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This past weekend, the Dodge City Red Demon wrestlers took their talents to Newton to compete in the 25-team Tournament of Champions field, which kicked off their run of three consecutive two-day weekend tournaments.
The Demons, coming off of a third place finish at the Salina South Invitational, began the first day off wrestling well, with three wrestlers in the quarterfinals, including Alex Garcia, Dane Edwards and Jacob Eggers, who are continuing to prove why they were state place winners from a season ago.
"I think our kids came prepared and they wrestled extremely well," said head coach Lars Lueders. "The Newton Tournament of Champions is an extremely tough tournament, it's arguably the best in the state of Kansas, and it's a great leadup to the State tournament. It kind of lets you know where you sit for State and if you place at this tournament, then you have a great chance to place at State or even win it. Overall I felt like our kids wrestled at a high level."
Garcia, who has began to find his stride in recent weeks, won his first round matchup via fall against Liberal's Kyler Thompson, before winning by decision over his next three opponents. Those wins set up a finals showdown with Zac Gentzler of Andover Central, who is currently ranked in the top-20 nationally in the 113-pound weight class.
It would be a back and forth battle between Garcia and Gentzler, but the senior could not overcome Gentzler's lead, dropping the showdown and finishing with a second place medal. He is now 16-6 overall on the year after going 4-1 in Newton.
"Alex wrestled really well, he beat a two-time State runner-up in the semifinals, a kid that he beat last week, but he knew every match he wrestled in Newton was going to be a tough one," Lueders said.
Edwards, who has been the most consistent wrestler on the Demons' squad this year, entered Newton with a 16-1 record. After beginning with two dominating victories over Brandon Jost of Salina South and Rigo Magana of Newton, he suffered a setback against Luke Wolfenberger of Union, dropping that match 11-1.
However, Edwards would roll off three consecutive wins to give himself a shot at finishing third, but once again ran into Wolfenberger. It was more of the same for Edwards, who couldn't figure him out, losing his second match of the day to the Tulsa Union wrestler, but still wound up with fourth place.
The story of the weekend was Eggers, who is now entering the conversation as one of the favorites to contend for a Class 6A title in the 160-pound weight class. In what might have been his best wrestling of the year, he ran through his four opponents en route to a Newton title, taking down ranked Trey Dice or Ark City 4-1 in the finals.
"Jacob wrestled really well in the finals, beating Trey Dice, who is a defending state champion and, in my opinion, it is the best he's ever wrestled," Lueders said. "He wrestled under control and aggressive and wrestled a lot better technically than he has in the past."
The other place winner for Dodge was heavyweight Trae Phillips, who finished in eighth place overall after going 2-3 on the day.
"Trae came in and got some big wins, had matches that could've gone either way all day and I'm proud from what we've seen out of him — he did a fantastic job," Lueders said.
As a team, the Demons took home 14th overall wih 83.50 points, which was half of a point behind Wichita Heights for 13th. Tulsa Union was the overall champion, posting a team total of 207 points, 27 more than second place Ark City.
Other notable teams include the host Newton (4th - 138.50), Garden City (8th - 112), Derby (11th - 95) and Liberal (23rd - 30).
Now the Demons will gear up for another two-day tournament at the Hays Bob Kuhn Invitational, which Lueders hope the Newton TOC prepared them for their upcoming challenges.
"The biggest thing is that they should expect a fight every match, you can't hope to get lighter competition, you have to get excited to get tough kids and it doesn't matter who you face, you have to come out and wrestle everytime," Lueders said. "If we can get them into that mindset when the State tournament rolls around, we're going to be ready every match."
This past weekend, the Dodge City Red Demon wrestlers took their talents to Newton to compete in the 25-team Tournament of Champions field, which kicked off their run of three consecutive two-day weekend tournaments.
The Demons, coming off of a third place finish at the Salina South Invitational, began the first day off wrestling well, with three wrestlers in the quarterfinals, including Alex Garcia, Dane Edwards and Jacob Eggers, who are continuing to prove why they were state place winners from a season ago.
"I think our kids came prepared and they wrestled extremely well," said head coach Lars Lueders. "The Newton Tournament of Champions is an extremely tough tournament, it's arguably the best in the state of Kansas, and it's a great leadup to the State tournament. It kind of lets you know where you sit for State and if you place at this tournament, then you have a great chance to place at State or even win it. Overall I felt like our kids wrestled at a high level."
Garcia, who has began to find his stride in recent weeks, won his first round matchup via fall against Liberal's Kyler Thompson, before winning by decision over his next three opponents. Those wins set up a finals showdown with Zac Gentzler of Andover Central, who is currently ranked in the top-20 nationally in the 113-pound weight class.
It would be a back and forth battle between Garcia and Gentzler, but the senior could not overcome Gentzler's lead, dropping the showdown and finishing with a second place medal. He is now 16-6 overall on the year after going 4-1 in Newton.
"Alex wrestled really well, he beat a two-time State runner-up in the semifinals, a kid that he beat last week, but he knew every match he wrestled in Newton was going to be a tough one," Lueders said.
Edwards, who has been the most consistent wrestler on the Demons' squad this year, entered Newton with a 16-1 record. After beginning with two dominating victories over Brandon Jost of Salina South and Rigo Magana of Newton, he suffered a setback against Luke Wolfenberger of Union, dropping that match 11-1.
However, Edwards would roll off three consecutive wins to give himself a shot at finishing third, but once again ran into Wolfenberger. It was more of the same for Edwards, who couldn't figure him out, losing his second match of the day to the Tulsa Union wrestler, but still wound up with fourth place.
The story of the weekend was Eggers, who is now entering the conversation as one of the favorites to contend for a Class 6A title in the 160-pound weight class. In what might have been his best wrestling of the year, he ran through his four opponents en route to a Newton title, taking down ranked Trey Dice or Ark City 4-1 in the finals.
"Jacob wrestled really well in the finals, beating Trey Dice, who is a defending state champion and, in my opinion, it is the best he's ever wrestled," Lueders said. "He wrestled under control and aggressive and wrestled a lot better technically than he has in the past."
The other place winner for Dodge was heavyweight Trae Phillips, who finished in eighth place overall after going 2-3 on the day.
"Trae came in and got some big wins, had matches that could've gone either way all day and I'm proud from what we've seen out of him — he did a fantastic job," Lueders said.
As a team, the Demons took home 14th overall wih 83.50 points, which was half of a point behind Wichita Heights for 13th. Tulsa Union was the overall champion, posting a team total of 207 points, 27 more than second place Ark City.
Other notable teams include the host Newton (4th - 138.50), Garden City (8th - 112), Derby (11th - 95) and Liberal (23rd - 30).
Now the Demons will gear up for another two-day tournament at the Hays Bob Kuhn Invitational, which Lueders hope the Newton TOC prepared them for their upcoming challenges.
"The biggest thing is that they should expect a fight every match, you can't hope to get lighter competition, you have to get excited to get tough kids and it doesn't matter who you face, you have to come out and wrestle everytime," Lueders said. "If we can get them into that mindset when the State tournament rolls around, we're going to be ready every match."
