TJ Hepburn of UNK via Colby CC is assured of All-American status. He came out the back door and is assured 8th place.

Mitch Arnold of Newman via Wichita Bishop Carroll is out of the tournament after losing 2 matches by a single point.

Matt Bailes of UCM via Kansas City Turner is assured of All-American status. He came out the back door and is assured 8th place.

He had to beat Shawn Kuhlman of FHSU via Oakley to advance out of the consolation 1st round. The match was tightly contested at a 9-7 mark in sudden victory. Bailes pinned his next opponent in the 1st period. It’s a shame that Bailes and Kuhlman, two MIAA foes and Kansas brethren had to meet in an elimination setting. If Kuhlman had a better spot in the bracket he might of placed.

Elijah Madison of UNO via Valley Center Kid Club, Salina Kids Club, and Salina South(freshman year) has advanced to the semifinals. He is assured a 6th place All-American status.

By my count that is 12 wrestlers who have claimed All-American status and have spent at least two seasons at one of the many Kansas wrestling programs whether it be kids, high school, junior college, or Division II. Seven of these wrestlers are Kansas high school graduates.

I think 6 of the 12 AA guys are in the semi-finals. Very nice.
Well it is off to USAWKS subdistricts in Pittsburg for me. For the parents and fans of these young men - tell them to make their own luck today.

RE: Kuhlman's spot in the bracket - am not sure there was an easy spot in the bracket for a 4th place regional finisher at 174. But am sure proud of Shawn. When you have a young man that committed in the practice room and class room, its easy to support him. He got the absolute most out of his personal skill set because he was so committed in the practice room....and he just never gave up when he was on the mat.

Ditto for Malloy. Was really hoping to see him close out his career with an All-American honor. The headlock he walked into was just too much to overcome. But Blake will be just fine, as he has his personal priorities in place.

Thanks to both Shawn and Blake for their dedication to FHSU wrestling over their 5 year careers.

Was glad to see Andre bounce back with some good offense in the All-American round. The quarterfinal match against Sherer was painful to watch. Sherer had the perfect game plan and lulled Andre into passivity for 9 minutes of wrestling......Andre never put himself into position to score and was content to dance around the entire match. Then when Andre gave up an escape with 29 seconds left in TB1, Sherer had the only opening he needed to win. Not a good tactical match for Andre, but he bounced back well.

The bracket is set up well for Andre to get to the 3rd place match. Another match with Suarez, who he dominated in National Duals and then a possible match-up with Bloodgood (assuming Morgan takes care of business). Hopefully Andre will get another shot at Sherer for 3rd.

Great wins for Grater and Edgmon in the quarters. Both have tough match-ups, but are capable of winning if they wrestle their match.

Go Tigers!

I looked at Harrison's bracket last night and thought the same thing. He has two guys that he has "handled" before. That is a good route to get to the 3rd/4th match. I like Andre's chances against Sherer again. This is assuming everything will go as it looks on paper, we know it doesn't always go that way.

Looking forward to this round.

Edgemon lost a tight one. I was told he should have had the takedown call at the end of the match. He was there for close to ten seconds and they wouldn't give him the call.

Grater lost a tough one. Ivanov took him down in a fireman's and got a two count to start the match. He didn't do a thing the rest of the match except defend takedowns and back off the mat. They gave Grater a stall call warning and one point as he continued to push Ivanov straight back off the mat. The ref didn't have the stones to make the call to send it to OT. The match was in front of the UNO crowd.

For a comparison...Upper Iowa's Mumbalo got two stall calls within 12 seconds to send the match to OT and get the win over returning champ Barksdale at 125. Backing off is an automatic stall call and it was called that way.

Grater didn't get the job done but you aren't going to get a call against UNO here from what I'm told. I'm sure the video will be available soon for all of our viewing.

Harrison beau Suarez easily to move through the back door.

Upper Iowa's Eggers will repeat as a finalist after a crazy win over UNO's Pankoke.

Les, I'd love to have your take on those matches. No one wants to blame the ref for a loss, but were they a factor?

It sounds like Garcia nearly got clipped too. I guess the guy had him nearly taken down at the end and the crowd (besides UNO) wanted two. He won by riding time. I thought Garcia would stomp through this tourney. He is going to have Valko in the finals...should be interesting.

I feel really bad for Danny, as I know he was going for the Gold. I hated back in my day, those wrestlers that wouldn't bring it and westled merely to keep the match close in attempt to eek one out by blocking, basing out or throwing in the legs/riding but being smart enough to make it appear as though they were working. I guess that strategy will always be a part of the game, but again, not a style of wrestling I care for. And in my eyes, kind of cowardly and it happens too much as I would compare it to No child left behind (teaching down to bottom feeders). It allows many mediocre wrestlers to stay in a match because they dont truly wrestle and open the action up~..but thats just my opinion. ...Come back strong and grab 3rd and finish out your career with your hand being raised as the Victor you truly are Danny !

Deaguero dropped his 157 match too...so he'll be on the backside. Danny may have him for third and fourth.

By the way...Harrison will have Bloodgood from Central Missouri next round to go for third and fourth. Harrison has beat him at least three times this year and it's gotten uglier each time.

Upper Iowa in second place behind UNO. Coach Grimm was my assistant and roommate in college...I like to see his squad up there in the hardware hunt. UNO has sealed up the Championship now...solid squad from 125 to HWT!

Tommy Edgemon just got 5th place.

Harrison up now for 3rd/4th

Grater will be going for 5th.


Former Cardinal Scotty Berens (UCO) finished 7th! A three time All-American!

is there a link that is working to view Danny's match ?

Sorry for the delayed response. You can probably still catch it. The link is on the very start of this thread. You will have to download their player which takes a few minutes.

Danny just won by Fall.

nice way to go out. Congrats FHSU All Americans !

Just got word all three of them won this round!

Edgemon with Fifth, Harrison with Third, and Danhy with Fifth!

It took Harrison 3 OT's before he got a TD to win. Grater demolished Deaguero. He was up 9-0 and headlocked him for the pin! Nice way to finish a career.