Full 2016 Big Seven League Wrestling Tournament Results - click here

It was a highly competitive day on the mats in the Big Seven League for the League meet to wrap up the regular season of high school wrestling. Seven of the eight League schools competing on the day had at least one wrestler claim the top spot in his weight class, while the Holton Wildcats won the League Championship as a team. 

Holton put together a strong day which included four first place finishes, four second place finsihes and three third place finishes to posted 174.5 total points to claim the Big Seven League wrestling Championship. Royal Valley also had a quartet of first place finishes on the day for their grapplers and posted 146 total points to earn second place. Sabetha was the only other team to surpass 100 total points as a team at the Big Seven meet posting 134 points to take third place. Fourth, fifth and sixth place finishes were tight as Jeff West registered 75.5 points for fourth place, ACCHS took fifth with 70.5 points and Perry Lecompton took sixth with 70 points. Riverside and Hiawatha posted 55 and 20 points, respectively to finish seventh and eighth.

Four first place finishes led the Holton Wildcats performances as Justin Rieschick (145lbs), Tyler Price (152lbs), Jameson Lutz (160lbs) and Kyler Tannahill (195lbs) each brought home the gold medal at their weight class. For Rieschick at 145lbs it was a 3-0 day on the mats with a pair of pinfall wins in 50 seconds and 2:59 in the Championship bout and also a technical fall win 23-4 to improve to 35-3 on the season, while fellow ranked 4A grappler, Price also went 3-0 with a pair of pinfall wins in 38 seconds and 1:25 and won the Championship bout at 152lbs by a 9-3 decision to improve to 32-5 this year. Lutz at 160lbs took first by going 3-0 with wins by 12-2 major decision and pinfall in 47 seconds and 4:24, moving to 31-9 this year, while Tannahill took first at 195lbs by going 2-0 after a bye, winning by pinfall in 3:14 and by 11-5 decision. 

The top performances didn't stop there for Holton as four more guys took second place at the Big Seven League meet. Tel Wittmer (220lbs), Spencer Baum (170lbs), Justin Pool (138lbs) and Cael Jackson (126lbs) all brought home silver medals. Wittmer, Baum and Jackson all went 1-1 in action, while Pool posted a 2-1 record. The trio of Coulter Bisel (113lbs), Lawson Henry (132lbs) and Damon Ruckman (182lbs) all notched third place finishes for Holton. 

Royal Valley earned second place as a team at the Big Seven League tourney with four guys taking first in their weight classes leading the way for the Panthers. The quartet of Dalton Ware (106lbs), Lance Bailey (120lbs), Jacob Box (182lbs) and Charles Todd (285lbs) claimed the top spots for Royal Valley on the day. Ware, Box and Todd all posted 2-0 days on the mats to win their weight classes while Bailey notched a 3-0 day. For Ware he picked up a pair of pinfall wins in 2:37 and 5:08 at 106lbs to move to 34-7 on the year, while Box won both his matches  by pinfall in 41 and 26 seconds moving to 38-3 on the year and winning the 182lbs class. Todd registered two pinfall wins in 1:02 and 4:23 to win at 285lbs while moving to 22-3 on the year and Bailey is now 30-6 on the year after picking two pinfall wins in 1:46 and 5:21 and an 11-1 major decision win. 

Both Noah Hart (152lbs) and Blake Garrison (195lbs) each notched second place finishes for Royal Valley posting records of 1-1 on the day, while Brian Shane (220lbs) and Zack Lux (138lbs) each brought home bronze medals with third place finishes for the Panthers. 

A pair of first place finishes led Sabetha on the day at the Big Seven League tournament as Cauy Rokey (170lbs) and Seth Harrell (126lbs) each took first place. Rokey had a 3-0 day at 170lbs registering three wins all by pin in 34 seconds, 3:37 and 4:31 and improved to 19-12 on the season. While, Harrell went 2-0 on the day with a technical fall win and a pinfall victory to improve to 25-4 on the season. Silver medal was earned by Brandon Brownlee (132lbs), Grant Meyer (182lbs) and Elliot Strahm (285lbs) after going 1-1 days on the mats for Brownlee and Meyer and a 2-1 day for Strahm. Both Nate Neihues (145lbs) and Matthew Burdick (152lbs) each notched third place finishes for the Bluejays. 

Jeff West took fourth place as a team and was led by two second place finishes and three third places. Both Shane Kelly (106lbs) and Austin Michaelis (113lbs) each took second place for the Tigers after 1-1 days on the mats, while the trio of Lucas Holloman (120lbs), Kody Gibson (126lbs) and Chase Montgomery (170lbs) each registered third place finishes for Jeff West. 

A 3-0 day at 132lbs for Hunter Ostertag of ACCHS led the Tigers performances on the day as he claimed first place behind two pinfall wins 1:50 and 50 seconds and a technical fall win 15-0; Ostertag is now 24-7 on the year. A 1-1 day on the mats for Karl Scholz earned him second place at 120lbs, while third place finishes were earned by Austin Hager (106lbs), Nakcoma Gomer (160lbs) and Ryan Hanshaw (285lbs) for ACCHS. 

Perry Lecompton had Wyatt Pringle (113lbs) lead the way for them on the day taking first place with a 2-0 day on the mats with wins by 4-0 decision and pinfall in 1:46, improving to 19-9 on the season at 113lbs. Torin Vannest (160lbs) is the only other Kaw to have a Top three finish taking second place at 160lbs with a 1-1 day on the mats. 

Scott Resler of Riverside lead the Cyclones at the Big Seven League meet bring home first place at 138lbs on his home mats as Riverside hosted the League tournament. Resler posted a 3-0 day with a pair of pinfall wins in 3:57 and 5:19 and won his Championship bout by sudden victory 1-0, improving to 35-4 on the season. Kinstin Juhl (145lbs) took second for Riverside on the day after going 2-1 in action, while Donovan Duncan (195lbs) placed third for the Cyclones. 

Hiawatha had one Top three finish on the day but it was a first place finish by Keenan Hinton (220lbs) who continued his strong season on the mats. Hinton posted a a 2-0 record on the mats with a pinfall win in 3:03 and a tough 8-6 decision win in the Championship bout, putting him at 19-5 on the season. 

Attention how turns to Regional action for all the Big Seven League grapplers as Regionals are set for next Friday and Saturday, February 19th and 20th.