Wrestling News — Page 9

Demons take 5th at state

March 2, 2016 By DCHS Sports

Demons take 5th at state

Plaza earns state crown at 126

By John Zetmeir

Dodge City Daily Globe

No team did more with less at the 6A state tournament over the past weekend than the Dodge City High School wrestling team.

The Red Demons took fifth place in the final 6A team standings after five of their six wrestlers earned medals. All four teams that finished ahead of Dodge City in the final team standings had 10 or more wrestlers competing in the tournament.

“Placing five out of six was just a testament to how tough our regional was,” Dodge City head coach Lars Lueders said. “We’re typically a team that places most of our kids when we go. Overall I know our team performance was disappointing but our kids wrestled a lot better and I think most of them wrestled up to their potential.”

Among the five Red Demons that made it to the semifinals, juniors Devon Plaza and Tylor Garcia were the two Dodge City wrestlers who made it to the state championship match.

Plaza defeated Olathe North’s Tyler Flood by a 7-2 decision in the 126-pound first place match.

“Weight has been a struggle all year for Devon and I think he grew during the season as well,” Lueders said. “When he got that weigh-in on Friday and was feeling good, you could see how good Devon really is once he is feeling good and is on his A-game.”

Flood, who was the No. 3 ranked wrestler in the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association rankings, was one of three ranked wrestlers that Plaza beat to win the state title.

“They were all pretty tough kids but rankings don’t really matter,” Plaza said. “I was ranked No.2, then up to No. 1 then back down to No. 4 and then I ended up winning it. So anyone can be beaten at anytime.”

Garcia lost a hardfought contest to Garden City’s Michael Prieto in the 138-pound title match by a 1-0 decision. Despite getting second, Garcia racked up the most team points of any individual for Dodge City.

The junior pinned his first three opponents before falling to the eventual four-time state champion in the final round.

“I hope that Tylor sees that he is the real deal and if he puts in the work he could do something really special next year,” Lueders said.

Despite coming up short of their ultimate goal which was a first place team finish at the state tournament, the 2015-16 season was one that Lueders believes will help the Red Demons in years to come.

“I think this season season showed me and show the wrestlers that you can’t concentrate on an end goal,” Lueders said. “When you concentrate on an end goal like we did, you forget about the little things that it takes to get there. I think that we are going to learn from this, I think that we are going to get better, and I really see us not overlooking people or being too confident. This could be our best season coming up.”

Plaza and freshmen Joel Ostrom and Couy Weil were named to the First-Team All-Western Athletic Conference list on Tuesday.

Dodge City individual performances:

■ 106 – Joel Ostrom, 6th place, 9 team points.

■ 126- Devon Plaza, 1st place, 23 team points.

■ 132 – Clay Weil, 4th place, 14 team points.

■ 138- Tylor Garcia, 2nd place, 24 team points.

■ 145- Howard Johnson, 4th place, 14 team points.

■ 182- Cole Trent, unknown, 2 team points.

Six-pack Attack

February 26, 2016 By DCHS Sports

Six-pack attack

Red Demon wrestlers head to 6A state tournament

John Zetmeir

Dodge City Daily Globe

The Dodge City Red Demon wrestling team’s season-long goal of a state championship may be out of reach.

Dodge City is taking just six wrestlers to the 6A state tournament this weekend, however the team remains optimistic.

“We’re bringing six but we’re confident that those six can place pretty high and we can finish very high as a team,” Dodge City head coach Lars Lueders said following the conclusion of last Saturday’s regional tournament.

One of the main reasons for the Red Demons optimism comes from the gauntlet that each wrestler had to go through to qualify for the state tournament. Dodge City hosted perhaps the toughest regional tournament in the state last Saturday.

Five Red Demons placed in the top-three at regionals which included four wrestlers competing in the regional final match and three taking home regional titles.

Senior Clay Weil is no stranger to the state tournament. He heads to Hartman Arena for the fourth time in his high school career. In 2014, Weil won a state title and followed that with a third place as a junior last year. Weil fell in the 132pound final match in last Saturday’s regional.

