Johnson to represent Jayhawk-Linn at Hays

EUREKA -- Alan Johnson will represent Jayhawk-Linn at the Class 3-2-1A State Tournament at Hays this weekend after finishing in third place in the 215-pound weight class at the Eureka Class 3-2-1A Regional Tournament here Saturday.

Johnson (21-4) pinned Nathan Foster of Wichita Independent just 43 seconds into the third-place match. Just by advancing to this match, he was assured of a State berth as the top four finishers all qualify. Winning will give him a better first-round opponent on Friday, however, as he would have had to start out against a Regional champion had he finished fourth.

Johnson started the day by pinning Daniel Hoffman of Leon-Bluestem, then pinned Trenton Harshman of Chase County. Brandon Grant of Caney Valley turned the tables and pinned Johnson to force him down into consolation.

However, Johnson bounced back with a 10-2 major decision over Jon Hein of Hillsboro to advance to the third-place match.

Seven other Jayhawks competed in the Regional and their efforts helped Jayhawk-Linn finish 13th in the 21-team field with 38 points. Hillsboro was the Regional champion with 158 points followed by Independent with 130 1/2 and Caney Valley with 125.

Caleb Jackson (20-8) was 3-2 at 285 pounds. He pinned Miguel Zaragosa of West Elk in his first match. He was winning his next match against Jon Clothier of Wichita Independent when, according to head coach Brett Kramer, he got too high on a move, got rolled and was pinned.

Jackson fought through the consolation bracket, pinning Kyle Wiseman of Bluestem and Chance Mildward of Chase County before Dakota Denny of Caney Valley eliminated him by a pin.

Tyson Baker (26-16) went 2-2 at 145 pounds for the Jayhawks. He took a 6-1 decision over Garrett Benjamin of Chase County in the first round. Hillsboro's Tyler Jones bumped him down to consolation with a 12-4 major decision. Baker then pinned Erie's Frank Sulenes before he was eliminated by Cherryvale's Kenan Booe in a 9-8 decision.

Quincy Hodges (26-16) was 2-2 at 152. He took a 6-2 decision over Lonnie Benda of Hillsboro, and then was pinned by Neodesha's Jamie Thayer. He took a 6-3 decision over Jamie Riley of Erie in consolation before he was ousted by Reed Williams of Howard-West Elk, 4-0.

David Troth (18-28) was 2-2 at 135. He was pinned by Alex Freking of Whitewater-Remington in his first match, took an 18-16 decision over Kyle Panek of Erie in consolation and was pinned by Zach Fergus of Wichita Independent to end his run.

Mason Craig (15-24) was 0-2 at 119. He was pinned by Seth Otis of Bluestem and Aaron Bina of Hillsboro.

Jarod Avery (14-16) was 0-2 at 140. He was pinned by Fred Bunch of Caney Valley and Dillon Linnebur of Cherryvale.

Briar Snyder (18-16) was 0-2 at 160. He was pinned by Jason Zoglman of Garden Plain and lost an 11-6 verdict to Dexter Friend of Wichita Independent.

"Overall, the kids improved a lot from last year and the start of this year," Kramer said of his second-year program. "Every kid won at least one medal this year on either junior varsity or varsity. Next year looks really promising with everyone returning from this year's team."

The Class 3-2-1A State Tournament begins at 10 a.m. Friday morning at Gross Memorial Coliseum on the campus of Fort Hays State University.

NOTES -- Jayhawk-Linn split a make-up dual on Tuesday at Wellsville. The Jayhawks beat Wellsville and lost to Anderson County to finish the season with a 6-8 record in duals….