Fort Hays State wrestling finished third at the fourth-annual Kansas Cup on Sunday (Jan. 27) in Wichita, Kan. at Newman University. C.J. Napier (141 pounds) and Derek Koehn (157 pounds) were individual champions. FHSU finished with 102 team points, behind champion Labette Community College with 119.5 and Baker University with 106.
The team standings are still under review as Fort Hays State was shorted points on the final printed results. Napier was entered in the results as the runner-up at 141 pounds.
The Tigers were down a wrestler in the event as they did not have anyone at 125 pounds. Also, Tanner Kriss, who is nationally ranked at 197 pounds, did not compete in the event. Fort Hays State had three wrestlers reach the finals, which included Derek Koehn (157), C.J. Napier (141), and Noah Killip (149).
Koehn defeated Colby Crank of Bethany College in the finals at 157 pounds with a fall in 1:22. He also had a close 3-2 decision in the semifinals and a fall in the quarterfinals to reach the championship. Napier defeated Tyler Davis of Labette Community College in the finals at 141 pounds by a 5-3 decision. He had close battles throughout the afternoon, winning his opening round match by two, his quarterfinal match by one, and the semifinal by four. Killip had a pair of tight wins to reach the finals with a 5-3 win in the quarters and a 2-1 win over Nick Haugen of Baker in the semis. He was pinned in the final by Spencer Rutherford of Labette Community College in 5:54.
Fort Hays State had three third-place finishers, which included Symon Seaton (133), Sam Thoman (165) and Zack Grimes (184). Seaton was pinned in his first match of the day in the quarterfinals, but picked up a major decision and one-point decision in the consolation bracket before taking third by default. Thoman had a 6-0 shutout win in his first match of the day to reach the semifinals, but lost 9-5. He then had a convincing major decision win in the consolation bracket before posting an 8-3 win over Nathan Sommer of Baker in the third-place match. Grimes took a similar path as Thoman, winning his first match of the day 10-5 to reach the semis, but then lost 12-7. In the consolation side, he had a 6-4 decision and then a 12-2 major decision over Jarid Price of Baker for third.
John Close finished fourth at heavyweight. He reached the semifinals with a 3-0 win in the quarterfinals before getting shutout by eventual champion Brandon Gebhardt of Baker. He posted a fall in 1:33 over Pedro Garcia of Colby Community College, but then lost in the third-place match 3-1 to Lorenzo Serna of Newman. Travis Budke was the only other placer for the Tigers, finishing fifth at 174 pounds.
The Tigers gear up for two duals at home this coming week, hosting Lindenwood on Friday (Feb. 1) and Truman on Sunday (Feb. 3).