103: Clay Mulligan (32-2) vs Garrett Matthews (Royal Valley, 35-5)
112: Alex Kough (25-15) vs Bo Newport (Prairie View, 36-2)
119: Paco Antillon (34-7) vs Jamal Holloway (Paola, 3-2)
145: Dakota Hayes (36-3) vs Derek Mathia (Louisburg, 38-11)
152: Morgan Numrich (29-9) vs Drake Lovvorn (Holton, 35-3)
189: Luke Hayes (34-8) vs Nathan Morris (Columbus, 24-12)
215: Calvin Erven (31-10) vs Boomer Mayes (Eudora, 29-9)
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Parity is what the Scott Community High School wrestling team is hoping for when they compete in the Class 4A Kansas State Wrestling Championships this weekend in Salina.
With only seven state qualifiers, the Beavers need an impressive showing from each grappler - and they have to hope that no one gets on a roll and runs away with the team title.
“There seems to be a lot of parity this year,” says head coach Jon Lippelmann. “Maybe it won’t take as many medalists to win the team hardware. Then again, you never know when a team might get on a roll. You have to hope that six medalists - maybe five - will be enough to put you into the hunt.”
If SCHS can put five grapplers into the top four medalists in their respective weight divisions, they could find themselves near the top of the leaderboard come Saturday afternoon.
That would be a nice turnaround from a year ago when the Beavers qualified nine wrestlers and finished a disappointing 13th in the final team standings.
One factor weighing in Scott City’s favor is experience. Six of the seven qualifiers have previous state experience.
Seniors Paco Antillon (119), Dakota Hayes (145) and Morgan Numrich (152) are in their fourth state tournament while senior Calvin Erven (215), and sophomores Clay Mulligan (103) and Luke Hayes (189) are making their second trip to state.
This is also the second consecutive year the Beavers have been back at Class 4A after a brief two-year stay in Class 3A.
Antillon (34-7), a two-time state champion in Class 3A, is looking to erase last year’s disappointment of not appearing on the 112-pound medal stand.
“Last year I won regional by beating a kid who had beaten me for years and I was thinking I was pretty good,” says the senior. “Then I go to state and don’t even medal. I don’t want it to end like that this year since this is my last year.
“I can’t get too confident. I just want to stick with what works for me and wrestle each match one-by-one.”
The only returning medalist from last year is Dakota Hayes who finished sixth. The senior has put together another outstanding season with his ability to come up with big moves that have resulted in a team high 31 falls. He’s looking to add another wrinkle or two before state.
“I was worried coming into regional that I’d run into someone who had seen me wrestle all season and would try to counter those things to take me off my game,” said the regional champion. “I want to keep improving, especially on my feet. I want to be able to rely on a takedown in case it comes down to that at the end of a match or in overtime.”
Luke Hayes (34-8) says he’s not feeling pressure as a regional champion.
“It helps my confidence after winning regional,” he says. “But I know if I don’t win state this year I still have two more years.”
“There are some people out there we have our sights on,” says Lippelmann. “After falling a little flat last year we want to finish this one off.
“We have a good bunch of seniors and this is a group that knows what it takes to compete at this level. If we can have another weekend like regional, we’re counting on some big things.”