Fort Scott wrestler takes home state gold
SALINA -- Fort Scott High School's Jacob Durossette became the latest Tiger to win a wrestling State championship when he defeated Prairie View's Kaleb Konitzer, 3-2, in the 145-pound title bout at the Class 4A State Wrestling Tournament Saturday.
John Hughes finished third at 160 pounds for Fort Scott while Jerad Heckman was unable to medal at 126 pounds. All three Tigers were seniors.
Durossette finished the season with a record of 34-3, one of those losses coming against Konitzer (44-6) in the previous weekend's Regional championship match at Burlington. Konitzer, also a senior, was ranked No. 1 by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association and the defending Class 4A State champ at 132 pounds.
As both wrestlers went undefeated in their matches on Friday, the State final was the only match either had to wrestle Saturday.
This is Durossette's third State medal to go with a fourth-place medal at this weight last year and fifth place at 152 as a sophomore. Durossette also qualified for State as a freshman but had to sit that tournament out due to an injury.
Hughes (40-11) defeated Clearwater sophomore Curtis Rylant, 7-2, in the consolation semifinal in his first match on Saturday. Ryant was wrestling for the third time that day since he lost earlier in the championship bracket than Hughes did.
Hughes then took a 4-3 decision from Goodland senior John Peden in the third-place match. This was a rematch of Friday's championship quarterfinals, which Hughes won 6-4. Peden finished the season with a record of 45-2, both losses coming against Hughes in this tournament.
This was Hughes' first medal in his second State appearance, the first coming as a sophomore in 2011.
Andrew Rieschick of Holton (24-2), who sent Hughes to consolation with a one-point decision in Friday's semifinal went on to finish second in Class 4A. Columbus' Taylor Watkins (37-2) claimed a 7-3 verdict over Rieschick in the finals.
Heckman (37-11), who finished fourth in this weight class last year, needed to win twice just for a chance to medal but was stopped in the consolation quarterfinals. In his first match on Saturday, Heckman defeated Holton sophomore Justin Pool, 7-2. But in the next match, El Dorado sophomore Reno Hughey took a 3-0 decision to bring Heckman's participation in the tournament to an end.
Kansas City-Sumner Academy senior Donte Boose (45-3), who beat Heckman by one point in Friday's opening round went on win the 126-pound championship match over Abilene junior Caysen Smith (35-6) by an 8-3 score.
Holton won its second consecutive team title, finishing with 114 points. Southeast Kansas League member Chanute finished second with 76 points followed by Lindsborg-Smoky Valley with 72. Fort Scott finished in 18th place with 40.5 points.
In addition to Durossette and Hughes, the Southeast Kansas League saw five other wrestlers earn medals in Class 4A. Adam Cole of Chanute finished third at 132 while teammate Brady Vogel was third at 145 and Nick Ornelas took third at 113. Independence's Curtis Burnett took fourth at 120 and Jordan Drybread placed sixth at 285.
Pittsburg sent 10 wrestlers to the Class 5A State Tournament at Park City but only two earned medals, both freshmen. Tyler Kester finished fourth at 113 pounds while Tanner Hitchock was fifth at 106.
State team champions in the other classes were Garden City in 6A, Lenexa St. James in 5A and Norton in 3-2-1A.