(From left) Ryan Owens, Cade Holtzen, Ben Wiedenmann, Brandon Doles and Aiden Barker took first place in their respective weight classes at the Frontier League middle school wrestling tournament on Nov. 12 in Paola.

Five members of the Louisburg Middle School wrestling team left the Frontier League tournament on Nov. 12 with the competition’s top prize.

Ryan Owens, Cade Holtzen, Ben Wiedenmann, Brandon Doles and Aiden Barker all won league titles in their respective weight classes at Paola High School. The five champions is the most in recent middle school history.

In the eighth-grade division, Holtzen finished with a 4-0 record and all four wins came by pin as he cruised to his title at 100 pounds. At 85 pounds, Owens went 3-0, including a win by pin and major decision, while Wiedenmann was also 3-0 with two pins and a major decision.

Barker led the seventh-grade class with a 4-0 mark at 110 pounds, as three of those wins came by two pins and a major decision. Doles was also perfect with at 120 pounds with a 3-0 record and two pins.

The Wildcats also had eight other wrestlers place at the league tournament.

Logan Faulkner (115 pounds) ended with a 2-2 record to finish fourth. Carson Kern (85) and Reece Gorley (215) each went 1-1 to come in fifth.

Jacob Briley (115) and Kolby Kattau (134) finished seventh, while Samuel Allen (90), Nathan Hamilton (90) and Jarrett Hoyle (105) came in eighth.

Overall, several Louisburg wrestlers had a strong season, including five eighth-graders who had nine wins or more.

Wiedenmann finished his season undefeated with 15 consecutive wins, including 10 pins. Holtzen went 14-3 with 10 pins to tie Wiedenmann with the team lead.

Hoyle and Faulkner each had 10 wins, including eight and six pins, respectively. Owens wrapped his season with a 9-3 record, including four by pin.

Briley (7-6), Haden Yeager (5-7), Dillon Haas (3-3) and Kyle McChesney (2-0) also wrestled for the eighth-grade Wildcats.

On the seventh-grade level, Barker led the way with a 13-1 record, including 11 pins. Doles also had a strong season with a 9-2 record, with six of those nine wins coming by pin.

Kattau (7-6), Hamilton (7-7), Remington Rice (6-6) and Carson Kern (6-4) each finished with a .500 record or above.

Gorley (5-6), Nate Little (3-10), Tyler Huber (2-11), Hayden Feikert (1-3), Allen (1-13), Wyatt Hoyle (0-12) and Gavin Whisenhunt (0-9) also wrestled for the Louisburg seventh grade.

Between the two grades, the Wildcats won 141 matches on the season, with 100 of those coming by pin.

Seventh-grader Ben Wiedenmann works for a pin during a home match earlier this season against Spring Hill. Wiedenmann finished third at the Frontier League Tournament on Nov. 14 in Ottawa. He also led the seventh-grade team with 12 wins on the year.

The Louisburg Middle School wrestling team made a lot of strides in what is a short season for the Wildcats.

According to head coach Rodney Kasitz and assistant coach Bobby Bovaird, the Wildcats drew a record number of wrestlers this past season. Those numbers also resulted in a good amount of success, especially at the Frontier League tournament on Nov. 14.

The Wildcats traveled to Ottawa to compete against some of the league’s best and came away with several awards.

Seventh-grader Cade Holtzen had the best day out of all his teammates as he won the league championship in the ‘A’ bracket at 80 pounds with a 3-0 record – and all three wins came by pin.

Fellow seventh-graders Ryan Owens was 1-1 at 75 pounds and came in second overall and Ben Wiedenmann was third with a 2-1 record at 127 pounds. Eighth-grader Collin Hamilton also came in third at 120 pounds with a 2-1 mark.

Ethan Showalter (85 pounds), Harrison Laney (95) and Justin Collins (105) came in fourth overall.

In the B/C brackets, the Wildcats picked up three league champions. Ethan Shaffer was 4-0 with four pins at 85 pounds, Anthony Davis was 3-0 with a pair of pins at 120 pounds and Xander Chennault was 3-0 with three pins at 127 pounds.

Seventh-grader Ethan Showalter rolls a Spring Hill opponent to his back during a home dual with the Broncos earlier this season. Showalter finished fourth at the league tournament on Nov. 14.

Dylan Haas (75), Hunter Millbern (127) and Matthew Allen (155) finished runner-up. Teammates Bridger Baus (100), Dylan Sanders (115) and Ethan Armstrong (165) came in third.

In the team standings, the Wildcats tied with Spring Hill for fourth place with 81 points. Paola won the league championship with 218 points.

“This is exciting for the future of the high school team,” Bovaird said, who is also the head coach at the high school. “We’ve had several standouts who came from the Louisburg Kids Wrestling Club, but we’re also starting to attract some solid athletes with no wrestling experience at all.

“Kids at the middle school are starting to look seriously at wrestling as an option. We’re getting kids out who are solid athletes, and we’re getting kids who are tough-as-nails. This is my fourth year being involved with the LMS program, and I’m very excited for what’s to come.”

On the eighth grade level, Millbern led the Wildcats with 12 victories on the season, with 10 of those coming by pin and the other two by technical fall. Dalton Hilt had the best winning percentage with a 9-0 record.

Jack Mick and Davis led Louisburg in major decisions with two each and Hamilton led the Wildcats with four decisions on the year.

Eighth-grader Dalton Hilt works for a pin during a match earlier this season. Hilt finished the season with a 9-0 record.

Competing for the eighth grade this season were, Harrison Laney (8-4, 8 pins), Dalton Hilt (9-0, 7 pins), Tyler Shaffer (3-9, 2 pins), Sinell Ellifrits (0-7), Drake Varns (5-9, 3 pins), Dallas Newberry (4-3, 4 pins), Jack Mick (3-5, 1 pin and 2 major dec.), Dylan Sanders (7-3, 6 pins), Collin Hamilton (11-3, 6 pins), Tyler Bussard (2-11, 2 pins), Anthony Davis (11-1, 8 pins and 2 maj. dec.), Jessamy Howison (3-3, 3 pins), Hunter Millbern (12-5, 10 pins, 2 tech falls), Hugh Staver (7-7, 7 pins), Matthew Allen (4-9, 3 pins and 1 maj. dec.), Ethan Armstrong (1-13, 1 pin), Sam Kratochvil, (7-4, 6 pins) and Brayden White (5-6, 5 pins).

For the seventh grade, Wiedenmann led the Wildcats with the most wins with 12 and all 12 victories came by pin. Collins was the lone Wildcat to record a technical fall with one, while Collins, Elijah Johnson, Owens and Holtzen each had a major decision. Owens led Louisburg with two decisions on the year.

Competing for the seventh grade this season were, Ryan Owens (9-2, 6 pins, 1 maj. dec.), Chance Savage (2-0, 1 pin), Dylan Haas (6-4, 6 pins), Cade Holtzen (10-5, 8 pins, 1 maj. dec), Ethan Showalter (4-7, 3 pins), Ethan Shaffer (11-5, 11 pins), Jarrett Hoyle (6-10, 6 pins), Charley Hutson (1-11, 1 pin), Bridger Baus (3-6, 2 pins), Justin Collins (11-4, 8 pins, 1 tech fall, 1 maj. dec.), Kaleb O’Keefe (2-8, 2 pins), Matthew Madison (8-6, 7 pins), Ben Wiedenmann, (12-2, 12 pins), Xander Chennault (4-7, 4 pins), Cole Ewalt (4-6, 3 pins), Elijah Johnson (9-1, 8 pins, 1 maj. dec.) and Cole Evans (0-4).