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Panthers' Cooper Liles places runner-up
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Great Bend Panther Cooper Liles wrestles Goddard's in the 150-pound championship match. - photo by JIM MISUNAS Great Bend Tribune

BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com

PARK CITY — Great Bend's No. 3 ranked Cooper Liles (29-4, 150) achieved a goal when he surprised Wichita Carroll's No. 2 ranked Brady Duling  (1:16) in the 5A state wrestling semifinals. 

Liles earned a shot at a 150-pound state championship match to Goddard's No. 1 ranked Jacob Goodwin (2:49). Goodwin proved to be a rugged matchup for Liles.

"It turns around so quickly, you never know," Liles said.

Duling pinned Liles (4:26) at last week's Arkansas City regional.

"I was quite surprised when I beat Duling, who'd just beat me last week.," he said. "I thought I'd come through the backside and maybe place third. But I followed what my coaches asked me to do and got where I needed to be. I showed my offense and did my best."

In earlier matches, Liles pinned Pittsburg's Eismael Hernandez, (0:51) and downed Spring Hill's No. 5 Avery Bartek 14-6 to reach the 150-pound finals.

Teammate Jace Schartz (42-6, 157) rallied to win two matches to place third in 5A. Schartz edged Wichita Carroll's Eli Means 1-0 to finish third.

No. 1 ranked Schartz met Hutchinson's No. 2 ranked Kade Smith for the second consecutive weekend. Smith edged Schartz 5-3 in overtime a week after Schartz beat Smith in overtime 3-2.

Schartz edged Smith 3-2 in overtime in last week's regional semifinal. Great Bend's 5A Arkansas City regional featured the top six finishers in the 157-pound division. Andover's 150-pound state champion Bradley Trimmell finished third and Smith placed sixth at regionals last week. 

Schartz defeated St. James' Gavin Puchalla, 17-1 and pinned Maize South's No. 4 ranked Josh Berlin (2:55) to qualify for the semifinals.

The Panthers (91.5) placed sixth in 5A. Goddard (178.5) won the team title.

Three Panther wrestlers placed sixth.

The Panthers' No. 5 ranked Kaiden Hoffman (35-11, 132) lost a 14-12 quarterfinal showdown against No. 4 ranked Wichita Carroll's Owen Newell. Salina Central's No. 6 ranked Julian Glover beat Hoffman 7-1 for fifth place.

Great Bend's No. 5 Triston Tomlinson (26-19, 120) was pinned by Lansing's No. 3 Sawyer Jorgenson (4:59) for fifth place. Tomlinson lost to Newton's state runner-up Lucas Kaufman (1:54).

No. 4 Trenton Kern (33-9, 190) had to forfeit his fifth-place match on an injury to Lansing's No. 6 Noah Mathis.

No. 5 Aidan Davidson (25-8, 175) lost to Salina Central's state champion Cooper Reves (1:27). 

Losing to state runners-up were Matthew Johnson (30-14, 215) against Lansing's Eli Mathis (3:40); and Hayden Kelley (28-13, 138) to Maize South's Josh Kerr 7-1.

5A STATE WRESTLING

TEAM SCORES—1—Goddard 178.5; 2—Andover 143.5; 3—Valley Center 115; 4—Newton 110; 5—Basehor 101; 6—Great Bend 91.5; 7—Salina Central 89.5; 8—St. Thomas Aquinas 89; 9—Wichita Carroll 84; 10—Lansing 83

GREAT BEND RESULTS

120—No. 6 Triston Tomlinson (26-19); 5TH—No. 3 Jorgensen, Lansing pinned Tomlinson, 4:59; Tomlinson pinned Bowles, St. James, 5:16; No. 1 Kaufman, Newton pinned Tomlinson, 1:54; Tomlinson def. Turner, DeSoto, 9-0; Tomlinson pinned Ward, Basehor, 0:50; No. 5 Landers, Carroll def. Tomlinson, 2-0

126—Hayden Liles (22-17); No. 1 Puderbaugh, Basehor (36-4) def. Liles, 16-0; Garner, Lansing def. Liles, 6-2

132—No. 5 Kaiden Hoffman (35-11); 5TH—No. 6 Glover, SC def. Hoffman, 7-1; Hoffman pinned Gillen, Blue Valley, 0:29; Newell, Carroll def. Hoffman, 14-12 (OT); Hoffman def. Hartman, Pittsburg, 12-1; Hoffman def. Miller, Goddard 2-1; No. 3 Vielhauer, Basehor def. Hoffman, 3-2

138—No. 5 Hayden Kelly (28-13); Kelly pinned Barnes, St. James, 3:22; No. 2 Kerr, MS def. Kelly, 7-1; Kelly def. Ross, SH, 15-3; No. 3 Markley, BVSW pinned Kelly, 2:28

150—No.3 Cooper Liles (29-4); 1ST--Goodwin, Goddard pinned Liles, 2:49; Liles pinned Hernandez, Pittsburg, 0:51; Liles pinned No. 2 Duling, Carroll, 1:16; Liles def. No. 5 Bartek, SH, 14-6 

157—No. 1 Jace Schartz (41-6); 3RD—Schartz def. Means, Carroll, 1-0; Schartz def. Puchalla, St. James,  17-1; Schartz pinned No. 4 Berlin, MS, 2:55; No. 2 Smith, Hutchinson def. Schartz, 5-3 (OT); Schartz def. No. 3 Vieyra, Goddard, 9-5

165—Michael Montoya (24-18); Anderson, Highland Park pinned Montoya, 2:47; No. 5  Ring, Andover def. Montoya, 13-0

175—No. 5 Aidan Davidson (25-8); Davidson pinned Burney, Highland Park, 1:15; No. 2 Reves, SC pinned Davidson, 1:27; Davidson def. Townsend, Lansing, 6-3; Warkentine, Andover def. Davidson, 6-3

190—No. 4 Trenton Kern (33-9); 5TH—No. 6 Mathis, Lansing def. Kern, injury; Kern pinned Gallardo, KC Harmon, 1:20;  No. 2 Hagel, Goddard def. Kern, 9-6; Kern pinned O'Neal, SH, 2:21; Kern def. Meyers, Hays, 3-2; No. 3 Hutchinson, Andover def. Kern, 5-4

215—Matthew Johnson (30-14); Johnson pinned Capra, BV, 2:26; No. 2 Mathis, Lansing pinned Johnson, 3:40; Johnson pinned Winfield, Andover, 2:25; No. 5 Reno, Seaman def. Johnson, 11-5


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Great Bend Panther Cooper Liles (29-4, 150) lost in the state championship match to Goddard's No. 1 ranked Jacob Goodwin (2:49). - photo by JIM MISUNAS Great Bend Tribune