Staff writer
Marion senior wrestlers Brody Carroll and Evan Slater both had accomplished wrestling careers.
Carroll earned trips to the state tournament every year in high school. He amassed more than 150 victories as a wrestler.
Slater went to the state tournament three times and won over 100 matches.
However, the 2013 state tournament would not be included in the first page in a career scrapbook for either grappler.
“We were just sluggish, flat,” head coach Chad Adkins said of the Warriors’ team effort. “It was a weird weekend. Our kids did not handle it very well.”
Carroll and Slater both made it to the quarterfinals of the consolation bracket.
In the 152-pound bracket, Carroll defeated Jacob Stewart of Bennington by pin but lost to Kade Brown of Oberlin Decatur Community, 26-5, in the second round, 4-3.
“It was 2-1 going into the third round and Brody had to start challenging for points,” head coach Chad Adkins said.
Carroll defeated Trevor Fee of Highland Doniphan West by pin in the second round of his first match in the consolation bracket. After the first round of the match ended with a 0-0 tie, Carroll scored a reversal early in the second round and then secured both of Fee’s arms for a pin.
That setup a matchup with Gage Younger, 36-2, of Ellis. Younger built a 7-0 lead utilizing lightning-quick shots, grabbing Carroll’s right leg. Younger padded his lead with two more takedowns and an escape in the third round to win the match, 12-4.
“All the better guys were on the top side of the bracket,” Adkins said. “Someone is going to lose; we needed to win in the quarterfinals to medal.”
Slater wrestled a much closer match against his 220-pound quarterfinal opponent, Gus Farthing of Burlington. The only scoring in the three regulation rounds was that each wrestler earned an escape from bottom position. Most of the match was spent with the two wrestlers jockeying for position while standing. Multiple times, Slater attempted shots, reaching with his right arm for Farthing’s left leg, to only have the Burlington wrestler backup a step and the two wrestlers would reset with their hands around their heads.
Farthing was waiting for Slater to make a mistake. He got his opportunity in the first minute in overtime. Again, Slater attempted a shot but could not get up off his hands fast enough to back away from Farthing’s counter attack. Farthing spun around Slater and pushed the Marion wrestler to his stomach to win the match in sudden death, 3-1.
Slater also won his first match of the weekend by pin over DJ Serviss of Langdon Fairfield. He then lost to No. 1 seed Kane Washington of Hoxie, 12-3. Slater defeated Tyler Edelman of Sabetha by pin in the third round of his first match in the consolation bracket.
Sophomore Beretta Janzen was the only other Marion wrestler to make it out of the first day of competition. He lost in the first round to Ethan Ross of Norton, 5-1. He then defeated Landon Harmon of Hoisington, 10-0, in first round of the consolation bracket. He lost to No. 1 seed Macoy Rains of Oakley, 5-2, in his second match of the consolation bracket.
Senior Eric Regnier, 126 pounds, lost two matches by pin to Willy Dieckmann of Effingham-Atchison County and Brendan Arnold of Lyons.
Sophomore Adam Janzen, 182 pounds, lost to Steven Yergey-Dible of Hoxie, 17-2, and A.J. Cooper of Cimarron by pin.
Adkins is optimistic for the Janzen brothers for future state competitions.
“These guys are going to be back,” Adkins said.
He pointed out that Adam Janzen’s performance this year is more impressive considering he wrestled up a weight class. He joined the Warrior wrestling team later in the season and Adkins would not allow him to challenge Zac Lewman to wrestle at 170. Adkins said Adam Janzen weighed in at 171 pounds at the state tournament.
“That’s a phenomenal accomplishment,” Adkins said. “He was out leveraged and outmuscled every time he stepped out onto the mat.”