by Derek White
The Goodland Cowboy wrestling team traveled to Salina on Feb. 28 for the Kansas State High School Activities Association’s State Wrestling tournament, with three wrestlers in tow. The trio competed at the Tony’s Pizza Event Center in the two-day tournament with 224 other boys among 56 teams, after the dust settled the Cowboys had one wrestler hit the podium. Trayven Conger ended his season with a fantastic performance on the backside of the bracket to finish in fourth place and a 30-20 season at 138 pounds.
In the first round of the tournament, Conger drew Winfield’s Talon Suttles to begin but suffered defeat by technical fall 23-7. Conger then won four straight matches to earn an opportunity to compete for the bronze medal, first by defeating Independence’s Keith Sanders by fall. Then he beat Ulysses’ Sebastian Heredia by major decision 12-3, followed by a win by decision 5-1 over Rose Hill’s Cash McVay.
In the consolation semifinals, Conger pulled of an upset win by pinning second ranked Murphy Randolph from Abilene. Then he was pitted against Scott City’s Alex Rodriguez for third place. The match was intense as both wrestlers scrambled for position, but Rodriguez was able to pull ahead and win the match by decision 9-2 over Conger.
The Cowboys also brough Omar Hernandez to compete at 157 pounds, but his tournament was ended short after suffering defeat in the consolation second round. He finished the day 1-2 after an opening round win over Iola’s Kale Pratt by technical fall. He then went on to lose to Pratt’s Blake Winsor by fall and Paola’s Brody Latto by a close decision of 5-4.
The last Cowboy to qualify for the state tournament was the 190 pound Logan Franz, he first lost to Hayden’s Broderick Desch by decision 8-5, then to Louisburg’s Brayden Yoder by major decision 11-3.
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