Regional wrestling roundup: Four Wellington boys qualify for the Class 4A state tournament
Derrick Lowe
Jamar Armstrong
Cayson Ramirez
Taylon Cantrell
Sumner Newscow report — Wellington had four boy wrestlers reach the critical “blood round” at the Class 4A Regional in Andale on Saturday. The blood round is the consolation semifinals — that point that determines who goes to state and who stays home.
It is called the most intense moment in high school sports, where a lifetime of grappling comes down to just one match.
Wellington went 4-for-4 in the consolation semis and subsequently will get four wrestlers to state – its largest representation since 2014. Talan Cantrell at 120, Cayson Ramirez at 190, Jamar Armstrong at 215, and Derrick Lowe at 285 are headed to Salina’s Tony’s Pizza Events Center as No. 4 seeds in Class 4A.
“I wasn’t surprised. These four were expected to make it to state,” said Mitch McComb, Wellington’s head wrestling coach. “We weren’t as fortunate with the girls (the week before), where I thought we had some wrestlers who didn’t qualify who probably should have.”
Wellington finished 10th in what wrestling experts were saying was the toughest regional in the state this Saturday. Rose Hill, which is likely to win a state championship and is now considered the premier wrestling program in the state, won the event with 244 points. Others in the top 10 were Augusta with 151, Andale 149.5, Winfield 144, Pratt 140, Clearwater 77.5, Buhler 75, Mulvane 72, Halstead 48, and Wellington 46.5.
Wellington brought nine wrestlers to the regional yesterday. Cabel Boguss at 126, Axl Norris at 144, Jalik Armstrong at 150, and Hank Shinliver at 157 were eliminated in two matches. Evan Kelly at 175 did score a victory over Eli Miller of Hesston in the consolation round, but was eliminated before the consolation semis.
Going into blood matches, Wellington had yet to qualify a wrestler for State. But it turned out to be a very good round.
Taylan Cantrell in a dual vs. Andale.
•Cantrell, a senior, went into the blood round, winning twice but losing to eventual 120-pound regional champion Sebastian Bentley of Rose Hill. He took on Bryant Pechanek for the second time after beating him in the first-round match 6-0.
In the rematch, he dominated Pechanek again. Cantrell used a takedown in the first period, a reversal in the second, and a takedown in the third to win. He would lose Elijah Foy of Augusta 5-2 in the third-place match.
Cayson Ramirez in a dual vs. Andale.
•Ramerez, a sophomore, had a great tournament despite battling sickness. Ramirez opened with a pin over Colton Bailey of Rose Hill, pinned Grady Kuehn of Cheney at :41 before losing to eventual regional champion Isaiah Wilson of Andale. That set him up with a consolation semifinal match against Dalton Slaughter of Pratt. Ramirez dominated Slaughter for the bulk of the match, leading 17-2 early in the third before getting a technical fall.
He would lose to Noah West of Mulvane by pin in the third-place match. He was up 5-3 early in the first before West got the pin. Ramirez was one of three Wellington wrestlers with a lead in the third-place matches but would lose.
Jamar Armstrong in a dual vs. Andale.
•Armstrong reached the semifinals before losing to eventual 215 regional champion Cole Rogers of Rose Hill. That set him up against Troy Ohlde of Clearwater in the consolation semifinals – a wrestler he had lost to on two previous occasions.
Armstrong would build an 8-0 lead and then gave up five points in the third period for an 8-5 decision. In the third-place match, Armstrong had a 6-3 lead but lost on a takedown and near fall for an 8-6 decision to Austin Vanderhoof of Mulvane.
Derrick Lowe in a dual vs. Andale.
•Lowe will be going to state as a senior after getting to the semifinals before losing to Connor Herman of Halstead by pin. In the consolation semifinals, Lowe used an escape and takedown to take a 3-0 lead en route to a 5-1 victory over Trevor Logan of Rose Hill.
In the third-place match, Lowe led 1-0 going into the third period against Cooper Woodruff of Clearwater. However, Woodruff scored an escape and takedown to win 3-1.
The 4A boys state competition will start at 9 a.m. Thursday. The 4A girls will start at 12 p.m. The first round, championship quarterfinals and consolation first round will be on Thursday.
