West Elk Patriots will be represented by three wrestlers this week at the 3-1A boys state tournament in Salina, as senior Evan Coble, junior Creyo Koop and sophomore Edward Metcalf all punched their tickets to the state tournament.
Coble advances to the state contest for the fourth year. He is currently ranked fourth in the 132-pound weight class and looks to claim his fourth state medal. He placed fifth in the 126-pound class last year, third in the 113-pound class his sophomore year and fifth place in the 106-pound class his freshman year. Coble will face Reid Fort of Oberlin- Decatur Community (25-11) in the opening round of the state tournament.
Koop will be making his third state appearance, and will also be vying for another state medal. He placed 3rd in the 165-pound class last year and was state runner- up in the 145-pound class his freshman year. He is currently ranked 1st in his weight class. Koop will face Eli Stein (13-10) of Hays-Thomas More Prep Marion in the opening round of state. Koop was also awarded the Regional Wrestler of the Year award at the Eureka Regional. The award is voted on by head coaches.
Metcalf will be making his first state appearance. He will face Corbin Puga (33-2) of Norton Community during the opening round of state.
The state contest will be held this Thursday-Saturday, in Salina. The opening round is set to begin at 5:15 p.m.
A special send-off for the West Elk wrestlers (Coble, Koop, Metcalf and Lady Patriot Kayla Wright) will be held on Thursday, at 8 a.m.
Also representing West Elk at the Eureka Regional were Josh Patteson, Landon Wunderlich and Boedy Murphy. All three were just one match away from advancing to the state contest.
Following are the results for West Elk participants from the Eureka Regional: 132: Evan Coble (32-6) placed 2nd. He received a bye; won by fall over Jeremy Willard (Mound City-Jayhawk Linn) 18-16; won by fall over Noah Henderson (Caney Valley) 20-16 (Fall 1:16); and lost a 4-9 decision to Landen Kmiec (Erie) 211. 165: Creyo Koop (39-0) placed 1st. He won by fall over Jace Wren (Caney Valley) 11-19 (Fall 1:54); won by fall over Devon Westhoff (Erie) 7-9 (Fall 0:27); won by fall over Brock Griffin (Cottonwood Falls-Chase County) 36-8 (Fall 1:28); and won by fall over Kaden Keil (Leon-Bluestem) 15-11 (Fall 0:33).
175: Josh Patteson (1515) lost by fall to Guthrie Danford (Cottonwood Falls-Chase County) 14-6 (Fall 1:36); won by fall over Hunter Hall (Medicine Lodge) 0-9 (Fall 0:22); and lost a 2-5 decision to Miles Easley (Burden-Central) 27-8.
190: Landon Wunderlich (15-21) received a bye; lost by fall to Micah Cauthers (Cottonwood Falls-Chase County) 39-5 (Fall 0:16); received a bye; won by fall over Ryan Reid (Fredonia) 1-8 (Fall 1:36); and lost by fall to Colten Neal (Leon- Bluestem) 27-14 (Fall 0:57).
215: Boedy Murphy (2118) lost by fall to Radyn Martin (Caney Valley) 2314 (Fall 2:52); won by fall over Dahzael Castillo (Oxford) 2-12 (Fall 3:21); and lost by fall to Xander Woods (Burden-Central) 22-9 (Fall 1:29).
285: Edward Metcalf (623) placed 4th. He received a bye; lost by fall to Cooper Smith (Cherryvale) 25-8 (Fall 0:37); received a bye; and lost by fall to Ethan Ranes (Mound City-Jayhawk Linn) 19-20 (Fall 0:18).
