Andale overcomes adversity, tragedy to win Kansas high school state wrestling team title

The month of February had been a challenging one for the Andale High School boys wrestling team.

Injuries were preventing the team from fulfilling its potential, but then the wrestlers had to deal with tragedy when a classmate died in a car accident.

“We just had a lot of things that didn’t go well for us” Andale wrestling coach Doug Eck said. “It was tough on them, but that’s life. Life will either break you or you can stand up and take it on. I felt like the boys had two choices: they could break and submit or man up and get the job done.”

When the Kansas high school state wrestling tournament in Salina rolled around, Andale’s wrestlers rose to the occasion and delivered their most inspired effort of the season.

Andale entered the state competition with 10 qualified wrestlers and ranked second by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association, but came out on top when seven advanced to the semifinals and five reached the finals. Andale scored 163 team points 16.5 more than the pre-tournament favorite Rose Hill, to win the Class 4A team state championship for the fifth time in program history and the second time in the last three years.

“I feel like all of that stuff that we had to go through just strengthened us as a team,” Andale senior Ian Aouad said. “We had a few guys hurt this season and then with our friend dying, that just motivated us even more to go out and win state and show that we are the best team in 4A.”

It was fitting that Andale’s two individual champions were senior A.J. Furnish (138 pounds) and junior Owen Eck (144 pounds), who have been practice partners since they were kids.

Eck became just the third 3-time state champion in Andale history, joining Mike Dawes (1994-96) and Hector Serratos (2019-21), and has a chance to become the first 4-timer next season. He finished off his most dominant season to date, as he was 46-0 this season after pinning Tonganoxie freshman Brady Martin in the first period of the 144 finals.

“He works hard and he gets after people and wrestles the style that we want our kids to wrestle, which is go, go, go,” Doug Eck said. “The best defense is a good offense and he’s just the total package. Him and A.J. have been drilling partners since they were knee-high to a snake, so to see them both win was incredible.”

It was particularly meaningful to Furnish, who has had to overcome torn labrum injuries each of the last two seasons.

He called it “devastating” when he dealt with the same injury for the second straight year last season. But his practice work with Owen Eck helped push him to improve and the two practice partners ended as state champions.

“Coming into this season not ranked, I felt like everyone had kind of forgot about me (because of the injuries),” Furnish said. “It really motivated me for this year. It’s pretty cool to see all of the work that me and Owen have put in for years to end with a title my last year, that was pretty awesome. Knowing I’m practicing against one of the best wrestlers in Kansas, it pushes me every day.”

Other finalists included senior Jonah Meyer (157), sophomore Isaiah Wilson (175) and senior Riley Marx (215).

Meyer, who was ranked fifth in his weight class, won a 7-1 decision over the No. 2-ranked wrestler, Abilene’s Braden Wilson, in the semifinals to punch his ticket to the finals. Wilson was similarly ranked fifth and pulled off a major upset to reach the finals, pinning top-ranked Tucker Jackson of Clay Center in the quarterfinals.

“I guarantee you there wasn’t a person in that arena who thought Isaiah Wilson was going to be in the finals of 4A state this year,” Doug Eck said. “But we believed in him. We thought he could win the whole deal and he just about did it.”

Andale’s title wouldn’t have been possible without the work done in the consolation bracket from Aouad (third at 165) and freshman Tristen Cox (fifth at 106).

Kelby Eck (150) and Brayden Weber (285) both won matches in the consolation bracket to score points, while Ethan Eck was also a state qualifier.

“I was definitely down on myself after losing (in the semifinals), but coach told me how important it was for me to work on the backside,” Aouad said. “I knew those were huge team points, even if it was just me getting third. I had to step up for my teammates and do what was right and go out there and win.”

Marcus Terry becomes first 3-timer in Augusta history

Augusta senior Marcus Terry etched his name in history as the first 3-time state champion in school history, as he captured his third straight individual title on Saturday.

After winning the 106 title in 2021 and the 120 title last year, Terry bumped up to the 126 weight class this season and prevailed with a 3-2 decision over Rose Hill sophomore Damon Ingram in the finals.

The back-and-forth AVCTL rivalry ended in Terry’s favor, as both wrestlers traded takedowns in the championship match, but it was Terry who registered the only escape, which proved to be the difference.

Augusta finished with a third-place team trophy with five other state medalists, including senior Cannon Carey, who also reached the finals and finished runner-up at 150.

The Orioles other state medalists were senior Kalvin LaPlant (third at 132), senior Grady Fox (third at 138), senior Gabe Kant (third at 215) and sophomore Willy Jon Morales (fourth at 285).

Rose Hill notches second-place team finish behind two champions

Rose Hill was Andale’s biggest challenger to the team state title, as the Rockets piled up 146.5 points (less than 17 behind Andale) powered by two individual state champions and seven state medalists.

Bronx Wood completed a superb senior season with a 39-1 record, culminating with his first state title with a second-round pin over Andale’s Riley Marx in the 215 finals.

Freshman Julio Aguirre debuted just before the postseason and made it count, winning the 120 individual title with a 5-1 decision over No. 1-ranked Owen Suttles of Winfield in the finals. He wrestled just 14 matches this season.

Rose Hill’s other state medalists included sophomore Damon Ingram (second at 126), sophomore Johnny Leck (second at 106), sophomore Milan Colvin (third at 285), sophomore Adam Bilby (third at 113) and junior Rhett Briggs (fifth at 150).

Winfield senior ends career with state title

Winfield senior Kody Brenn finished his career on top of the podium, winning the 175-pound division with a 3-0 decision over Andale sophomore Isaiah Wilson in the finals.

Brenn entered the competition ranked third in the division, but the top two seeds stumbled before the semifinals and the Winfield senior capitalized.

Winfield also had another wrestler in the finals in sophomore Owen Suttles, who notched a second-place finish at 120 to finish with a 40-5 record. Winfield’s other state medalist was sophomore Talon Suttles (sixth at 113).

Other area 4A state medalists included Mulvane senior Chris Dietrich (fifth at 190) and sophomore Koehn Dietrich (sixth at 106), Buhler freshman Sammy Hershberger (fourth at 120) and McPherson freshman Cooper Reves (fifth at 157).

At the Class 3-1A state tournament in Hays, Haven led area teams with three medalists in senior Gavin Moore (third at 132), sophomore Jacob Moore (fourth at 120) and freshman Tanner Loughrie (fifth at 113).

Other area medalists were Douglass senior Wade Morgan (sixth at 190), Halstead senior Skyler Geer (third at 150) and sophomore Clayton Considine (third at 113), Bluestem senior Kolby Hebb (fifth at 285), Chaparral senior Joe Ord (second at 157) and West Elk sophomore Creyo Koop (third at 165), junior Evan Coble (fifth at 126).