Web posted
Monday, February 18, 2008
Ark City wrestling advances eight to state
By DAVID WOLMAN
Traveler Sports Editor
sports@arkcity.net
VALLEY CENTER -- Forgive Arkansas City senior Scott Elliott if he was trying to look ahead, but he was out to send a message at Saturday's Class 5A regional wrestling tournament: that he's ready to reclaim his spot among the state's elite.
Elliott made the first step in doing just that, pinning Pittsburg's Tyler Koehn to the 171-pound regional championship on Saturday.
Elliott was one of three Bulldogs to win regional titles.
Garrett Jones, after winning just five matches last season, won all three of his matches on Saturday to win the 112-pound title. Trison Graham took the first step in his quest to become just the third Ark City wrestler in the program's storied history to win four-straight state titles, earning a 9-3 decision over Jake Zahm of Pittsburg to win the 130-pound title.
Overall, Ark City qualified eight wrestlers for the two-day state tournament, which starts Friday in Hutchinson.
Elliott needed less than three minutes to pin each of his first two opponents before needing nearly all of the allotted six minutes in the championship match to pin Koehn.
Elliott held only a 2-1 lead over Koehn after two periods. But Elliott earned an escape and takedown early in the third period to take a 5-1 lead.
With just over five seconds remaining, Elliott was able to flip over Koehn and pin him to earn the title.
"I knew that time was running out and I was able to get him on his back and squeeze him," said Elliott, who enters the state tournament with a 34-1 record. "I was really wanting that kid pinned because I'm going to have (to wrestle Koehn) next week at state. It's going through his head right now that there's no way he can beat me."
Jones pinned Paul Inthakone of Winfield in the opening round before earning a 10-3 decision over Mario Corado of Pittsburg to earn a berth in the championship match.
Jones ran out to a 5-0 lead over Emporia's Jared Dakin in the championship match before earning a 5-1 decision.
"I told him, 'good job, but we're not done yet,' " Ark City coach Shawn Silvis said.
Ark City was involved in a close race with Emporia for third place in the teams standings during the championship round, but settled for fourth. Bishop Carroll ran away with the team title with 217 points. Valley Center was the runner-up with 146 points, while Emporia (125) finished third and Ark City (122) fourth.
Graham, meanwhile, held only a 2-1 lead over Zahm early in their 130-pound title match. But Graham scored seven of the last nine points to earn a 9-3 decision.
If Graham wins his fourth straight state title this weekend, he will join Devin Bahm and Justin Ware as the only Ark City wrestlers to have accomplished the feat.
Kash Biddle (119 pounds), Aaron Hoag (125), Michael Martin (140), Cameron Riojas (160) and Clint Bruce (189) also qualified for state.
Even with six of the top-10 ranked teams in the state at Saturday's regional, Silvis thought the Bulldogs would qualify a few more of their own for state.
"We're bringing the kids we thought we were going to (for the state tournament)," he said, "but we should've done better in a few matches."
Martin was one of the surprise stories at the regional.
Entering the tournament with just a 9-18 record, Martin needed to score an upset somewhere to qualify for state.
He did that in just his first match, earning a 9-8 decision over Wichita West's Matt Jenkins, who boasted a 15-6 record coming into the match.
After falling to Jake Brietigan of Valley Center in the semifinals, Martin needed to win his consolation semifinal match against Bishop Carroll's Kyle Dugan.
Dugan tied the match at 2 with a reverse with 45 seconds remaining, but Martin scored a reverse with 10 seconds remaining and blocked a last-second scoring attempt by Dugan to earn a 4-2 decision.
"It was the first big milestone in his 11-year career," Silvis said.
In the third-place match, Martin nearly pinned Emporia's Zeb Peak in the first round. Instead, Martin scored a two-point near fall for a 2-0 lead. After trading points with Peak in the period, the two were tied at 4 heading into third period. Peak scored the last four points to earn an 8-4 decision.
Bruce placed second at 189 pounds.
Below: Arkansas City senior Scott Elliott, left, applies a hold on Pittsburg's Tyler Koehn during the 171-pound title match Saturday at a Class 5A regional tournament in Valley Center.
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