Led by a first-place finish by Daegan Reyes, the Mustang Broncos finished seventh at the 2023 Gardner Edgerton Invitational in Gardner, Kan. last weekend.
The Broncos finished with four wrestlers placing fifth or better in the team’s first tournament of the 2023-24 season.
Reyes (Jr.) led the way with an undefeated run at 157 pounds while Trusten Douglas (Fr.), Van Smith (Fr.), and Sam Pritz (Sr.) each placed inside the top five at their weight classes.
Reyes breezed through 157 with five straight wins by fall, including a victory over Brady Martin of Tonganoxie High School (Kan.) at the 2:52 mark in the championship match. He defeated Martin’s teammate, Gannon Sonntag, at 1:34 in the semifinals.
Reyes picked up one win over an Oklahoma wrestler, defeating Broken Arrow’s Blake Velotta at 1:33 in the second round of the tournament.
Douglas and Smith each placed third, combining to go 10-2 in the tournament The freshman duo combined for 26 team points.
Douglas made his way to the championship bracket at 106 pounds with two wins by fall and a major decision in the opening three rounds. His 17-3 MD came against Broken Arrow’s Rudy Rojas in Round 3.
He fell to Nico DeSalvo of Southeast Polk High School (Iowa) in the championship semifinals before bouncing back with a 5-0 win over Oscar Guana of Goddard High School (Kan.) for third place.
Smith reached the championship bracket at 113 pounds by taking the same route as Douglas. He won by fall in the first two rounds before winning by major decision to reach the championship bracket.
Smith fell to Zeke Witt of Manhattan High School (Kan.) in the semifinals but rebounded for a win by fall over Broken Arrow’s Bradley Lazzerini at 3:14 for third place.
Pritz opened his tournament at 215 pounds with a loss to Broken Arrow’s Gunner Wilson. However, he bounced back with a win by fall in Round 3 following a Bye in Round 2.
He won 5-2 over Ty Young of Salina Central High School (Kan.) before winning by fall over Thaden Abbas of Southeast Polk for fifth place.
Trusten Douglas (Fr.) poses with his third-place medal after winning five matches at the 2023 Gardner Edgerton Invitational in Gardner, Kan. last weekend. (Photo provided)
Blake Davis (Jr.) nearly brought home a top five finish at heavyweight, finishing sixth overall while scoring 10 team points.
He went 2-1 in the first three rounds, winning twice by fall to advance to the consolation bracket. He won 8-5 over Gavin Rhoads of Tonganoxie before losing by fall to Brodie Blackford of Southeast Polk in the fifth-place match.
Javin Douglas (Sr.) finished seventh at 132 pounds, winning twice by fall in the first three rounds. He fell to Julian Glover of Salina Central High School (Kan.) in his first consolation bracket match before defeating Nick Miller of Goddard by a 13-0 major decision for seventh place.
Hank Bullard (So.) finished eighth at 120 pounds while Jace Reed (Fr.) finished ninth.
Bullard dropped his first match of the tournament but bounced back with a win by fall and a 7-0 decision to close out the opening rounds.
He lost by fall to Harrison Glover of Goddard in his first consolation bracket match before falling to Robert Hickman of Mill Valley High School (Kan.) in the seventh-place match.
Van Smith (Fr.) poses with his third-place medal after winning five matches at 113 pounds in the Gardner Edgerton Invitational last weekend. The Broncos return from Kansas to take on Guthrie tonight for their second dual. (Photo provided)
Reed dropped his first two matches before bouncing back to win three straight. He pinned Jordan Bauswell of Tonganoxie at the 1:00 mark before pinning Leo Cisper of St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Kan.) at 2:21.
Reed closed out his tournament with a 10-0 major decision over Gavin Ourada of Omaha Skutt (Neb.) for ninth place.
Nate Pritz (Jr.) scored the team’s final top 10 with two wins at 190 pounds.
Pritz lost his first two matches but bounced back with a win by fall over Quinn Vaka of Mill Valley in the third round. He won by fall over Connor Carter of Salina Central at the 4:35 mark in his first consolation match before losing an 8-2 decision to Jescee Sanders of Salina in the eighth-place match.
Caleb Moates (Fr.) and Jaren Peterson (So.) each won two matches. Moates placed 11th at 132 pounds while Peterson placed 11th at 138.
Stanley Zgrzepski (Jr.) and Matt Hiller (Sr.) each won one match. Zgrzepski finished 12th at 144 pounds while Hiller finished 14th at 150.
Jesse Rios (Jr.) placed 12th at 165.
Southeast Polk won the tournament with 253.5 points while Broken Arrow finished second with 193.5. Allen High School finished third.
The Broncos continue their season tonight, taking on the Class 5A Guthrie Blue Jays on the road in their second dual of the 2023-24 season. Coach Will Delk’s squad then heads to Enid this weekend for the 2023 Mid-America Nationals.
