Can't
get to the game? Don't worry, we've got ya covered.
FHSU has good showing
12/9/2008
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
For more than 13 and a half hours Saturday, wrestlers from the Midwest competed in the FHSU/Bob Smith Open at Gross Memorial Coliseum. Typically, the tournament had 260-280 entries, a number that was upped to 350 this year.
Even with the longer day and more competitors, Fort Hays State University outperformed their 2007 showing.
"They wrestled well," first-year head coach Chas Thompson said Monday afternoon at the Tiger coaches' monthly press conference. "It was a very long day."
Last year, Fort Hays placed five wrestlers in the top three, including three in the finals. No wrestler won his weight class.
A season later, the Tigers had six in the finals and two champions, including several wrestlers who didn't compete at the tourney last year.
Junior Tommy Edgmon, a transfer from Pratt Community College, defeated his teammate, redshirt freshman Dustin Dooley, in the 125-pound championship. It was Edgmon's first tournament of the year after he missed three weeks with a rib injury.
"Tommy Edgmon looked great," Thompson said. "That was probably the first person that came to mind. He hadn't seen any real competition yet."
Redshirt Blake Malloy, a returning national qualifier, won the 165 pound division and Fort Hays finished with four runner-ups.
Senior James Annon and junior Danny Grater, second place last season, each replicated their finish at 141 and 157 pounds, respectively.
Annon is ranked No. 2 in the nation, while Grater stands fourth. Both went to the national tournament last season and Annon earned All-American honors.
Two Oakley products, neither whom competed at the Bob Smith last season, also shined.
Junior Shawn Kuhlman, 18-33 in his career entering this season, finished second at 174 pounds. Junior Levi Younkin, a transfer who sat out last year, was fourth in a 55-person bracket at 149 pounds, the biggest weight class in the tournament.
"Very long day in a very big bracket and he wrestled well," Thompson said.
Edgmon won the team's first championship when he defeated Dooley at 125. The two are considered wrestlers that can qualify for nationals and are daily wrestling partners in the Tiger room. Saturday's final served as a wrestle-off for the team's top wrestler at 125 pounds.
Edgmon won 3-0, yet may not hold the top spot when the dual season opens January 2 against Colorado School of Mines.
"I would definitely rather see Tommy and Dustin Dooley wrestle out there in a real match competition," Thompson said. "We are probably going to have another challenge match in the wrestling room this week to solidify who we want to bring back after Christmas."
Younkin and Kuhlman's performances also served as the top finishes in the wrestlers' careers. Younkin, a three-time Class 3-2-1A high school champion for the Plainsmen, took a year off and transferred in from Wichita State University.
Two weeks ago, he went to a tournament at the University of Northern Colorado and finished 6-3.
"He has had to catch up with the Div. II caliber of wrestling, but he has done well," Thompson said.
At Bob Smith, Younkin, the No. 4 seed, finished 5-2 and took fourth after he lost to Colby Community College's Ganbayar Sanjaa.
"He stays after practice everyday and asks what he needs to do," Thompson said. "His work ethic is what makes him the caliber of wrestler that he is. He is a very talented kid and he is also a very hard worker. I am getting what I expected."
Kuhlman had posted a sub-.500 record in his first three seasons.
In his first two years, including a redshirt season, Kuhlman finished with a 10-19 record and was 8-14 a year ago. He wrestled in two tournaments last year.
Kuhlman has now emerged as one of the Tigers' top wrestlers. He finished third at the Colby Open before his runner-up showing Saturday.
"Shawn has been surprising a lot of people," Thompson said. "He leads the conference in pins. He picked up one this weekend. He wrestled real well for us. He has always been kind of a middle of the road guy for us.
"He has a lot of talent, but he is not the most coordinated wrestler in the room," Thompson added. "He has a gas tank that is probably second to none."
Kuhlman won four matches before he lost - in tournament match 639 of 646 - to University of Nebraska-Kearney's Kamarudeen Usman in the final at 10:15 p.m.
"He is probably in the 99 percentile for how hard he can wrestle and for the length of time he can wrestle," Thompson said. "Shawn really needs to drag out a match, especially against higher caliber wrestlers."
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |