Beavers pay big price for another MSAA title
Scott Community High School won yet another Mid-State Activities Association championship during Saturday’s round-robin dual tournament.
Yet it hardly felt like a time for the Beavers to celebrate.
While winning their 12th title in the past 14 years, the Beavers also lost a potential state medalist for the remainder of the season.
Dillon Stucky (30-7), a 140-pounder who was ranked fourth in Class 4A, will miss the rest of the season after breaking his arm during the TMP dual.
TMP’s Austin Werth and Stucky were battling for a takedown when they left the mat, with Stucky landing on his back under Werth. Stucky’s arm was apparently caught between Werth’s arm and the full body impact of both wrestlers hitting the mat, breaking a bone in his lower right arm.
Stucky tried to resume wrestling, but it took only a few seconds to realize the injury was more serious than first thought. A visit to the Larned hospital confirmed the team’s worst fears.
“Any time you lose a three-time state qualifier and a two-time state medalist it hurts, especially when you’re trying to place (at state),” says head coach Jon Lippelmann. “Obviously, things don’t always work out the way you plan. This is something we have to work through as a team.”
Even without Stucky in the lineup the Beavers were able to finish out the tournament with a 38-32 win over Pratt to nail down yet another team title.
Just as he did earlier in the day against Ulysses, SCHS senior Calvin Erven was able to secure the dual with a win in the 215-pound division. Pratt had cut into an 18 point deficit with wins in the 160-, 171- and 189-pound classes to pull within striking distance at 33-26.
Erven (29-9) eliminated any hopes of a Pratt comeback with a 22-4 technical fall over Casey Crump that put the Beavers back on top, 38-26, and assured them of winning their final MSAA crown before moving next season into the Great West Activities Conference.
“That’s what you expect of a senior,” said Lippelmann of his 215-pound league champion. “You don’t want to put that kind of pressure on a freshman.”
Lippelmann was referring to leaving the match in the hands of Michael McEachern, a freshman competing in the 285-pound division.
The Beavers finished the day with just four league champions - Clay Mulligan (103), Anthony Gardner (135), Dakota Hayes (145) and Erven.
After slipping past Ulysses’ Jason Perez 4-2 to start the day, Mulligan (30-1) pinned each of his next three opponents. Hayes (33-3) pinned all four of his opponents and picked up falls against Ulysses and Pratt to go along with forfeits from Larned and TMP.
Gardner’s gold medal performance was one of the day’s big surprises. The freshman opened the day with a first period fall against Charles Garnette (Ulysses) and rode that momentum with falls against opponents from Larned and Pratt, sandwiched around a forfeit from TMP.
With the wins, Gardner improved his season record to 15-20.
SCHS swept through the MSAA field with wins over Ulysses (42-27), Larned (78-6), TMP (59-15) and Pratt (38-32).
Regional Implications
Unfortunately, the Beavers didn’t improve their potential seeds in the upcoming Class 4A regional tournament. SCHS came up short in key matches against Ulysses and Pratt opponents.
Paco Antillon (119) lost for the third time this season to Ulysses’ Robbie Hines. The only scoring in the match came in the second period when Hines turned Antillon (31-7) to his back for a two-point near fall that held up for a 2-0 decision.
Antillon won his next three matches, including an 8-4 decision over Pratt’s Ludwig Verbena.
Likewise, senior Morgan Numrich (30-9) dropped another match to the Tigers’ Josh Rodriguez by a 4-3 decision. Numrich trailed 4-0 early in the second period, but cut the lead to 4-3 and was in the bottom position to start the final period. He nearly scored an escape on several occasions in the final period but was unable to tie the match.
“We have a pretty good game plan against Rodriguez. Morgan has what it takes to win if they see each other at regional,” Lippelmann says.
Luke Hayes (31-8) dropped at least one spot in the regional rankings following his 10-2 loss to Pratt’s Chase Kreutzer. Hayes had defeated Kreutzer when the two saw each other on the opening weekend of the season in the Pratt Invitational. Hayes settled for a silver medal after pinning opponents from Ulysses and Larned before edging TMP’s Preston Werth by a 4-3 decision.
Alex Kough (112) was a league runner-up with his only loss coming by a 5-0 decision to TMP’s Dylan Schumacher, the No. 1 ranked wrestler in Class 3-2-1A. Kough (22-13), a freshman, picked up an important 6-2 decision over JoAngel Cortez (Ulysses) to help his regional seed, along with a fall against Pratt’s Cinta Ibarra.
Miles Pearson (125) bounced back from an opening round 4-1 loss to Allec Rodriguez (Ulysses) to win his next three matches and collect a silver medal.