Full Class 4A KWCA rankings -- click here
Full Class 3-2-1A KWCA rankings -- click here

The holiday season is almost upon us and the winter sports season has started to heat up with plenty of great performances by area wrestlers on the mats as individuals and teams and 24 area wrestlers are individually ranked in the latest 4A and 3-2-1A polls released by the KWCA.

Three area teams also are ranked with one team making a big leap in the latest rankings and another continuing to dominate competition to remain number one.

In Class 4A the defending state champs, Holton started the season ranked number one in 4A and have remained steadfast at the spot this season notching top flight performances every time out on the mats, most recently grabbing the Clay Center Invitational crown.

Wildcats are led by seven ranked wrestlers in the latest polls, which rank the top six wrestlers at their weight class in each classification. Junior, Lucas Lovvorn and senior, Cooper Zeller lead the way for Holton each ranking second at 152lbs and 285lbs. Lovvorn went 5-0 at the Clay Center Invite to win his weight class over the weekend while Zeller won his weight class going 3-0 on the day.

Three Wildcats rank third in their respective weight classes as Mason Baum (160lbs), Justin Reischick (138lbs), Jonah Lutz (132lbs) and Tyler Price (120lbs) own that spot in their weight classes. Baum remains at number three after a 3-1 weekend and third place at the Clay Center Invite, while Justin Reischick and Tyler Price both took second place at the Clay Invite. For Price he jumps into the rankings for the first time this season. Lutz won his weight class on Saturday at the Clay Center Invite in his latest action. Andrew Reichick rounds out the rankings remaining at number four in the rankings at 170lbs.

The Jeff West Tigers started the season preseason ranked as a team but fell out of the poll last week but make a return this week, returning at number 10 in the latest KWCA poll. Leading the charge for the Tigers is defending state champ, Justin Scott who continues to hold the number one spot in 285lbs, while Josiah Dowding moved down to number six at 160lbs and Nate Holloman stayed put at number six at 120lbs.

Atchison is the only other area 4A school to have an individual wrestler ranked as Tyler Harris continues be ranked second at 170lbs after taking home first place at the Sabetha Tri-State tourney this past weekend going 5-0 on the day.

Class 3-2-1A continues to house many area wrestlers in the latest KWCA polls while the ACCHS Tigers headline the rankings from the area leaping from number seven as a team last week to number two in the latest poll. ACCHS is coming off a seventh place out of 22 teams at the Eudora Invite.

The Tigers are led by four individual ranked wrestlers with senior, Scott Birkinsha leading the way as he ranks second at 170lbs, coming off of his third place performance at the Eudora Invite. Logan Bowen (132lbs), Willy Dieckman (138lbs) and Hunter Ostertag (106lbs) all rank third for the Tigers at their respective weight classes. Bowen remained at number three in his weight class while both Ostertag and Dieckman each jumped into the rankings this week. Both Ostertag and Bowen notched fourth place finishes at the Eudora Invite.

Doniphan West and Marysville both have a pair of wrestlers ranked in the top six of their weight classes. For the Mustangs they are led by Garrett Dunlap and Trevor Fee who rank fourth and sixth at 160lbs and 170lbs. Dunlap moved up one stop this week after going 5-0 at the Onaga Invite to win his weight class and Fee also went 5-0 winning his weight class at the Onaga Invite.

Marysville continues to see sophomore, Chris Deters ranked at number three at 113lbs, while John Nelson remained ranked second at 160lbs for the Bulldogs.

Riverside, Troy, Centralia and Sabetha all have an individual in the latest KWCA rankings and for the Cyclones and Trojans their guy ranks number one in their weight class. At 220lbs Riverside Cyclone, Cody Walker ranks number one moving up one spot after taking first at his weight class at the Onaga Invite. For Troy, Tristan Speer continued to be ranked number one but takes over the number one spot at 195lbs instead of 220lbs were he was previously. Speer is fresh off another first place performance this time at the Onaga Invite over the weekend.

For Centralia senior, Andrew Beck continued his strong season by taking first at 152lbs at the Onaga Invite and being named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the tournament, too. Beck remained ranked third in the latest poll. Sabetha Bluejay, Jacob Leuthold jumped into the rankings at number four in the 285lbs weight class after going 3-0 in his weight class at the Sabetha Tri-State tourney helping the Bluejays win the tourney.

The strong performances continue to be displayed by area wrestlers early in the season and the rankings reflect that with 24 area wrestlers and three teams in the latest rankings. Many area wrestlers and their teams will hit the mat at least one more time before the holiday break.