CHANUTE — Months of grueling practices and endless conditioning came boiling down to 23 gut-wrenching seconds for TJ Taylor Saturday.
The Iola High wrestler was 23 seconds away from advancing to the Class 4A State Wrestling Tournament when a late takedown by Paola’s Ryan Pankov gave Taylor’s opponent two crucial points in their consolation semifinal round.
Taylor did all he could to escape Pankov’s grasp. Doing so would have given Taylor a point, as the two writhed around the perimeter of the mat.
But the clock struck zero as Taylor was inches away from securing the point. The 6-5 defeat kept Taylor out of the top four in the 126-pound division, and thus out of the state tournament next week in Salina.
“He’s a great kid,” IHS head coach Jason Bates said. “TJ wrestled hard. It just wasn’t his day to win that one, I guess.”
Taylor’s sixth-place finish at substate was matched by freshman teammate Danny Boeken, who finished sixth at 220 pounds, one win shy of advancing to state.
It marked the third consecutive time Taylor and Pankov had met on the wrestling mat. Taylor won via pin Feb. 6 at the Class 4A District Meet. Pankov returned the favor after Taylor was injured late in their third-place match a week later at the 4A Regionals.
The rubber match was set up by fate. Taylor opened the tournament opposite Tonganoxie’s Grayson Sonntag, the unbeaten and top 126-pound wrestler in the state.
Taylor escaped an early takedown, but was unable to get out of the second, and was pinned at 1:39.
Relegated to the consolation side of the tournament, Taylor was paired up with Kaven Bartlett of Louisburg.
Neither wrestler could get an advantage through the first two periods, although Taylor was able to prevent Bartlett from escaping after Bartlett opted to start the second period on bottom.
That meant Taylor started the third period on bottom. Bartlett was unable to do much with the starting advantage, and Taylor wrestled free with 9 seconds left in the period — and the match — to secure the dramatic 1-0 victory.
That set up the pivotal consolation semi against Pankov.
Pankov earned two points in the first period for a 2-0 lead. Taylor earned two points early in the second period with a takedown, but his momentum in the maneuver just as quickly gave Pankov the upper hand and two more points as he was credited with a reversal and a 4-2 lead.
Taylor struggled on bottom before seizing the upper hand in the waning seconds, getting the reversal and two points to even the match.
The third period was tense from the start. Taylor took a 5-4 lead in the first few seconds of the period when he escaped from the bottom position.
