Beavers qualify 6 grapplers for state

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The Scott City coaching staff says it would be hard to find anyone who works harder in the practice room than Manny Turner. His teammates agree that no one has more stamina.

Even that wasn’t enough to assure the Scott Community High School wrestler of a trip to his first state wrestling tournament.

Turner needed two overtimes - one in the consolation semi-finals that assured him of a state trip - the second in the consolation finals to claim a third place finish in the Class 3-2-1A regional tournament.

Turner (170-lb. division) is joined by five other Beavers who will be competing at the state tournament in Hays on Thursday and Friday. Also making the trip are James Jurgens (3rd, 113), Alex Kough (2nd, 120), Clay Mulligan (1st, 132), Michael McEachern (3rd, 220) and Luke Hayes (1st, 285).

SCHS finished third in the final team standings of what many consider the toughest of the four regional tournaments. Oberlin (134) held on for the team title just ahead of Goodland (133) and Scott City (130.5).

“Manny doesn’t have an off button. You like to think that hard work pays off, so it was great to see Manny finally get it done, especially since this was his last chance,” says Lippelmann about the senior.

Turner had the distinction of being in perhaps the toughest weight division. The 170-pound class included seven formers state qualifiers and three state medalists. Even though Turner didn’t fit into either category, he was able to be included in the heated discussion about how the wrestlers should be seeded. All the coaches could agree on during the seeding meeting was to put Ellis senior Riley Hunsicker into the No. 1 spot.

After 45 minutes, the coaches finally agreed to draw for the No. 2-6 seeds, with Turner drawing the No. 4 spot.

He showed that was no fluke by nearly upsetting Hunsicker in the championship semi-finals. Turner led 5-2 with less than 30 seconds remaining when Hunsicker was able to stand up from the bottom position and lock Turner into a reverse cradle for a five-point move that resulted in a 7-5 loss.

“I was very disappointed,” Turner says. “But after I got over the loss it put some fire into me. It gave me the confidence to believe I could take on anyone.”

That confidence carried over to Saturday’s consolation semi-finals where Turner faced Jason Cowan (Goodland), who was the No. 4 ranked wrestler in the state. A loss would end the season for one of the two wrestlers.

Turner says he was warned by the coaches that Cowan was very aggressive, so he had to be cautious on his feet. While Turner was tempted on several occasions to risk a takedown, he decided to be patient and try to wear Cowman down.

“He kept trying to arm drag me and I thought about going for his ankle, but then I decided to be a little more patient and try to wear him out. After I rode him I started feeling more comfortable and I felt he was getting a little more tired,” Turner says.

However, it was Turner who got hit with a penalty point for stalling in the third period that tied the match at 1-1, which is how the match ended in regulation. The senior was finally able to catch Cowman off-balance and get a takedown 44 seconds into the first overtime.

With a trip to state assured, Turner faced Plainville’s Harrison Gilliard in the consolation finals. Gilliard entered the tournament as the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the state before being upset in the semi-finals by No. 4 ranked Jason Berkgren (Oakley).

Once again Turner needed overtime, with a minor controversy sprinkled in. In the extra period, Turner was awarded the winning takedown with 14 seconds remaining only to see the two officials confer and then decide to waive off the score. Turner didn’t let the turn of events affect him, but instead got the takedown with five seconds remaining in the match to claim a bronze medal.

“It’s a great feeling to finally get to state. That’s something I’ve wanted to do ever since my freshman year,” Turner says. “I love this sport and I’ve always wanted to be one of the top ones.”

He’ll have his chance to accomplish that goal in Hays, along with five of his teammates.

Defending state champions Mulligan and Hayes held true to their rankings and claimed gold medals. Mulligan pinned Oberlin’s Brett Juenemann in 2:54 while Hayes pinned Bradley Chard (Plainville) in the first period of his championship match.

Kough, who entered the regional as the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the state, dropped his championship match to Norton’s John Risewick, the No. 2 ranked wrestler, by a 3-2 decision. Kough had defeated Risewick in the finals of the Norton tournament in early January, even tough the Norton grappler is a two-time state finalist.

“I didn’t wrestle well. I made several mistakes that I can correct if we wrestle again at state,” says Kough.

Jurgens, a freshman, dominated Casey Keller (St. Francis) with a 13-0 major decision.

McEachern, a junior making his second trip to state, avenged a loss to Hoxie’s Kane Washington in the Scott City Invitational with a takedown in overtime for a 3-1 decision.

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