“It’s been said quite a bit that the 6A regional in Dodge City is tougher than the state tournament,” Weil said. “I would agree with that in some ways. I think there is a lot of kids that aren’t going to the state tournament, not just from our team, but from other teams that definitely should be there.”

Last season, the Red Demons finished third as a team at state. If Dodge City hopes to bring back a team trophy for a second straight year, each of the six Red Demons will have to make the most of their opportunities in their respective weight classes.

“Everybody has got to think about their individual goal and still think about the other five that are there,” Weil said. “Hopefully we can make up some points where we are missing and have some high placing guys.”

Action will begin at Hartman Arena at 9 a.m. Friday morning in Park City.

Six Demons Qualify for State

February 23, 2016 By DCHS Sports

Six Demons qualify for state

DCHS finishes 5th in tough regional tournament

By John Zetmeir

Dodge City Daily Globe

The Dodge City High School wrestling team knew that they faced arguably the toughest regional assignment going into last Saturday’s tournament. While there were a lot of positives for the Red Demons, they ultimately came up a little short of their team goal.

Dodge City finished in fifth place overall and had six wrestlers qualify for the 6A state tournament.

“Our goal was nine,” Dodge City head coach Lars Lueders said. “We knew that if we got nine we could win a state title. We’re bringing six but we’re confident that those six can place pretty high and we can finish very high as a team.”

Highlighting the day for Dodge City was the three Red Demons who took home individual regional titles. Freshman Joel Ostrom finished first in the 106-pound bracket, junior Tylor Garcia took the crown at 138 and senior Howard Johnson ended Dodge City’s day with a win in the 145 final.

To win the 138 regional, Garcia had to go through Garden City’s Michael Prieto, a three-time state champion. When the two met earlier this season, Prieto won a 16-0 decision. In the rematch, Garcia held off the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the state to earn the 4-3 win.

“This time I was more focused and I wasn’t trying to wrestle (Prieto’s) ranking, I was wrestling the wrestler,” Garcia said. “The coaches and (senior) Clay Weil have been teaching me not to be scared that he’s ranked No. 1 and just wrestle how I wrestle and things will go well.”

After beating Wichita South’s Chris Bell in the regional semifinal, Johnson was overcome with emotion knowing that he had just earned his first trip to state. The Dodge City senior ended his day by beating Garden City’s Curtis Near with a 5-2 decision to take the regional crown.

“He worked his butt off to get to this point,” Lueders said. “He’s never qualified for the state tournament yet he’s a kid that has really been doing as much work as a lot of those kids that are ranked high in the state and are successful on the national scene.”

Ostrom kicked off the championship round with a 7-5 decision over Hutchinson’s Brian Gates, who was the top-ranked wrestler in the bracket. The 106pound freshman heads to the 6A state tournament boasting a 36-9 record.

Senior Clay Weil was the fourth Red Demon to compete in the championship round. The three-time state place-winner took second on Saturday after getting caught by Derby’s Triston Wills in his final match of the day. Wills sits just behind Weil in the 6A 132-pound rankings.

Rounding out the state qualifiers for Dodge City were junior Devon Plaza and senior Cole Trent.

After having a first round bye, Plaza fell to Derby’s Branden Becker in the semifinal round before bouncing back to win his final two matches of the day. Plaza beat Wichita West’s Kevin Robinson in the consolation finals to finish in third place.

Even though the Red Demons did not qualify as many wrestlers as they wanted to, Lueders believes that the rigorous regional test will translate into good fortune this upcoming weekend when Dodge City heads to Wichita for the state tournament.

“It really sets us up for state for the guys who are going because the other regionals aren’t even close to this one, and they know it,” Lueders said. “I think if we use that to our advantage at the state tournament, I think we’re going to be really successful.”

Red Demons claim first WAC title with 34-31 win over Liberal

February 12, 2016 By DCHS Sports

Holding on for history

By John Zetmeir

Dodge City Daily Globe

The Dodge City High School wrestling team knew what was on the line going into Thursday night’s dual against Liberal.

After taking a 34-12 lead, the Red Demons’ first ever Western Athletic Conference wrestling championship seemed to be in the fold. However, the Redskins refused to go down without a fight.

