Iola’s Andrew Garber is state-bound

LOUISBURG — It was a good Friday of wrestling for Iola’s Andrew Garber.
Garber wrestled his way into the Class 4A State Wrestling Tournament by guaranteeing a top-two finish in the 182-pound weight class at the Louisburg Class 4A Regional on Friday.
But, his work isn’t done. He is in the finals of the regional which take place at Louisburg High School at 11 a.m. today.
“It feels awesome,” Garber said. “I’m just going to go wrestle my best and let it out.” 
Garber, the second seed in his weight class, went 3-0 at the first day of the regional.
In his first match, Garber pinned Spring Hill’s Nick Sprague in 3:59. Garber then beat Prairie View’s Dylan Rice in the quarterfinal by a 3-2 decision. Garber attacked Rice’s legs, pinning him outside the wrestling area to earn two points in the final 30 seconds of the match. He had previously beaten Rice this season.
“That’s something we’ve been working on — attacking the legs,” coach Jason Bates said. “Really, that no tuck shot. We’ve been getting tied up a lot and that’s slowing us down. That’s something we need to work on. He needed to attack his legs and it paid off.”
In the semifinals, Garber faced Coffeyville’s Grant Newton, another familiar foe that he beat earlier this season. Garber was able to win in a 6-1 decision. The win clinched him a berth in today’s finals for a chance at first place in the regional.
Tavon Blazek and Colton Toney still have a fighting chance to make it to the state tournament.
“Both Colton and Tavon have a good chance at winning their matches tomorrow,” Bates said. “They just have to come out ready to wrestle.”
Blazek started the tournament as the fifth seed of the 195-pound class and got a win in his first match. After struggling in the first period, Blazek came back out in the second period and pinned Spring Hill’s Keegan Crotchett in 2:52 to get the win.
“We needed that win, hopefully it boosted his confidence a little bit,” Bates said after the match. “The first match is out of the way, so hopefully we wrestle the best we can.”
Unfortunately, Blazek wasn’t able go knock off his next opponent. He lost to Chanute’s Alex Son by being pinned in 53 seconds.
“He just needs to shake that one off right now, get his head straight and do the best he can,” Bates said.
Blazek is now in the consolation bracket and needs to win three matches today.
Toney only had one match on Friday in the 285-pound division. He was pinned by Louisburg’s Anders Vance in 29 seconds. The loss knocked him into the consolation bracket, where he will need to win two matches to make it to the state tournament.
“I haven’t seen anyone wrestle bad at all,” Bates said. “We’ve been peaking at the right time, using the moves we’ve worked on in practice and keeping level heads. They’re wrestling a lot better than they were at the beginning of the year.”
Play resumes for day two of the competition at 11 a.m. today