COLUMBUS — Iola completed a big weekend of wrestling in Columbus on Saturday as they sent their third wrestler to state.
On Friday, Andrew Garber and Tavon Blazek secured their places in the state tournament by reaching the finals in each of their weight classes at the regional tournament. They each entered the tournament as two-seeds in their respective tournaments.
On Saturday, the Mustangs had the opportunity to send another pair to state. Colton Toney needed to win one match to advance to the consolation finals and the state tournament in the heavyweight bracket Chandler House needed two straight wins to accomplish the same in the 220-pound bracket.
Toney faced off with Chanute’s Todd Fritch for the right to make the road trip to Salina and compete in Kansas’ final weekend of high school wrestling.
The Iola junior was able to make quick work of Fritch with a pin in just 4 minutes and 11 seconds. He is now heading to the state tournament for the first time in his career.
“It feels good, just awesome,” Toney said. “It’s my dream to go to state.”
Toney fell in the third-place match when Anders Vance of Louisburg pinned him, but his ticket to Salina was already punched.
“I’m very proud of him,” Allen coach Jason Bates said. “We have worked on being physical as a heavyweight and being able to push and pull and redirect and he did a great job of that.”
The work is not done yet for the junior.
“Work harder,” Toney said when asked what he was focused on in preparation for next week.
House was able to win his first match of the day, too. The senior pinned Frontenac’s Kyler Taylor in 2 minutes and 42 seconds to get within one match of state.
Unfortunately, for House and Iola, the wrestler that was waiting for him in the consolation semifinals was Chanute’s Gage Clark, the state’s number five 220-pounder.
Clark pinned him in 4 minutes and 2 seconds. Despite the loss, the season was a big success for House.
“Chandler last year had five wins and this year he is one match away from qualifying for state,” Bates said. “He has put in a bunch of hard work and led this team. He will be missed a lot.”
The season was also a big success for the entire Mustang program.
Iola sends three wrestlers to state after only sending Garber last season. Juniors Toney and Blazek each make their first appearances on the big stage.
