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 Ci
ty 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.
