BELOIT, Kan. – The Smoky Valley boys wrestling team competed at one of four 4A Regionals on Saturday. After a hard days battle, three wrestlers made it through to the 4A State Tournament.
The highlight of the day for Smoky Valley was a regional championship for Parker Gardner at 215#. After a win by fall in just 35 seconds in his opening round over Gavin Price of Goodland, Gardner won by fall in just a minute over Levi Kramer of Clay Center in the quarterfinals. He claimed another win by fall in 1:09 over Corbyn Holinde of Hoisington. In the championship bout, Gardner was up 9-0 on Dylan Hall of McPherson before he finished him off by fall in 2:47 for the regional title. Gardner hopes to repeat as the 4A State Champion at 215#.
At 157#, Christian Erickson went 4-1 on the day, claiming the third place medal. He opened with a win by fall in 35 seconds over Max Kalmer of Marysville in the first round, followed by a win by fall in 2:51 over Conner White of Nickerson in the quarters. His lone loss came in the semis in a tough 9-6 decision against Max Harmony of Buhler. Erickson regrouped in the consolation semis, winning a 7-2 decision over Kade John from Scott City followed by a win by fall in 2:55 over Ian Sayers of Chapman to finish third.
The final state qualifier for the Vikings was Rette Krehbiel at 138#. He opened with a win by fall in 1:19 over Felipe Barrera-Prado of McPherson and followed that with a 12-2 major decision over Nathan Schroeder of Concordia in the quarters. In the semis, he lost to eventual regional champion Brogan Monty of Beloit by fall in 35 seconds. A 15-0 technical fall win over Chaysston Andrerson of Scott City in the consolation semis qualified Krehbiel for state. He lost by a technical fall to Sammy Hershberger of Buhler in his final match of the day, finishing fourth place.
The three Smoky Valley wrestlers will move on to the 4A State Tournament at the Tony’s Pizza Events Center this Friday and Saturday in Salina.
