The Dodge City Red Demons showed why they are the No. 4 ranked team in 6A on Thursday night with 48-27 win over Maize in their first competition of the season.

The Red Demons tallied seven pins in nine match wins on Thursday night. After seven straight wins to start off the dual, Maize won five matches to cut Dodge City’s lead to 12 points.

“With our new guys, you can tell they struggled a little bit,” head coach Lars Lueders said. “They just have to keep their heads up and know that it’s a long process.”

After falling behind 0-2, senior Osbaldo Mendez fought back to beat Maize’s Israel Gonzalez 8-4. Mendez’s win secured the Red Demons’ (1-0) first team victory of the season.

“(Mendez) has a lot of heart,” Lueders said. “He has a lot of technique issues that he needs to work out, it’s only his second year wrestling, but he has a lot of heart and that’s what we appreciate from him.”

Results

106: Joel Ostrom, Dodge City (pin)
113: Couy Weil, Dodge City (pin)
120: Devon Griego, Dodge City (4-3)
126: Devon Plaza, Dodge City (pin)
132: Clay Weil, Dodge City (pin)
138: Tylor Garcia, Dodge City (pin)
145: Howard Johnson, Dodge City (pin)
152: Talon Fitzmier, Maize (pin)
160: Alex Hydock, Maize (pin)
170: Brett Moon, Maize (pin)
182: Caleb Wunsch, Maize (pin)
195: Cameron Hughbanks, Maize (2-0)
220: Osbaldo Mendez, Dodge City (8-4)
285: Evan Darville, Dodge City (pin)

Read complete Dodge City Daily Globe story.

Dodge City wrestling continues to have one of the toughest schedules in the state of Kansas. Their schedule promotes a winning attitude. Improvement seen by our wrestlers throughout the year is great. Below are some additions and key tournaments.

Maize Dual Meet
John Moses will be inducted in to the DCWA Hall of Fame. This is perfect timing for this award seeing his son Cole will be a senior at Maize High School. Maize finished 11th in the 6A State Tournament.

Gardner-Edgerton Invitational
This is the toughest one day tournament in the state of Kansas. Besides an all-star lineup of Kansas teams it features Southeast Polk, IA (ranked 7th in the nation), Broken Arrow, OK (ranked 13th in the nation) and Omaha Skutt, NE (State Champions).

Garden City Dual Meet
The Garden City Dual Meet was moved to the first competition after winter break. Garden City finished 1st in 6A while Dodge City finished 3rd in 6A. It will be in Dodge City and should be a highly anticipated matchup for many in both communities and around the state.

Bob Lueders Invitational
This tournament is named after Coach Lueders’ Grandfather and is held in Clinton, IA. Bob Lueders is in the Wrestling Hall of Fame for his coaching credentials and impact on Iowa wrestling. This tournament is one of the toughest in the state of Iowa. It features many great wrestling programs including Omaha Skutt, Davenport Assumption, Dubuque Hempstead, Cedar Rapids Prairie, and Clinton – to name a few.

Rocky Welton Invitational
Held in Garden City, this is one of the toughest two day tournaments in Kansas. Featured in this tournament are Garden City, Pine Creek (CO), Kearney (NE), and Pueblo Central (CO).