Caplinger, Holtzen wins home tourney titles; Wildcats medal 8

Louisburg sophomore Cade Holtzen takes an opponent down to the mat Saturday during the Wildcat Classic on Saturday at Louisburg High School.

The beginning of the season hasn’t
exactly been a smooth one for the Louisburg wrestling team as it has dealt with
numerous injuries, which has forced several wrestlers to move around weight
classes.

That is why the Wildcat Classic
couldn’t have come at a better time.

After a little time off for the
holidays, the Wildcats took part in their home tournament Saturday at Louisburg
High School and ended the day with eight medalists, including a pair of champions.
It was a nice change of pace for Louisburg to compete in front of its home
fans.

“We had a very smooth tournament,” Louisburg coach Bobby Bovaird said. “All
the people who chipped in to help made it a great event for our program,
whether it was setting up the gym, donating for our hospitality room, or
cleaning up. I love hosting a tournament in our gym — it’s almost as if the
architects had wrestling in mind when they designed it. What a fan-friendly venue
for a wrestling tournament.

“The guys wrestled really well, too. I think having lots of family,
friends, and fans cheering us on throughout the day really kept them pushing
hard in their matches. Actually, when I look back on past performances at this
tournament, I’m really happy with our conditioning and competitive mindset.
We’re coming off a long break, but the guys were focused and working hard all
week at practice.”

Louisburg senior Blue Caplinger (170 pounds) and sophomore Cade Holtzen (113) both came away with top honors as they were champions of their respective weight classes.

Caplinger finished the day with a 4-0 record, including a pair of pins,
but his final two victories were the most impressive. Caplinger, who is
currently ranked No. 5 in Class 4A, defeated No. 6 Brandon Martin of Piper by a
6-2 decision.

In the championship match, Caplinger then defeated Anderson County’s
Logan Allen by a 4-2 decision to improve his record to 19-1 on the season.

“Those wins over Allen of Anderson County and Martin of Piper should be
pretty good confidence boosters for Blue,” Bovaird said. “Both are extremely
talented wrestlers. Blue keeps himself in great position every match and the
more experience he gets, the more he’s been able to start taking advantage of
his scoring opportunities. He’s really matured a lot as a wrestler, and now
that he’s a senior, he’s been pretty dominant.”

Holtzen breezed through his 113-pound bracket as he finished the day
with a 4-0 mark as well to go along with four pins. He pinned Blue Valley West’s
Joey Nichols in the championship in the second period to improve his record to
19-1 on the year.

Holtzen is currently ranked No. 4 in Class 4A at 113 pounds and
captured his second consecutive Wildcat Classic title.

“I especially liked how Cade utilized his mat time this weekend,”
Bovaird said “I saw him hitting some crisp techniques and trying out some new
moves. He’s got a mindset that’s keeping him focused on his end goals for the
season, and he’s taking advantage of the process of improving every match. That
takes discipline.

“A lot of wrestlers will see a match against a lesser opponent as an
opportunity to try “funk” moves or to try to embarrass their
opponents. I’m proud of how Cade took advantage of his matches to work on
improving the techniques that will win him key matches at regionals and state.”

Six other Wildcats captured medals, including sophomore Ryan Owens, who
took second at 120 pounds. Senior Gabe Bonham (138) and freshman Brandon Doles
(145) took third overall, while sophomore Anthony Welborn (138), freshman Aiden
Barker (145) and sophomore Ben Wiedenmann (182) finished fourth.

Owens improved his record to 17-4 on the season after he began his day
with four consecutive wins, including a pin of Tonganoxie’s Hunter Harris in
the semifinals. Owens was pinned by Anderson County’s Ryland Wright in the championship
match in the second period.

“All season long, Ryan has been sacrificing for
the better of the team, and I couldn’t be any prouder of him,” Bovaird said. “He’s
not just bumping up to fill in at 120; he’s competing there. He’s got a lot of
experience with wrestling throughout the years, and here he is at full strength
battling with kids who are cutting weight. He’s a warrior on the mat, and if
he’s bothered by the weight difference, you couldn’t tell. 

Bonham went 3-2 on the day, including a pin over Welborn in the
third-place match. Doles also had a 3-2 performance at 145 pounds and won by
major decision over Barker in the third place match.

Wiedenmann started his day with three straight wins, but lost a pair of
decisions to Anderson County’s Dominic Sutton and Baldwin’s Cy Hockey to end
his day. Both Sutton and Hockey are ranked No. 5 and No. 6 at 182 pounds.

Luke Kelly (113 pounds, fifth), Nathan Hamilton (132, eighth), Jacob
Briley (160, eighth), A.J. Reed (182, ninth) and Sam Kratochvil (220, sixth)
also wrestled for the Wildcats.

As a team, Louisburg finished
seventh in the team standings with 134 points. Blue Valley West won the
tournament title with 204.5 points and Anderson County was second with 179.

“Toward the end of the tournament, when I looked at the team scores, I
was honestly surprised that we were so low,” Bovaird said. “We were winning a
lot of matches and doing well overall. It’s just a matter of having some gaps
in our lineup. Brandon Doles moved down a weight, leaving us open at 152, and
Brian Houck got sick, so we were open at 195. Hunter Day’s season was ended with
a torn labrum in his shoulder. He had surgery right after New Years Day. We
were open at five weights, and two kids who’ve been winning matches for us —
Anthony Welborn at 138 and Aiden Barker at 145 — were wrestling unattached, so
their wins didn’t gain us any team points.

“This was one of those tournaments where the team score isn’t the right
way to evaluate our success. The individual wins and the style of wrestling we
had are the methods we’re using to evaluate our progress. I saw several gaps we
need to focus on, but at the same time, I love the progression the guys have
been making all season.”

Louisburg will get another chance to wrestle at home Thursday when it
hosts Spring Hill for Alumni Night. Matches are set to begin at 6 p.m.