Liberal won the last five matches to make it close but in the final match of the evening, senior Cole Trent avoided a pin and Dodge City avoided the letdown. The Red Demons won their first WAC title by beating Liberal 34-31.

“I told myself that no matter the situation that I wanted to win for the team,” Trent said. “Whether I lose on the mat or win on the mat, I needed to secure the win tonight.”

The Redskins had two quick pins that put them up 12-3 after the first three matches. Dodge City responded with three straight pins from freshmen Joel Ostrom, Couy Weil and sophomore Devon Griego.

Major decisions from junior Juan Chavez and senior Clay Weil were followed up by a pin from junior Tylor Garcia to put the dual out of reach for the Redskins.

“I felt like we wrestled hard and we did some really good things,” Dodge City head coach Lars Lueders said. “It was just frustrating at times with us being up big and then being pinned in the third period. That’s uncharacteristic of us. That’s frustrating but at the same point we wrestled well besides those three pins that never should’ve happened.”

In the second match of the evening, senior Zerek Rodriguez finished with what proved to be three big points for the Red Demons. Rodriguez trailed 1-0 going into the third period before a takedown with just over a minute to go in the match gave him the 2-1 win.

“He’s a very mentally tough kid,” Lueders said. “He wrestles hard for six minutes.”

Five seniors wrestled in their final varsity home dual on Thursday night. The conference championship acknowledges how the senior class has help shape the imagine of Red Demon wrestling.

While they hope it is a gateway to more success in the future, the message that the current seniors what future Red Demon wrestlers to know is what it means to represent the school on the mat.

“I don’t want to say that we are setting a bar because that puts pressure on teams,” Trent said. “I think that everyone just needs to go in and learn how to be a Demon wrestler. That’s someone that’s going to go in there and fight with his brothers, because that’s what we are. We’re a family.”

Thursday night was the seniors last time wrestling in a dual-meet at home but they will wrestle in Dodge City one final time when the Red Demons host the regional tournament next Saturday.

Solidifying Seniors

February 11, 2016 By DCHS Sports

By John Zetmeir / Dodge City Daily Globe

When Lars Lueders took over as the Dodge City High School wrestling coach, the senior Red Demon wrestlers were just entering middle school.Lueders began to shape the student into the type of wrestlers that could turn the Red Demon wrestling program into one of the most formidable in the state.

On Thursday night, the group of seniors has a chance to celebrate senior night by winning the program’s first-ever Western Athletic Conference championship when they host Liberal for their final regular season dual.

Last season, the Red Demons took third place at the 6A state tournament.

“It means that all of our hard work over the last seven or eight years has come to fruition,” Lueders said. “It’s not just us at the high school involved. It’s a community effort from the little kids, to the middle school to the high school. It’s definitely been a process and it’s good to see that we’re finally in this position.

“There have been a number of talented wrestlers that have come through the program during Lueders’ previous seven seasons at the helm. However, an argument could be made that the current senior class has been the foundation for what is now the No. 2-ranked team in class 6A.

“That first step was finding the three or four guys as the sixth and seventh graders that were going to be the leaders and push everyone,” senior Clay Weil said. “I think a lot of us knew that it was a work in progress. There was never really any disappointment whenever we were younger and not doing so hot as a team just because we knew once we got to (senior year), this was the end goal.”Lueders believes his team is prepared for the moment and know what they have to do to be beat Liberal.

Since losing to Great Bend back in December, the Red Demons have not lost a dual. That includes wins over the No. 1 ranked team in 6A, Garden City, and Colby, the No.1 ranked team in 4A.In hindsight, the Red Demons believe that the loss to the Panthers was exactly what the team needed.”It gave us that kick in the butt to get us working,” senior Howard Johnson said about the loss to Great Bend. “It showed us what we needed to do.

“Weil and Johnson highlight the senior class for Dodge City. Weil is currently the top-ranked wrestler at 132-pounds in 6A. Johnson ranks second in 6A at 145.Senior Zerek Rodriguez, is the No. 3 ranked wrestler at 220. Rounding out the senior class is one of the team captains, Cole Trent, and Osbaldo Mendez.

The dual is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at Dodge City High School on Thursday.