Goddard wrestling overcomes injuries to win 14th Kansas high school state championship
Three months before Kolton McElwain realized his life-long dream of becoming a Kansas high school wrestling state champion, he was told his season was over before it began.
In the first week of practice back in November, the Goddard sophomore felt a familiar pop in his right elbow. An MRI scan revealed he had suffered another tear of his ulnar collateral ligament, an injury he had just healed from during the summer.
Doctors recommended McElwain undergo surgery before competing again, but also said he couldn’t cause any further damage by wrestling and it would be a matter of pain tolerance if he chose to delay the procedure.
“So I told them to schedule me for surgery on March 3,” McElwain said. “And I’m going to win me a state title.”
Enduring three months of pain made the pay-off even more satisfying this past Saturday at Hartman Arena when McElwain delivered on his promise and won the Class 5A championship in the 126-pound division.
McElwain logged hours of physical therapy work, diligently iced his elbow at nights and slept with a brace on — sacrifices to give himself every chance to end up with a gold medal draped around his neck. He wrestled in half as many matches this season as his opponent in the finals, Salina Central’s Jase Adam, as the injury limited his time on the mat, which was reflected in his No. 5 ranking in the weight class before the state tournament.
He even trailed 6-0 at one point during the championship match, but the adversity brought out the best in McElwain. He was at his best in the pressure-packed moments, essentially needing two takedowns in the third period to win and materializing them and then riding out Adam for the final 65 seconds to secure an 8-7 decision.
“Everyone looked past me because I’ve wrestled in half of the tournaments as everyone else,” McElwain said. “So to come out here and win the whole thing and show them who I really am, it just feels awesome.”
A triumph over pain was a fitting theme for Goddard in winning team title No. 14, tied for fourth-most in state history. The Lions overcame a rash of injuries this season to prevail in the end, securing the ninth Class 5A championship in the last 10 years with 178.5 team points — 35 more than runner-up Andover.
Jacob Goodwin made it look easy with three pins and a major decision to win his second straight gold medal, this time at 150, but the junior has wrestled with a torn meniscus in his right knee since January. Like McElwain, he pushed back his surgery until the week after state.
“I talked to my coaches about it and they believed in me and I believed in myself,” said Goodwin, who won the 144 title last year. “Honestly, this year has really shown me how much Goddard is there for me. Not just the coaches, but the whole school and community has been behind me. I felt like they all believed in me.”
Senior Zachary Wessley, a former state champion, missed 10 weeks due to a broken hand and battled through the injury and disappointment of losing in the quarterfinals to win three consolation matches to score a fifth-place finish for his team at 175.
Sophomore Harrison Glover feared he broke his ankle at the start of the month, but persevered to reach the 120 semifinals and notch a fourth-place finish.
“When kids have a goal in mind,” Goddard coach Brett Means said. “It’s pretty impressive what they’re willing to do to reach it.”
After a fifth-place blip at last year’s state tournament, Goddard roared back this year with 11 state qualifiers, eight medalists, five finalists and three individual champions. Junior David Sample joined McElwain and Goodwin atop the podium, scoring a last-second takedown in the 165 finals to top Newton’s Keon Edwards for the gold medal, while freshman Oscar Gauna (106) and junior Preston Hagel (190) finished runner up.
Eastyn Vieyra won three back-side matches to score a fifth-place finish at 157, while Gavin Lamkin (113) and Nick Miller (132) both scored points for the team. Dawson Fisher (144) was Goddard’s other state qualifier.
It was the 12th team title coached by Means, who is one away from tying Arkansas City’s Wayne Jackson for the most in state history. He was particularly brought of 10 different wrestlers scoring points toward this year’s title.
“To me, that’s what it’s all about,” Means said. “You try to get these kids to work together and fight together for each other and that’s what this group did.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2024 at 5:04 AM.
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