Staff writer
Five Warriors made it to the final round of the Halstead invitational Saturday, and all five Warriors lost.
If one Marion wrestler seemed poised to go undefeated, it was Dillon Wildin. He has dominated the 145-pound weight class all year long: he had won all but three of his matches by pin or technical fall. Saturday looked to be no different — Wildin defeated Hillsboro’s Justin King by a technical fall in his semifinal match.
But, circumstances changed in the championship match against Cherryvale’s Nick Hockett. The two wrestlers used much of the opening round to feel each other out, staying standing with their wrists locked around each other’s necks.
Going into the third round Wildin was in control of the match. Leading 2-1 after starting in the down position at the beginning of the second round, Wildin swung around Hockett to score two points, but let Hockett go, causing the Cherryvale wrestler to score a point.
Starting in the up position in the third round, Wildin was on top of Hockett trying to turn him over for a pin. Like a venus fly trap, Hockett used Wildin’s move against him and suddenly Hockett was on top of Wildin with Wildin’s back to the mat. Wildin helplessly struggled to wriggle free from Hockett to no avail. Time ran out and Hockett won the match, 4-2.
“In my personal belief,” Marion head coach Chad Adkins said, “I’d rather lose this match right here than lose the state championship match. Dillon obviously strives for perfection. Will he learn from this and be better because of it? Yeah.”
“Not many people do it,” Adkins said of ending the season with an undefeated record. “Colt Rogers (130 pounds, of Smith Center) is a three-time state champion and he lost a match last year.”
Adkins saw a lot of improvement in the other four wrestlers who lost in the final round.
Brody Carroll placed fourth in the 130-pound weight class after being pinned in the third-place match against Kregg Clark from Lyons.
“Brody got fourth at Halstead as a freshman,” Adkins said. “He’s starting to connect some things together. These close matches are going to end up being wins.”
Andy Shipman placed fourth in the 135-pound weight class after losing by technical fall to Travis Diener from Lyons.
“Shipman has turned a corner,” Adkins said.
Tylor Neil placed second after being pinned in the championship match to the No. 1, 3A, 152-pound wrestler in the state, according to Catch it Kansas, Sage Thimmesch of Garden Plain.
Colten Johnson placed fourth in the 160-pound class after losing the third-place match to Nick Trapp of Herington.
Adkins said that he was pleased with the overall team performance — they placed sixth in the tournament — since Marion was wrestling without Cody Wildin and Randy Regnier. Regnier is now the last undefeated Warrior. Adkins estimates that the Warriors missed at least 60 points that those two wrestlers could have provided.