State wrestling recap: Future college teammates meet, and state title droughts erased
.JPG "Maize’s Duwayne Villalpando")
There were 15 Wichita area state champions in 2020.
The Kansas high school boys wrestling season is complete. Here were the biggest stories from the state tournament involving those from area schools:
Future college teammates meet for the first time in title
Their handshake as the first whistle blew was their first meeting.
Seniors Duwayne Villalpando of Maize and Seth Nitzel of Blue Valley Southwest are pledged to Missouri upon their graduation. They wrestle at the same weight and battled in the Class 5A 170-pound title match.
Neither is expected to add or cut weight in college, which means they will be practice partners and compete for the same spot in the Tigers’ starting lineup.
Villalpando beat Nitzel in their first meeting by a 7-4 decision to capture his second individual state title and first since his sophomore season.
“Next year, us going in as freshmen, it’s going to make us work harder,” Villalpando said. “We’re going to be competing the four years we’re there.
“It’s definitely a greeting. We’re going to be looking back on this in the future and laugh about it.”
The future Mizzou Tigers entered the final match of the high school careers with a 54-1 combined record. It was the final championship bout of the tournament.
Villalpando held control mostly throughout, but in the first period, he gained a few dissenters. Nitzel was pushed toward the edge of the mat. As his foot landed outside the circle, Villalpando was already loading up a shot.
The referee blew the whistle simultaneously as Villalpando hit Nitzel. When he did, Nitzel went down screaming and holding his left leg. Villalpando said there was not intent to injure his future teammate.
“My coaches always say, ‘Wrestle on the edge of the mat and never stop wrestling until the whistle blows,’ ” Villalpando said. “I saw an opportunity to take a shot and score, and that ended up happening. I was just taught to wrestle on the edge of the mat.”
Villalpando’s second title comes a year after sitting out for the entire season with a knee injury. He said it was tough watching his teammates succeed without him on the mat, so he was ready to show Kansas who he was before.
He finished his career with a 111-12 record over three seasons. Nitzel went 140-37 with four state qualifications, including a 42-1 mark as a senior.
North has its first state champion in 3 decades
For the first time in about 30 years, Wichita North has a gold medal champion.
Jackson Stroud came to North two years ago from Paschal High School in Texas. He was instantly the best wrestler in the room. Last year, he made City League history as the Redskins’ first wrestler to reach a league title match.
He didn’t win it, and he didn’t win it this year either. But that was his only loss of his final high school season.
Stroud beat Blue Valley senior Trevor Lister 9-7 in sudden victory in the Class 6A 220-pound final. When he earned his title-clinching takedown, he jumped off the mat. He couldn’t believe what he had achieved.
“That was one of the toughest matches I’ve ever had,” Stroud said. “He was so strong, such a tough opponent. It always feels better beating good dudes.”
Stroud was so stunned he started to run toward the Blue Valley coaches to shake their hands before his arm was raised, declaring him the champion.
“I think I started crying a little bit,” Stroud said. “I just wanted to go celebrate with my coaches because we’ve been working so hard for so long for this.”
Stroud finished his senior season 34-1. It will go down as perhaps the greatest wrestling season in North High history.
Brothers embrace as prophecy fulfilled
In 2016, Cade Lindsey fell to the mat with his head in his hands. In 2020, he was emotional for another reason.
His younger brother, Cason, won the first state championship of his Derby wrestling career as the junior won the 145-pound title match against Dodge City’s Garrett Edwards by a 1-0 decision. It came four years after Cade won his title in sudden victory.
After Cason came off the mat, Cade wiped tears from his eyes before the brothers shared a long hug. Cade told his brother he had no doubts and how proud he was of his younger brother.
Cason said he has always looked up to Cade, who now wrestles at Oklahoma State.
“Cade has always been there my whole life,” Cason said. “He always talks me up, telling me I can do it, telling me that I was the man. He’s my idol. I want to be just like him, so I had to do this.”
Cason finished his season 39-5, including the win over Edwards, who won the 6A 138-pound title last year.
Goddard makes it 6 straight
There hasn’t been a streak like this since Arkansas City set the record ending in 1998.
Eleven is the mark to reach, and Goddard is officially more than halfway there after capturing its sixth straight state wrestling team title. The Lions held off Blue Valley Southwest and rival Maize, scoring 205.0 team points.
