Kansas high school state wrestling: Maize wins first title, Treaster joins 4-for-4 club
There had always been something to derail the Maize boys wrestling team’s chances of winning a team state championship.
For the first time in school history, everything came together and Maize delivered on its potential to win the Class 5A team trophy at the Kansas high school state wrestling tournament at Hartman Arena in Park City.
“This has been a long, arduous journey and we felt like we were done practicing, we were ready to go out and get this thing done,” Maize coach Mike Schauer said. “We were ready and I think the kids were all locked in. It was really fun to watch it all come together and actually have it happen.”
Maize sent 11 wrestlers to the state tournament and had 10 finish on the podium as a state medalist. Even more impressive, the Eagles sent eight through to the semifinals with six reaching the finals.
The two individual state champions on the team were senior Connor Padgett, who ended his career as a 2-time champion, and junior Ayden Flores, who won his first title.
No one could touch Padgett in the 175-pound division at the state tournament, as he finished off a 48-3 season with an 11-3 major decision over Lansing senior Tyler Henson.
“Connor is everything you would want in a team captain,” Schauer said. “He’s just Connor, you know what you’re going to get: he’s going to do what he’s supposed to do and lead and do all of the little things. When you do things the right way, good things happen.”
For Flores, a title felt like a long time coming. Last year he was up against a four-time champion in Quentin Saunders, who Flores defeated the week before in regionals, but this year there was no stopping Flores — even though he was wrestling 25 pounds lighter than his 215-pound division, according to Schauer.
Not that you could tell by Flores’ performance, which featured a major decision and three pins, including a first-period one in the finals over St. Thomas Aquinas junior Pierce Cunningham.
“I know how much he wanted it the last couple of years,” Schauer said. “Last year was tough for him. He is an unbelievable wrestler and definitely took one for the team wrestling up at 215 because he was severely underweight. But he’s just a very strong kid. I’ve been so impressed with him since he was a freshman.”
The other Maize wrestlers in the finals were senior Clayton Bowers (150), senior Nakaylen Shabazz (138), junior Jayden Ford (165) and freshman Talon Verbeck (106).
Other state medalists included junior Daniel Gomez (third at 132), senior Camden Padgett (third at 144), senior Cody Hughbanks (sixth at 157) and junior Ronan Wunsch (third at 190). Junior Basilio Wilson didn’t place, but won a match on the back-side of the bracket to score points in Maize’s title-winning performance.
Nick Treaster joins 4-for-4 club, as Newton has two other state champions
Newton senior Nick Treaster etched his name in history, becoming the 39th wrestler in Kansas high school history to win four individual state championships.
After winning at 106 pounds his first two years, then 113 pounds last year, Treaster added a title in the 120-pound division on Saturday with an 8-2 decision over Goddard senior Levi Glover.
It was a particularly special moment for the Treaster family, as he joined his father, Matt, who won four titles at Beloit from 1981-84, in the illustrious 4-for-4 club.
Newton finished in second place in the team standings with 175½ points, highlighted by three straight state champions in three straight matches.
After nearly pulling off the 3-for-3 swing last year, sophomore Lucas Kaufman (113) and senior A.B. Stokes (126) became first-time state champions this year by winning their matches in the finals.
Stokes was dominant in his title run, pinning all four of his opponents and needing less than eight minutes of mat time to win his first title. He pinned Great Bend’s Kaiden Hoffman in 45 seconds in the 126 finals. Kaufman was similarly dominant with a pin and three straight major decisions, including an 11-0 major decision over Salina Central’s Jase Adam in the 113 finals.
Other state medalists for Newton included senior Rio Gomez (third at 285), junior Keon Edwards (third at 165), sophomore Taylor Rickard (fourth at 106), junior Bailey Steinmetz (fifth at 132) and junior Logan Buchanan (sixth at 190).
Andover’s Adam Maki caps 51-win season with state title
Andover junior Adam Maki finished off one of the most dominant seasons in Kansas high school history with a Class 5A title in the 138-pound division.
In order to finish his junior season with a 51-1 record, Maki had to come out on top of one of his most thrilling matches of the season in the finals against Maize senior Nakaylen Shabazz, a former state champion.
After a takedown and nearfall in the first period, Maki took a 4-1 lead into the third period. But Shabazz made things interesting with two takedowns, but Maki was able to escape both times and then finish off the match with a takedown of his own.
Andover also had four other state medalists in unior Bradley Trimmell (fourth at 144), sophomore Tate Hutchinson (fifth at 175), junior Coulter Rieschick (sixth at 120) and sophomore Luke Potter (sixth at 126), while Andover Central had medalists in senior Jaxson Necomb (fourth at 120) and sophomore Dawson Rodd (fifth at 285).
Goddard’s Jacob Goodwin wins dominant 144 title
While Goddard’s run of eight straight Class 5A team championships came to an end, the Lions still finished with an individual champion in sophomore Jacob Goodwin.
Goodwin proved to be the class of the 144-pound division throughout the season and finished off a 36-6 season with a dominant showing at the state tournament, capped by a 10-0 major decision over Salina Central’s Dawson Hogan in the finals.
Goddard, which finished fifth in the team standings, also had finalists in senior Levi Glover (120) and junior Zachary Wessley (157). The team’s other state medalists were sophomore David Sample (third at 150) and freshman Harrison Glover (fifth at 113).
The City League featured a finalist in Kapaun Mt. Carmel senior Nathan Fury, who scored a takedown in overtime of a semifinals match against Valley Center’s Dai’mont Rucker to reach the 190 finals, where he lost a 3-2 decision to St. Thomas Aquinas senior Sean Carroll. Kapaun also had state medalists in senior Adrian Turner (third at 175) and junior Omari Elias (fifth at 215), while Bishop Carroll featured medalists in senior Sam Duling (third at 157), sophomore Brady Duling (third at 138), sophomore Caden Denton (fourth at 113) and sophomore Elijah Means (sixth at 144).
Other area medalists included Valley Center junior Jett Schwartz (third at 126), sophomore Aiden Shields (third at 120), senior Easton Boone (fourth at 157) and junior Dai’mont Mucker (fourth at 190); Arkansas City sophomore Carlos Leyva (third at 113), senior Derek Honeycutt (fourth at 285), sophomore Spencer Mosier (fourth at 132) and freshman Kolby Quint (fifth at 106); and Hutchinson sophomore Kade Smith (fourth at 150) and junior Camden Jensen (sixth at 285).
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