Seaman takes 5A regional wrestling crown
Penalty to standout 182-pounder detracts from celebration

By Rick Peterson
THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Seaman's wrestling team had a big day Saturday in the Class 5A regional meet that it hosted, with the Vikings winning the team championship, earning five gold medals and qualifying 12 of 14 wrestlers for next weekend's state meet at Wichita.

Unfortunately for the Vikings, a bizarre ending to the marquee match of the day took a lot of luster out of Seaman's championship run.

Seaman senior Spencer Wilson, who had upset defending state champion Nick Meck of Shawnee Heights in last week's Centennial League meet, met up with Meck again Saturday in the 182-pound final.

This time it was Meck who took control, opening up a 12-3 lead late in the match. Then, with just 15 seconds remaining, Wilson made a lunging move at Meck.

The match was immediately stopped and after both officials discussed the incident and talked with both coaches, Wilson was charged with a match-ending flagrant misconduct pentalty.

All of Wilson's points earned Saturday were deducted from the Vikings' team score. More importantly, if the ruling stands, Wilson won’t be eligible to compete in the state tournament.

The Kansas State High School Activities Association was being contacted to plead Seaman's case for Wilson, but as of Saturday, the flagrant misconduct ruling stood.

"I didn't think it was a big deal, because this is his senior year,'' said Meck, who was uninjured and had a friendly chat with Wilson in the awards area after the match. "I was saying, ‘Just let it go.'

"He's one of my best friends, and I just wanted to let it go.”

Seaman coach Patrick Kelly was visibly upset by the penalty given to Wilson.

"It's tough, I'm still kind of sorting things out,'' Kelly said. "The penalty is just too severe. Nick and Spencer are great friends off the mat and have been for many years.

"I don't know what transpired for that to happen, but I just don't think the word flagrant was part of what occurred. It's compounded with the story behind Spencer (who battled back from a serious car accident) and the fact that he's a senior. It just makes it that much more tough to deal with. I've never had something like this happen before.''

While upset with the Wilson situation, Kelly was happy with the day as a whole for his Vikings, who got wins from senior Brandon Fuller (132 pounds), sophomore Daemeion Gay (138), junior Sam Mizell (145), freshman Mason Ray (152) and senior returning state champ Bryant Guillen (170).

"Overall I really was (pleased),” said Kelly, who was named the regional coach of the year. "There were some dips during the day, but it was great to see Daemeion Gay go out there and do what he did. He just keeps improving and improving and looking more and more like a wrestler, not just a terrific athlete out there.

"Sam Mizell came out and beat (Justin) Dyer (Heights), who he had gotten beat by in the dual handily, and that was just terrific. And then Mason Ray steps into the lineup and wins the regional. He looked really good and he got beat by that kid last week.”

Shawnee Heights finished second as a team, sweeping the 182-, 195- and 220-pound titles.

After Nick Meck's win, senior Ben Taliaferro won for the T-Birds at 195 pounds and junior Tyson Toelkes won at 220 pounds.

"It was a good day,'' Shawnee Heights coach Chad Parks said. "We're taking 12 out of 14. We always want all 14, but 12 out of 14 is pretty good.

"We had six finalists and I'm real happy because there's a couple of kids who were kind of on the bubble and they stepped up and decided to wrestle today. They're younger guys, so that growth is going to be big for next year.”

Topeka West got a regional championship out of sophomore 106-pounder Zach Campbell, who followed up last week's Centennial League title with another strong performance.

Nationally ranked 285-pounder Nathan Butler of Leavenworth was named the regional meet's outstanding wrestler.

The 5A state tournament will get under way at 10 a.m. Friday with the first round of competition at Hartman Arena.