Over the past six years, Goddard has scored 1,312.5 team points.
This year, Goddard had three individual champion - Jason Henschel, Jerrdon Fisher and Trevor Dopps - and nine state placers. Lions coach Brett Means said that starts by leaving Kansas to find better competition.
“We’ve got a lot of guys with three, four, five, 10 losses, wrestling against guys with zero loss or one loss because they don’t go out of state,” Means said. “If you’re going to see the best to become the best, you got to go out of state.”
Goddard hasn’t lost a tournament in Kansas in about seven years. The Lions’ primary goal is to win a team title every year, but secondary is to climb as high up the national rankings as possible. This season, they reached No. 34 and beat the No. 13 and 50 teams in the country.
“This is probably the best dual team I’ve ever had,” Means said.
4-peat still alive after undefeated season
Quentin Saunders is a Division I wrestler if he wants to be.
Saunders capped a 32-0 sophomore season Saturday night with a 5-0 decision over Derby senior Taidon Wills in the 182-pound championship bout. His only loss came last year to Cade Lindsey, who now wrestles at Oklahoma State.
A linebacker at Wichita West, Saunders would prefer a football career to a wrestling one, but his skill is undeniable. He is 62-1 for his career with two state titles, a regional championship and City League crown.
Saunders pinned his first two opponents at the state tournament. He hit Olathe South sophomore Blake Jouret with an 8-0 major decision in the Class 6A semifinals.
And after he beat Wills in the final, he danced like he did as a freshman.
2-time champs battle for a third
In 2017, Goddard’s Jason Henschel and Newton’s Grant Treaster met in the Class 5A 106-pound consolation quarterfinals as freshmen. Little did they know their paths would cross again.
Treaster won that consolation quarterfinal by a 6-2 decision. He went on to win a state championship at 113 pounds the next year and again at 120 the year after that.
Henschel didn’t gain as much weight. He won the 106-pound title as a sophomore and 113 last season.
But they met in the 120-pound title bout Saturday in their final matches of their high school careers. Henschel won a 1-0 decision after a single escape point. That’s how evenly matched they were.
The two-time champions met several times this season and went back-and-forth on decisions. They learned from each other, Henschel said, and it ended in an epic battle of two of the best their schools have ever seen.
“During the season, after I had shoulder surgery, it was a little rough at the start, but I just kept pushing through it and getting better and better,” Henschel said. “Being a part of this program has been amazing, every second.”
Henschel finished his senior season at 35-7 with three state championships. Treaster went 42-4 with two titles. They finished with a 284-43 combined record.
Maize star wins 76th straight and final match
Devin Gomez will go down as one of the best wrestlers in Maize history.
He became the second two-time individual champion in school history Saturday with a 11-3 major decision over Lansing junior Jacob McClain in the 152-pound 5A championship match.
And he finished his high school career with back-to-back undefeated seasons and 76 straight victories.
“Last year I was just really excited,” Gomez said. “This year, I just have so much gratitude for all my support. My family, pushing me the way they did, especially my dad. Even when he’s not in my corner, he’s right there next to the mat.”
Gomez went 50-0 last year in his first year with the Eagles after transferring from Valley Center, a move that drew some criticism. He never lost a match at Maize and went 151-12 for his career.
He never finished worse than third at state.
Gomez didn’t score fewer than nine points in any state tournament match in 2020. He was one of the best pound-for-pound wrestlers in Kansas over the past two years, and to cap his high school career, he is set to take a visit to Oklahoma State.
“I hope I’m remembered on the mat as one of the most dominant guys to ever do it,” Gomez said. “Off the mat, I hope people think of me as a class act.”
10-year drought ends for Valley Center
Valley Center hasn’t touched the top of the podium in a decade.
Chase Nitcher won two state titles in 2009 and 2010. He came runner-up as a sophomore and took third as a freshman.
Tony Caldwell has finished runner-up each of the past two years, but he took the top spot in his final high school match. He beat Arkansas City junior Maximus Shannon by a 7-3 decision in the 285-pound championship.
Last year, Caldwell lost 3-1 in sudden victory to Wichita Northwest’s Marcus Hicks, who now plays football at Oklahoma, in the title bout. In 2018, he lost a 7-2 decision to Liberal’s Elwin Trejo.
He stayed in the same weight class throughout his time in the title bouts, and he dominated it as a senior.
