Goddard’s Jace Fisher wins first wrestling title in a family of Kansas state champions
By most standards, three straight years of top-three finishes at the state tournament would have proven Jace Fisher as a standout wrestler.
But when your two brothers have state championships to their name, the standard is not just being great — it’s being the best. That’s the pressure Jace felt after he watched his older brother, Troy, win his titles in 2018 and 2019, then his younger brother, Jerrdon, win one last year.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” Jace admitted. “When you put yourself next to your brothers, it’s hard not to compare yourself.”
With that as his motivation, Jace joined the conversation with his brothers by becoming a state champion on Friday night when he completed a dominant run through the 152-pound bracket to win the Class 5A title at Hartman Arena.
After pinning his first opponent and winning a major decision in the semifinals, Jace capped off a 30-3 season with a decisive 7-2 victory in the finals over St. Thomas Aquinas sophomore Dylan Elmore.
“Now they can all sit at the dinner table at Thanksgiving when they’re all grown and old and say, ‘Hey, we all at least got one,’” said Michelle Fisher, the boys’ mother. “Jace doesn’t have to worry about being the only one who didn’t.”
With his father, Max, known in the community for starting the highly-successful Kansas Young Guns program, in the corner coaching him during the title match, it was obvious a weight had been lifted Jace’s shoulders once the victory had sunk in. After shaking hands with his opponent, he went to hug his father and Max lifted him into the air and declared him, “State champ.”
“I’ve been wrestling since I was four, so I’ve put a lot of years into wrestling,” Jace said. “It’s been a big part of my life. Since this was my last year being able to wrestle high school, I just really wanted to be able to make it happen my senior year.”
“Jace is a grinder and he’s trying to live out his own story,” Goddard coach Brett Means said. “He’s got two brothers who are two-timers, so he’s living in a big shadow that he shouldn’t be living in. He’s a good, hard-nosed kid and I’m happy to see him win one.”
It was a good night for the Fisher family. Not only did Jace win his first, but in the match right before his, Jerrdon became the 13th wrestler in Goddard history to win a second state title. The Fisher family now has five state titles between the three brothers with Jerrdon having another chance to add to the total next season.
After winning the 132 title last year, Jerrdon bumped up to 145 this season and prevailed in a 4-2 decision over Blue Valley Southwest’s Brett Umentum in a match between the state’s two best wrestlers at 145. Even after his triumphant victory, all Jerrdon wanted to talk about afterward was his brother’s win.
“I was excited to win, but it was more exciting to watch my brother win,” said Jerrdon, who has been Jace’s practice partner all the way through high school. “That’s what made my night. He deserved it. He’s worked so hard and he earned it.”
Goddard won its seventh straight Class 5A team championship with a team score of 179 points, 54½ ahead of second-place Maize, as the Lions sent seven wrestlers to the state finals and had four win. Goddard has won a team state title in 11 of the last 16 years.
Senior Nolan Craine also became a first-time state champion by winning the 170 bracket, while freshman Zach Wessley beat the top-two ranked wrestlers in the 132 field to win his title. Senior Logan Davidson reached the 182 finals, while senior Cayleb Atkins (hamstring) and junior Kaden Glass (knee) fought against injuries that the coaching staff thought would prevent them from wrestling this season to reach the 160 and 195 finals respectively.
Maize wrestler wins state in less than two minutes
If you add up the time it took Maize sophomore Nakaylen Shabazz to pin his three opponents to win the 113-pound championship, it’s less than two minutes.
It was clear that Shabazz was on another level on Friday, as he pinned the top-ranked 113 wrestler, Mill Valley’s Eddie Hughart, in 37 seconds in the title match.
“I had to redeem myself for last year,” said Shabazz, who lost in the state finals at 106 last season. “I had to go all out to make sure I got the title.”
It capped a 34-1 season where Shabazz has overwhelmed almost every one of his opponents with his aggressive style. Within the first 10 seconds of the title match, Shabazz had already scored a takedown.
“He’s just a phenomenal wrestler,” Maize coach Mike Schauer said. “He’s one of the elite, I really believe that. I had no doubt this whole season that he was going to be a state champion.”
Maize also had another wrestler reach the finals at 220 in senior Mitch Casement, who had a spirited run after pinning the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the weight class in the first round and knocking off another ranked wrestler in the semifinals.
The wrestler who beat Shabazz in the 106 finals last season, Newton’s Nick Treaster, stayed in the weight class for his sophomore season and repeated his title on Friday. Treaster capped a 36-1 season with a 7-3 victory over Great Bend’s Kaden Spragis in the finals.
Valley Center’s Craig completes undefeated season with title
No one could come close to defeating Valley Center senior Alyeus Craig this season, so it wasn’t even a surprise to his coach when Craig thoroughly defeated a two-time state champion in the 126 finals to win his first state championship.
After winning by technical fall his first two matches, Craig won an 8-2 decision over Blue Valley Southwest’s Hayden Mills in the finals.
“No disrespect to any of his opponents, but this is pretty much what I anticipated happening considering this is what he’s done all year,” Valley Center coach Justin Schwartz said. “You could tell he was pretty bound and determined. All week in practice he was on point and I could just see it in his eyes. This was pretty much inevitable. He had some great opponents, but Alyeus is just on another level.”
Craig is so dangerous that even Mills, a two-time state champion, was warned for stalling three times in the finals because he was so cautious against him.
“Alyeus is just so good at heavy hands and getting the angles and just constantly putting his opponents on the defense,” Schwartz said. “We’ve been seeing that all year where kids are just backing off away from him because they couldn’t match his intensity with the hand fighting.”
Kapaun wrestler comes through in the clutch for win
Faced with a 2-1 deficit with 15 seconds left in the third period, Kapaun Mount Carmel junior Bubba Wright had to make something happen.
That’s exactly what he did, as he broke free from grappling with Arkansas City’s Kael Pappan and pounced behind him to score the go-ahead takedown with nine seconds left. Wright rode him out to win the 120-pound championship.
“I’m so happy for Bubba because he’s such a great kid,” said Kapaun coach Roy Oeser. “What I can tell you about Bubba is that he puts in the time and he works so hard. He’s just an easy kid to root for and I really believe that deep inside he just wanted it more than anybody else.”
Watching Wright win a state title for Kapaun was special for Oeser in his first season coaching at Kapaun. The long-time Wichita coach returned to the school where he was a four-time state champion from 1974-77. He also coached another wrestler, sophomore Nathan Fury, who reached the finals at 170.
Meanwhile, Ark City sent three to the finals and had one winner in senior Trig Tennant, who completed a 36-0 season ranked as the top 160 wrestler in Kansas with a winning takedown in the third period of his title match against Goddard’s Cayleb Atkins.
This story was originally published February 27, 2021 at 1:14 PM.
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