the cheers came for Hrabe and he sealed the victory by riding Dykstra out.

One of the better finals matches just because of the controversy that surrounded it. I really wish I knew what happened in the minute and a half that was not telecast, but either way I think this whole story deserves some mention.

It was 1990 I believe. Phillipsburg got 2nd place by only 1 point or something due to heavy weight match.

I agree, definitely one of the best finals matches. I don't care who you are, you're holding your breath watching the final moments of that match.

I remember watching Boyle throughout the season, was that 1995? He had a way of gently scooping his opponent up and putting him down wherever he wanted, however he wanted. I'm sure it took a lot of strength but Jeff Boyle made it look easy.

That was 1997, Chad Flores of Silver Lake vs Edgard Castillo of Leoti-Wichita Co. I think Castillo went on to win the following year under Coach Steiger.

John Flores led the WCHS Indians to win the 1995 team championship, the school's first ever. The following year, 1996, Leoti-Wichita Co. tied with St. Francis. Had a 112-pounder named Chuck Rodriguez defeated his opponent, Scott Jenkins of St. Francis, Leoti would have won the championship outright.

Actually, I think we had 4 finalists that year: Rodriguez, Jairo Rito, Manuel Otero, and Alonzo Bocanegra. This is all from memory, btw. I could be wrong on some of the details.

Hi, Lance!