“This is very emotional,” Caldwell said. “With it being the 10-year anniversary of the last state champ at Valley, I thought 10 years was a good number to change that.”
Caldwell went 40-4 in his senior season.
Family tradition kept alive with Newton freshman
The torch has been passed.
For the past two years, Newton’s Grant Treaster has stood atop the state championship podium. Saturday, it was his freshman brother, Nick. Nick won the 106-pound 5A title over Maize freshman Nakaylen Shabazz with a 3-0 decision.
Grant finished runner-up at 120 pounds to Goddard’s Jason Henschel, but with Nick’s title, that means only two years have passed since 2014 without a Treaster winning an individual title. Oldest brother Logan won in 2015 at 113 pounds.
After Nick’s victory to finish a 37-1 season, he put his pointer fingers to the sky and walked to the center as if he had been there countless times before.
“I just trusted that God was going to show me the way,” Nick said. “I knew I had it in me. I had beaten several kids who had beaten him before. I knew I could get the job done.”
Buhler standout wins it for teammate
Jan. 10, Buhler lost one of its best wrestlers but it gained an even easier reason to fight.
Raiden Stewart was on his way to contending for a state championship in 2020, but Stewart was inside a car that flipped after losing control on a slick road. Stewart was paralyzed from the chest down.
Saturday, Buhler sophomore Sam Elliot won the Class 4A 152-pound championship by fall, beating Frontenac senior Wil Jameson. Elliot finished his season 38-2.
Elliot finished third at state last year. His title is Buhler’s first in more than a decade.
Coach Mike Juby was named 4A Coach of the Year.
South legend finally gets his championship
Malachi Karibo’s career at Wichita South was missing one thing, and he found it.
Karibo is a three-time City League champion. He is a four-time state placer but didn’t have a state title until he beat Mill Valley junior Brodie Scott by a 5-0 decision in the 170-pound 6A final.
Two years ago, Karibo was part of the South team that won the City League team title and featured two-time champion Kasdon Arehart. When Arehart left, Karibo stepped into that leadership role.
Arehart is back with the Titans as an assistant coach and was in Karibo’s corner when the South senior finished his career.
“It means a lot to me,” Karibo said. “Being a leader, it’s a big role that I play.”
Andale has a two-time state champion
Last year, Hector Serratos’ championship came as a surprise outside of Andale.
There were no more surprises in 2020.
Serratos won his second state championship in as many years beating Braden Ledford, Winfield junior and defending 4A 106-pound champion, with a 5-2 decision. This one came at 126 pounds.
Serratos finished his junior season with a 33-5 record. He pinned one opponent and had major decisions against two others.
OSU-bound Goddard senior wins final match
The recruitment of Goddard senior Trevor Dopps has gone under the radar, but his wrestling didn’t Saturday.
Dopps won his first and only state championship at 182 pounds in Class 5A with a 3-0 decision over Blue Valley Southwest senior Jackson McCall. Dopps finished his season 44-5.
Dopps is heading to Oklahoma State upon his graduation from Goddard. His appearance in Stillwater will mark the third Wichita area wrestler to sign with the Cowboys over the past two years, and Maize junior Kyle Haas is pledged, too.
Last year, Dopps finished runner-up at 160 pounds to McPherson’s Scott Radke. He jumped two weight classes and cruised through the bracket. He is one of three Goddard champions this year.
“It’s a family; it’s awesome,” Dopps said. “If we lose, we always come back strong.”
Fishers are back as Goddard sophomore gets his first
Troy Fisher won back-to-back 170 pound championships in his final two seasons at Goddard with a 74-3 combined record.
Lion sophomore Jerrdon Fisher has a chance for three titles after winning his first in 2020 at 132 pounds. He beat Lansing senior Hartwell Taylor by a 9-1 major decision to finish the season 23-1.
Jerrdon and Troy were All-Metro selections last season, and Jerrdon is sure to land on the team again. None of his state tournament matches went to any other than a major decision or pin.
1-loss season ends in title for Rose Hill senior
David Leck didn’t even reach the championship match last year, but he made sure of it as a senior.
Leck capped a 36-1 season at Rose Hill with a 170-pound championship at Class 4A. He beat Winfield senior Steele Morin by a 3-1 decision.
Leck is Rose Hill’s first individual champion in 10 years.
This story was originally published March 1, 2020 at 5:00 AM.