Wildcats qualify six for state; Moore, Caplinger, Doles win regional titles

Louisburg senior Austin Moore works for a pin of Perry’s Hayden Robb during the 220-pound regional title match Saturday in Paola. Moore, along with teammates Blue Caplinger and Brandon Doles, won regional crowns.

PAOLA – It wasn’t easy, and nor is
it supposed to be, but the Louisburg wrestling team made it look that way at
times during Saturday’s Class 4A regional tournament at Paola High School.

The Wildcats qualified six
wrestlers for state, had three regional champions and took third place in the
team standings – all while not being able to field a full team.

Louisburg’s talent was certainly
on full display during the two-day tournament in Paola. Brandon Doles, Blue
Caplinger and Austin Moore won regional crowns, Cade Holtzen was a regional
runner-up, while Gabe Bonham and Ryan Owens also qualified for state by placing
third and fourth, respectively.

As a team, the Wildcats ended up
with 138.5 points and was just 2.5 points out of second place. Ottawa won the
regional with 149.5 points and Eudora was second at 141. It was the highest regional
team finish for Louisburg since 1998.

“The way these guys wrestled this weekend shows that the program has
been doing so many things right this season,” Louisburg coach Bobby Bovaird
said. “We’ve had the obstacle of low numbers, which hurt us in our duals, but
when it comes to tournament time, we have a bunch of guys who are placing high
and that gives us a lot of team points. Taking six to state feels pretty
encouraging, and finishing third at regionals is an awesome statement for this
team.

“If a few things had gone the other way, we would have been in second
as a team. On paper, we weren’t supposed to be in the race for a regional
plaque. Almost all of our guys stepped up and scored huge team points for us.”

Moore was certainly one of those
wrestlers for Louisburg as he recovered from a broken collarbone before the
season started and eventually turned that into a regional title at 220 pounds
and a 12-0 record.

The Louisburg senior advanced to
the championship with a 7-2 decision over Anderson County’s Dallas Higginbotham
in the semifinals and then responded with a second period pin of Perry-Lecompton’s
Hayden Robb in the finals.

Moore did have to come from behind against Robb as he found himself down 2-0 in the second period, but got a little extra motivation to help get the job done.

“I knew after I gave up that takedown, I had to come back, stay smart and try not to get all the points back at once,” he said. “I tried to circle a little bit better and not get too heavy on my toes. He kind of egged me on a little bit and I was able to put him on his back. Once I got on him on his back, I didn’t want to let him up.

“I am really happy to win
regionals because when I broke my collarbone, I didn’t even know if I was going
to be able to wrestle or not. I’m just excited because this is the first time I
have won regionals and I know this will help me a lot out at state and put me
in a good place in the brackets.”

Caplinger marched through his
170-pound bracket much of the same way. He pinned his way to the finals, including
a third period pin of Prairie View’s Hunter Boone in the semis.

In the championship match,
Caplinger squared off Piper’s Branden Martin, and after getting a close win
against Martin earlier in the year, Caplinger controlled the match from the
start and won by an 8-3 decision.

“Last year I got fourth at
regionals, and this year there was a lot of pressure coming in with the No. 1
seed, but I was able to come in and do what I needed to get the job done,”
Caplinger said. “I am just happy going into state and we will see how
everything plays out.

“I feel I did pretty well. I could
have done better, honestly. I had some matches where I got a little too tired,
but just coming off a concussion that is to be expected.”

As a freshman, Doles had the
regional debut he had hoped for as he went out and won the 145-pound title to
secure his first trip to the state tournament.

On Friday, Doles started out with
a 2-0 decision over Prairie View’s Damien Kline and then followed that up with a
tough 4-2 decision over Eudora’s Holden Andrews in the semifinals to cement his
state bid.

In the finals on Saturday, Doles
squared off with Fort Scott’s Jon Daniels and controlled the match for an 8-4
decision.

“It is crazy,” Doles said of
getting a regional title. “I didn’t think I was going to do that well this year
since I was a freshman and cutting some weight that I did. I wasn’t sure how
strong I was going to be. I just did a lot of work in practice to get to where
I am right now.

“After the first period in the
finals match I was a little gassed, but I had to stay with it. I just started
shooting in on him, would get the shot and work through that and kept him on
that mat.”

Holtzen also earned a spot in the
regional championship at 113 pounds. The returning Wildcat state medalist
advanced to the finals with a tough 11-7 decision over Prairie View’s Bodi
Isenhower.

That set up a rematch between
Holtzen and Osawatomie’s Chance Mitzner, the No. 2-ranked wrestler in the
state, as they both squared off earlier in the year in Baldwin, with Mitzner
winning in overtime.

Mitzner also took round two on
Saturday when he downed Holtzen in an 11-2 major decision in the finals.

“I really wasn’t wrestling my
match in the first period,” Holtzen said. “I was kind of tense and not taking
shots. I think I just got off my game plan and he got his game plan going and
it went his way from there.

“It is still a pretty good feeling
to be able to go back again. Hopefully I can place a little higher than I did
last year, but it is a pretty awesome feeling.”

Bonham put a nice stamp on his
senior season as he qualified for state for the first time. The Louisburg
138-pounder finished the tournament with four pins and his only loss came in
the semifinals on a 6-3 decision to Perry-Lecompton’s Thad Metcalfe.

He bounced back from that loss
nicely with a pin of Paola’ Caden Marcum in the consolation semifinal to
qualify for state. Bonham then recorded a first period pin of Fort Scott’s
Silas Taylor in the third-place match.

“It means a lot to be able to
qualify for state,” Bonham said. “It has been a long time coming. I should have
probably qualified a couple other times, but I was in my head too much. This
time, I just went out and wrestled my match.

“I am really proud of all the
guys. We have all busted our butts in practice and we get overlooked a lot in
duals and tournaments. To be able to take third with only 11 guys is
impressive.”

Owens, a sophomore who is in his
first year as a full-time varsity wrestler, moved up to 120 pounds to start the
season and hasn’t looked back as he also qualified for state for the first
time.

He opened the tournament with a
5-3 decision over Baldwin’s Lucas Hopper before getting pinned by Anderson
County’s Ryland Wright in the semifinals.

Owens bounced back Saturday with a
10-6 decision over Eudora’s Larry Gulley in the consolation semifinals, before falling
to Atchison’s Jake Rebant in the third-place match.

“It feels really good because I
wasn’t expecting to be where I am at right now, bumping up to 120,” Owens said.
“I have learned how to handle to kids who are taller and bigger than me and I
feel it has improved how I work in practice. I have to work harder to beat good
kids.”

Sophomore Ben Wiedenmann finished one win shy of a state berth at 182 pounds. Wiedenmann met Paola’s Mikey Stribling in the consolation semifinals, but couldn’t get the one last win he needed in a 9-1 loss to Stribling. Wiedenmann finished his day with a 3-2 record.

Senior Brian Houck saw his Wildcat career come to a close with a 1-2 record at 195 pounds and sophomore Jacob Briley was also 1-2 at 160 pounds. Freshman Nathan Hamilton was 0-3 at 132 pounds.

Louisburg will try for state
medals this weekend when it travels to Salina for the Class 4A Kansas State
Wrestling Championships. Friday’s opening action begins at 10 a.m. with matches
continuing into Saturday.