GC invite may have provided state title preview

Scott City senior Luke Hayes locks up with Chaparral's Clay Wilcox as he attempts to get a takedown during Saturday night's championship match in the Rocky Welton Invitational.

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By Rod Haxton, editor

Claiming a gold medal in the Rocky Welton Invitational is no small accomplishment.

Yet, while Luke Hayes had his sights set on winning the rugged Garden City tournament, he also had another goal in mind.

The Scott Community High School senior was hoping for a chance to see Chaparral’s Clay Wilcox who has been the No. 1 ranked heavyweight in Class 3-2-1A.

“He’s been ranked ahead of me, so I was wanting a chance to wrestle him. I was pretty excited when I saw he was coming here,” says Hayes.

He had even more reason to feel excited following Saturday night’s championship finals. A second period escape was all the scoring that Hayes would need in claiming a 1-0 win and his fourth tournament title of the season.

Despite the importance of the win, which should vault him into the No. 1 seed at the upcoming state tournament, Hayes was pretty low-key afterwards.

“I was hoping for a little more offense, maybe a takedown or get him turned to his back,” says the 255-pound grappler. “If we see each other again at state I hope to do a little more on my feet.”

While he wasn’t completely satisfied with his performance in the finals, there was very little that Hayes couldn’t have been happy about leading into Saturday’s championship match. The tournament’s top seed pinned his first two opponents leading into Friday night’s impressive 11-4 decision over Don Fuller (Conifer, Colo.).

This was a rare opportunity for the 6-5 Hayes to wrestle with an opponent who could match him in terms of height and weight.

Hayes (21-0) jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead with a takedown and two-point near-fall and was leading 6-3 going into the final period. Hayes picked up a point for a stalling penalty against Fuller and then took command of the match with a reversal and three-point near-fall.

The championship finals had much less action as Hayes needed less than 20 seconds to score an escape in the second period and was able to ride Wilcox with little trouble for the third period.

“The Chaparral kid is really good. It was hard to get inside and move him for a takedown or to get him turned,” says Hayes.

Since hitting the mat in mid-December after a football injury delayed the start to his season, Hayes has been unstoppable. Head coach Jon Lippelmann feels the heavyweight has improved on his takedowns in addition to finishing off opponents once they get on the mat. Of his 21 wins, 14 have been by falls.

“He’s done a better job this season of listening to his coaches about what it takes to break someone down and the importance of getting turns,” says Lippelmann. “We’re starting to see Luke perform at the level we’ve been expecting.”

Mulligan is Third

A questionable near-fall call that went against Clay Mulligan (132) denied the SCHS senior a berth in the championship finals.

Mulligan (26-2) was locked in a tight semi-final match with Arkansas City’s Cody Eastman, the No. 2 ranked wrestler in Class 5A. The score was knotted 2-2 entering the final period. The lead changed hands three times with Eastman scoring a takedown, Mulligan a takedown and Eastman back on top, 5-4, following an escape.

A flurry of action that followed also resulted in a controversial call. As Mulligan was getting a reversal the official awarded Eastman a two-point near-fall. Moments later, when he got the reversal, Mulligan found himself trailing 7-6 without enough time to overcome the deficit.

“I actually felt I was in position to get a defensive fall,” says Mulligan. “I was surprised when the ref called two back points against me.”

Lippelmann was equally frustrated with the way the match was officiated.

“We felt there were three judgement calls in that match and every one of them went against us,” he says.

While Mulligan had hopes of facing two-time Colorado state champion Geordan Martinez (Pine Creek) in the finals, he instead had to regroup for a pair of tough matches against Class 5A opponents. He slipped by Brice Dakin (Emporia), 2-0, in the consolation semi-finals and in the third place match he was a 6-4 winner over Anthony Monares (Newton), the No. 4 ranked wrestler in Class 5A.

In the match against Monares, Mulligan was again the victim of another questionable near-fall call as he was getting a second period reversal. Monares was awarded two points as Mulligan completed the reversal, which sent the match into the third period tied at 4-4. Mulligan was able to get a third period reversal for the win.