Regional Wrestling - Get Excited!

Wrestling regionals are this weekend and generally it is a foregone conclusion that the top wrestlers will make it into the state meet. The real battles are in the consolation semifinal rounds where the losers go home and the winners are guaranteed a spot in the state meet.

Even though the championship matches for regionals will be decided by Friday night and those wrestlers will be comfortably in the state tournament, they will still have seeding and pride to wrestle for in the championship rounds.

Here is a quick rundown of the potential marquee matchups around the area on Saturday that could serve as state championship previews.

Wichita Northwest 6A Regional

At 103 pounds top-ranked Kaleb Bonilla of Goddard and second ranked Anthony Calderon of Garden City will be in attendance. The 140-pound weight class is stacked as well with the top three ranked wrestlers in 140 pounds all attending. Bradley Little of Derby, Tre Houlden of Goddard and Hunter Edwards of Dodge City all have a shot at anything from a regional championship to a third place match. At 285 pounds top-ranked Trey Page of Northwest will likely faceoff with second-ranked Jesse Trent of Dodge City.

Bishop Carroll 5A Regional

The two marquee matchups will likely be Arkansas City vs. Andover Central. At 125 pounds, top-ranked Garrett Jones of Arkansas City and the Jaguars second ranked Jake Gentzler should faceoff. Then at 135 pounds, top-ranked Kash Biddle of Ark City and second ranked Alex Bontz of Andover Central are both in attendance.

Pratt 4A Regional

Valley Center’s Chase Nitcher will be looking for his second consecutive state championship and first in class 4A. He will have his hands full against second-ranked Colton Eck of Andale in the 135-pound weight class.

Norton 3A Regional

There might not be a more stacked regional anywhere than this regional. Top-ranked Dylan Schumacher and second-ranked Calvin Ochs will likely faceoff in the 112-pound weight class. The 135-pound weight class is absolutely stacked with Jace Campbell of Oakley, Kale Newell of Smith Center and Terrance Lamb of St. Francis. The three are ranked first through third by the coaches.

Not to be outdone, the 145-pound weight class boasts the top four ranked wrestlers in that class. The wrestlers are Kaenon Keiswetter of Norton, Trevor Oliver of Osborne, Eric Albers of Oakley and Kevin Wolters of Atwood. This one regional could legitimately produce the top four placers at the 3A state meet next weekend.

Even though the battle in the consolation semifinals will be entertaining all around the state, the battles for first will be entertaining as well in many classes with previews of what to expect at the state meets next weekend.