Sports editor
Cody Wildin isn’t the first great wrestler to come through Marion High School.
However, he could claim he is one of the best.
Former Warriors Steven Boone, Casey Nelson, Adam Depler, Dustin Delaney, Chelsea Arnhold, and others brought success to a program that is not even 10 years old, but Wildin accomplished something no other MHS wrestler has - a silver medal from the 3-2-1A state meet.
Wildin, who was 32-4 and wrestling at 130-pounds, won his first three matches Friday and Saturday at Fort Hays State’s Gross-Memorial Coliseum, making him the first Warrior to wrestle for a state championship.
He eventually fell to three-time state champion Colt Rogers of Smith Center, 4-3, but still ended the season 32-4.
“I feel great about how I wrestled. It’s tough to wrestle a kid who is used to winning,” Wildin said. “It was a tough match, but you can’t always win them all.”
However, he nearly did.
The junior had Rogers on the ropes early, taking him down for a 2-0 lead early in the first period.
Rogers would escape for a point and eventually take Wildin down in the second period for a 3-2 lead.
Despite leading 4-2 later in the second, Rogers was visibly tired while Wildin looked like he could wrestle all day.
“I knew he wasn’t in that great of condition and I run all the time, so I pushed him to the limit,” Wildin said.
The match was stopped twice in the first and second rounds because Rogers had a nosebleed.
After Wildin received a point for an escape, the match was stopped again in the third period as Rogers was warned for stalling. Another stall warning would have resulted in a point for Wildin.
After the warning, Wildin did all he could in the final minute to takedown Rogers for the lead and eventual victory, but the defending champ held his ground just long enough.
After the match, Rogers said he was impressed with Wildin.
“I knew about him at regionals last week, and I watched him earlier today (Saturday) — he looked really sharp,” Rogers said.
“I went up and talked to him, and I said ‘You’re looking good.’ I figured that’s who I was going to see if I got through.”
MHS head coach Chad Adkins, said he was proud of Wildin.
“I can’t ask for a better effort than that. He took it to him,” Adkins said. “He’s peaking at the time he is supposed to, and he’s just worked hard. He works hard all the time.”
It was hard work all the time for Wildin at state, as his four opponents combined for a record of 132-16 coming into the tournament.
Wildin defeated Osborne’s Aaron Geist, who took third place, 4-1 in the first round.
A 6-1 victory against Terrance Lamb of St. Francis set up a re-match with Hillsboro’s Nicholas Mueller.
Mueller was 2-1 against Wildin during the season, including a defeat the weekend before at the Garden Plain regional.
Wildin made sure to get the victory when it counted, easily defeating third-ranked Mueller, 10-4.
“He wrestled better than he ever had,” Adkins said. “He was a step ahead of his every move.”
Wildin said it wasn’t until later that Friday evening in bed that the significance of what he had accomplished set in.
“I was lying there, and I was like ‘wow.’ It’s a great feeling,” he said.
That great feeling was on Adkins’ mind as well however, that doesn’t mean a state championship isn’t the ultimate goal.
“He wants it bad,” Adkins said. “He’ll come out and win next year.”
Neil and Regnier
Wildin wasn’t the only Warrior wrestler at state.
Senior Adam Regnier and junior Tylor Neil made appearances as well.
For Neil, it was his second straight appearance, and Regnier was making his first.
Both wrestlers went 1-2 during the tournament, losing their first and third matches, and picking up a victory in their second.
Neil, wrestling in the 145-pound class, lost 4-2 in the opening round to Kaid McKenna of Norton.
He bounced back with a 10-2 victory against Southeast of Saline’s Brock Long, before losing to Garden Plain’s Cole Zogelman, who finished the season 33-4.
Despite not earning a medal, Neil set the MHS record for victories in a season with 37, against 10 losses.
Regnier, who earned his first trip to state with a third-place finish at regionals, ended the season 28-14.
He lost a close, 6-4 match to Cade Hewitt of Beloit, and came back with a 13-4 victory against Immaculate’s Alan Gilbert.
His career ended with an 11-5 loss to Cole Newell of Rock Hill.
“He wrestled really, really well,” Adkins said.
Regnier and seniors Hector Cardenas and Levi Anderson finished their high school wrestling careers this year.