Red Demons wrestling team finishes 8th at Gardner Edgerton
Shelton Burch
Sports Editor
The Dodge City High School Red Demons wrestling team competed at the Gardner Edgerton Invitational Saturday, finishing eighth. The 15-team tournament included teams from Iowa, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma.
A total of 12 Red Demon wrestlers competed.
Among the highlights for the team was the way the Red Demons outscored Omaha Skutt Catholic, head coach Lars Lueders said. That school has won 19 of the last 20 Nebraska state championships, he said.
“That was a good win, I guess, beating them,” Lueders said. “Plus we were missing a few starters too.”
Among the starters who were missing was junior Marco Fisher, wrestling in the 220 division this season.
“We’re just kind of working through some things with him, so he was out this weekend,” Lueders said.
Senior Ansony Quezada, in the 195 division, and junior Tyler Pipenger from the 182 division were also out.
The first rounds were definitely learning experiences for the wrestlers, Lueders said.
“Only four of who we brought had been to that tournament before,” Lueders said.
That meant the newer wrestlers had to learn how tournaments like that worked, how to warm up properly and how to prepare.
Lueders said that made the first round probably a little bit more difficult on the wrestlers.
“But as the day went on it got better, and overall I was excited from what I saw and had some good surprises and guys that placed in the top-6 that we weren’t sure how they would do,” Lueders said. “Overall I think it went well, and it kind of shows us what we need to work on, so overall it was a good day.”
Top- six finishers included junior Evan Darville in the 285 division and sophomore Anthony Mariche in the 113 division who both took home second- place finishes. Three Red Demons finished fourth in their respective weight divisions. Those wrestlers were sophomore Jashon Taylor in the 170 division, sophomore Garrett Edwards in the 138 and junior Couy Weil in the 120.
Senior Weston Moon, wrestling in the 160 division, finished sixth.
Lueders said Mariche hadn’t been to a tournament with the team but showed the potential he has, while Darville finished where the coaches thought he would. Moon’s goal was to place in the top six, so none of those were necessarily surprises.
“A couple of main surprises for us were like Jashon Taylor got fourth and so that was pretty cool,” Lueders said.
He was one the coaches weren’t sure how he would do in the tournament setting, Lueders said. He wasn’t the only surprise though.
“Garrett Edwards got fourth as well and had some great matches and lost to two tough kids,” Lueders said. “Those are
kind of the ones that stuck out to us, (Darville, Mariche and Moon) and then those other two guys that placed in the top four.”
The Red Demons are next action Friday when they head to Colby, Kansas for a tournament at Colby High School. That event is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. Friday.
Here are team scores from the tournament, followed by Red Demons individual records and placings: 1. Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, 234 points.2. Southeast Polk, Iowa, 227 points.3. Manhattan, Kansas, 171 points.4. Platte County, Missouri, 168 points.5. Olathe North, Kansas, 118 points.6. Mill Valley, Kansas, 117 points.7. Gardner Edgerton, Kansas, 109.5 points.8. Dodge City, Kansas, 107 points.9. Omaha Skutt Catholic, Nebraska, 101 points.10. Owasso, Oklahoma, 97.5 points.11. St. James Academy, Kansas, 67 points.12. Pittsburg, Kansas, 65 points.13. Topeka Seaman, Kansas, 52.5 points.14. Baldwin, Kansas, 47 points.14. Fayetteville, Arkansas, 38 points.
Individual scores:
106 division: Andrew Rodriguez, (1-3), placed 10th.
113 division: Anthony Mariche, (3-1), placed 2nd
120 division: Couy Weil, (2-2), placed 4th.
126 division: Daniel Rojas, (1-3), placed 11th.
132 division: Aiden Hurtado, (1-3), placed 13th.
138 division: Garrett Edwards, (2-2), placed 4th.
145 division: Carlos Marquez, (1-3), placed 13th.
152 division: Preston Moon, (2-2), placed 7th.
160 division: Weston Moon, (2-3), placed 6th.
170 division: Jashon Taylor, (3-2) placed 4th.
182 division: Jon Ayala, (0-3) placed 13th.
285 division: Evan Darville, (3-1) placed 2nd.
