LKWC qualifies 10 for state tournament

Louisburg’s Kaden Allen was one of 10 wrestlers in the Louisburg Kids Wrestling Club to qualify for this weekend’s state tournament in Topeka. Allen finished second at last week’s district tournament.

The Louisburg Kids Wrestling Club will be well represented at the Kansas State Folkstyle Championships this weekend thanks to its performance at last Saturday’s district tournament.

Louisburg had 10 wrestlers finish in the top four to qualify for the state tournament at the District 1 Championships at Washburn Rural High School in Topeka.

The Wildcats also had three wrestlers win district titles. Tyson Blancarte finished first in the 8-and-under, 49 pound division and a pair of Louisburg High School students also took home top honors. Hunter Bindi was first in the 14-and-under, 105-pound class and Mason Koechner won the high school division at 250 pounds.

Blancarte opened his tournament with a pair of pins and then recorded a 10-0 major decision over Ethan Fishe of the Bobcat Wrestling Club in the semifinals. He ended his tournament with a convincing 6-2 decision over Ottawa’s Logan Courtois in the finals match.

Bindi pinned his way to a district crown at 105 pounds. He recorded three pins in a combined 4 minutes and 15 seconds to start the tournament and then pinned Bonner Springs’ Anthony Ferguson in 41 seconds to take first.

Koechner also earned a pair of pins to win his title. He pinned Lawrence’s Kevin Nichols in 1:14 in the semifinals and then followed that up with a pin of Topeka’s Michael Mattox in 3:04 in the finals.

Kaden Allen was one win away from a district title himself. Allen finished second in the 10-and-under, 58-pound class.

After losing a 2-0 decision to start the tournament, Allen responded with an 8-4 decision against Bonner Springs’ Frankie Garcia, a pin of Topeka’s Parker Reling and then pinned Turner’s Colby Cross in 2 minutes to end his day on a good note.

Brayden Yoder (8-U, 80 pounds), Jay McCaskill (10-U, 70) and Austin Moore (high school, 160) each finished third and responded with big wins after tough losses.

Yoder lost his semifinal match in a 5-2 decision, but came back to pin Broderick Desch of the Jr. Wildcats Wrestling Club in the consolation semis and then pinned De Soto’s Cooper Born in 2:39 in the third place match.

After falling in the semifinals himself, McCaskill defeated Tonganoxie’s Kade Riedel in a 6-2 decision and then pinned Lawrence’s Andrew Bonebrake in 2:56 to take third.

As for Moore, he won two matches before falling in the semifinals to Osawatomie’s John Diediker. Moore responded to record a 10-0 major decision over Nicholas Arend of the Southwest Timberwolves Club and then defeated Arend’s teammate Evan Ludwig in a 4-1 decision in the third-place match.

Nick Beidelschies (8-U, 40), Noah Caudill (8-U, 64) and Brandon Doles (12-U, 130) also earned state bids as they finished fourth. Doles and Caudill each finished with a 2-2 record on the day and Beidelschies also picked up a win to get into the state tournament.

The state tournament begins Friday at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka and will end Saturday.