eTrailblazer: Wrestling

Tom Van Valkenburg Signs to Wrestle with Fort Hays State

Monday, CGHS Wrestler Tom Van Valkenburg signed a letter of Intent to wrestle at Fort Hays State University. He was the 3A state runner-up at 120 lbs. this season finishing the season with a 22-1 record.

Pictured Coach Jay Doornbos, Grace, Emily, and Hayleigh Van Valkenburg
Tom Sr, Tom Jr, and Jaymie Van Valkenburg

Emily, Tom, Grace, and Hayleigh Van Valkenburg

Photos by Carissa Dalquest; Editing by Rylee Powell

Posted at 03:54 PM in Wrestling | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tom Van Valkenburg Second at State

Tom Van Valkenburg qualified for the 3-2-1A State Wrestling meet in Hays as the Sub-State champion at 120 lbs. Tom became the first CGHS male wrestler to compete in the state championship match. His 2^nd-place finish at State is the highest finish ever for a CGHS boys’ wrestler in the State meet.

Photo by Carissa Dalquest; Editing by Rylee Powell

Posted at 03:47 PM in Wrestling | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jolie Ziegler First at State

SALINA, Kan. (WIBW) - For the second-straight year, Council Grove’s Jolie Ziegler took home first place in the 170 lb. weight class at the KSHSAA Girls State Wrestling Tournament.

Ziegler topped Larned’s Ava Mull with a 4-3 decision in the championship match.

She becomes the first wrestler in Council Grove history to twice win a state wrestling title.

Ziegler, the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association Division II District 4 Wrestler of the Year, won her first title in the inaugural Kansas girls state tournament last year.

Photo by Carissa Dalquest; Editing by Rylee Powell

Posted at 03:38 PM in Wrestling | Permalink | Comments (0)

State Wrestling Brackets

Girls will wrestle in Salina on Friday, February 26

Boys will wrestle in Hays on Saturday, February 27

Posted at 12:24 PM in Wrestling | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sub-State Wrestling

The Braves had a great weekend at Sub-State wrestling. The sub-state tournaments are a part of the traditional state tournament. Typically wrestlers move on to the state tournament after placing in the top four at regionals. Due to Covid, KSHSAA divided the state tournament into two weekends with sub-state being the first half of the tournament or state series.

Our girls began Sub-State competition in Ellis on Friday night. Hayvin Thornhill, Abby Allen, and Casey McDiffett were all eliminated and will not move on to the final eight. Jolie Ziegler won the sub-state title at 170 pounds and will move on to the final eight in Salina next Friday.

Jolie started the tournament with quick first period pins in the quarterfinals and the semifinals. Jolie faced off against Ava Mull of Larned in the championship match. Mull was undefeated at 25-0 heading into the match. The match was tied 1-1 at the end of regulation and Jolie ended up winning the match 1-1 after riding Mull out in both the third and fourth overtimes. Jolie wrestled a very smart match and found a way to win in a very difficult situation in overtime.

Our boys also had a great day of wrestling in Marion on Saturday. Wyatt Johnson competed at 126 pounds and started the day off with a quick first period pin of the Marion wrestler who was the regional runner-up out of his regional. Wyatt lost his semifinal match to the defending state runner-up but really wrestled well. In the consolation semifinals Wyatt was leading 7-2 when he gave up a pin. As disappointing as the loss was we were really proud of Wyatt. He made one mistake that cost him the match but he made the mistake while being aggressive and trying to score points. Wyatt finished his season with a hard fought win in the 5th/6th place match.

Tom VanValkenburg wrestled amazingly on Saturday. Tom picked up a quick pin in the quarterfinals before matching up with the Eureka wrestler in the semifinals. The Eureka wrestler was ranked third in the state, and Tom turned in another dominant performance, beating him 7-2. Tom faced off against the number one ranked wrestler in the state in the finals. Tom wrestled a strategically smart match as well as being physically dominant defeating the Remington wrestler 9-4 to win the regional championship.

Photos and Story by Coach Doornbos

Posted at 12:08 PM in Wrestling | Permalink | Comments (0)

Regional Wrestlers Going to Sub-State

Boys Regional Wrestling at Rossville February 12

Qualified for Sub-State at Marion on Saturday, February 20

Tom Van Valkenburg 1st
Wyatt Johnson 3rd

Girls Regional Wrestling at Circle February 13

Qualified for Sub-State at Ellis on Friday, February 19

Jolie Ziegler 1st
Abby Allen 4th
Casey McDiffett 4th
Hayvin Thornhill 4th

Posted at 02:21 PM in Wrestling | Permalink | Comments (0)

Boys District Wrestling

Joey Andres, Toby Cobb, Jesse Rodgers, Grady Tiffany, Zach McCra
Jace Goodman, Jayden Moseley-Cannon, Wyatt Johnson, Tom Van Valkenburg, Zach Andres
not pictured: Tyler Rodgers

Silver Lake hosted district wrestling Saturday and ended the evening with third place out of eleven competing teams. Individual results were:

Tyler Rodgers, 1st
Tom Van Valkenburg, 1st
Zach Andres, 2nd
Wyatt Johnson, 2nd
Grady Tiffany, 3rd
Jace Goodman, 3rd
Jesse Rodgers, 4th
Jayden Moseley-Cannon, 4th