The Fort Hays State wrestlers took home four individual titles and a team third place finish at the Kansas Cup on Sunday (Jan. 29), hosted by Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan. The host Wildcats won the team title with 121 points with Labette in second, totaling 118.5 points. FHSU finished the day with 112.5 points in their third place finish.
Four Tigers took home individual championships in the Kansas Cup. CJ Napier won the 141-pound class, going 3-0 on the day. Napier, who was No. 7 in the latest Division II rankings, defeated Joel Olivas of Baker in a close 1-0 decision to win the title. Napier also defeated Courtney Strauss (tech fall) of Bethany College and Jordan Basks of Labette (maj. 13-0) on the day. Napier is a perfect 6-0 on the season.
Derek Koehn was victorious at 157 pounds for the Tigers. He was also 3-0 on the day. Koehn defeated Colby Crank of Bethany College in a 5-3 decision to take the 157-pound class. His two earlier wins also came via decisions as Koehn defeated Tyler Davis of Labette in the first round, 7-3, and Keegan Smith of Pratt CC, 5-0, in the second round bout.
No. 1-ranked Walker Clarke took home the title in the 184-pound class. Clarke recorded two decisions and a major decision in his three wins on the day. In the finals, Clarke defeated Tyler Hasenbank of Newman in a 9-4 decision. Clarke won a 12-3 major decision over John Hambeton of Labette, and a 10-4 decision over Matt Atwood of Bethany in his two other bouts.
Tanner Kriss was also victorious for the Tigers. The sophomore from Colby, Kan. won the 197-pound class. In his three matches, Kriss went 3-0 to take the title. Kriss started his run with a 3-1 decision over Anthony Grist of Bethany College then defeated Jake Nowak of Baker via a pin at 2:31. In the championship match, Kriss won a 4-1 decision to take the title over Zach Anderson of Labette CC.
Justin Glenn placed second in the 285-pound class, while Sam Thoman placed third at 165 pounds. Recording fourth place finishes were both Collin Hase at 125 pounds and Benny Armstrong at 174 pounds.
The Tigers return to conference action on Friday (Feb. 3) when FHSU hosts Colorado Mines at 6 p.m.
– FHSU Sports Information –