City wrestling trio ready for title defense
Guillen, Meck, Geary lead city contingent to state wrestling


By Rick Peterson
THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

A year ago at the state wrestling tournament, Seaman's Bryant Guillen, Shawnee Heights’ Nick Meck and Topeka High's Will Geary achieved the dream of most every high school athlete.

This weekend the city trio, part of a 43-member city contingent that advanced to state, will try to earn their way into an even more exclusive group — two-time state champions.

The weather-delayed state meets will start with first-round matches at 4 p.m. Friday at Wichita (Class 6A and 5A), Salina (4A) and Hays (3A-1A).

The quarterfinals also will be contested on Friday, with the semifinals now pushed back to 9 a.m. Saturday. Championship, third-place and fifth-place matches are scheduled to get under way at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Guillen won the 5A 160-pound state title last season and the Seaman career record-holder in victories (137) and pins (98) has posted a perfect 40-0 record this season since moving up to 170 pounds.

Guillen has 29 pins this season, one away from Seaman's single-season record.

The Seaman star has been top-ranked in 5A all season but said his impressive resume hasn't kept him from fighting nerves as the state meet nears.

“I'm excited, but I also feel more nervous this year,” Guillen said. “Last year I was No. 2 and I beat the guy that was No. 1. I want to make sure that nothing like that happens this year.”

One of Guillen's major goals all season has been to reach the 100-pin mark for his career, but he said that won't be his main focus this weekend.

“It would be nice to break, but if I don't it's no big deal,” he said.

Meck will be shooting for his second straight 5A 182-pound crown and will take a 35-2 record into this year's state meet.

Meck suffered his second loss of the season when he was pinned by Seaman's Spencer Wilson at the Centennial League meet, but he bounced back with an impressive performance in the Seaman regional, opening up a 12-3 lead over Wilson before the match was stopped on a disqualification.

“I was pretty determined to come back and this is my last year so I just wanted to leave it all on the mat,” Meck said. “(A loss) pushes you to your limits and shows you what you need to do.”

Meck knows every wrestler in the 182-pound field will be shooting for him but said he is ready to go.

“I'll just do what I did last year and just come ready, come focused and ready to wrestle,” he said.

Geary will be trying for his second straight 6A 285-pound championship. He has been beaten just once — by nationally-ranked Nathan Butler of Leavenworth earlier this year — over the past two seasons.

“I'm pretty excited (about state),” said Geary, 25-1 this season. “Last year I was real nervous and this year I feel like I've just got the hang of it and I know what to expect.

“I don't feel any pressure because I don't feel like I have anything to lose. All I have to do is go out there and wrestle and hopefully come out on top.”

CITY QUALIFIERS

CLASS 6A

At Wichita

Topeka High — Marcus Reece, sr., 126, 28-10; Cooper Self, sr., 132, 24-9; Austin Tillman, jr., 182, 17-0; Dauby Knight, jr., 195, 8-10; Will Geary, sr., 285, 25-1.

Washburn Rural — Nick Frakes, jr., 106, 25-10; Jordan Short, sr., 113, 35-9; Sebastion Cuffel, sr., 126, 31-10; Weston Mikoleit, sr., 132; 18-2; Stephen Stamps, jr., 138, 27-17; Aaron Wilson, sr., 145, 29-14; Nathan Mikoleit, so., 160, 23-10; Aaron Davis, jr., 182, 22-20; Ed Linquist, sr., 195, 19-14; Jacob Nemechek, so., 220, 16-20; Brandon Quy, jr., 285, 9-12.

CLASS 5A

At Wichita

Seaman — Jaelynn Gay, so., 106, 27-18; Khamin Crow, so., 113, 30-11; Brandon Banks, jr., 126, 15-21; Brandon Fuller, sr., 132, 32-11; Daemeion Gay, so., 138, 28-17; Sam Mizell, jr., 145, 29-19; Mason Ray, fr., 152, 8-3; Bryant Guillen, sr., 170, 40-0; Bailey Kelly, fr., 195, 29-14; Nathan Stanley, sr., 220, 29-10; Dylan Hall, sr., 285, 28-9.

Shawnee Heights — Trevor Kallenberger, fr., 106, 11-15; Pete Owens, fr., 120, 5-23; Andrew Miller, so., 126, 16-22; Dalton Mulligan, sr., 138, 29-14; Justin Dyer, sr., 145, 15-12; Carter Hall, so., 152, 18-11; Blake Younger, so., 160, 13-9; Marshal Hall, sr., 170, 6-2; Nick Meck, sr., 182, 35-2; Ben Taliaferro, sr., 195, 32-2; Tyson Toelkes, jr., 220, 26-2; Shannon Meck, sr., 285, 29-4.

Topeka West — Zach Campbell, so., 106, 29-2; Jared Scrinopskie, jr., 120, 16-14.

CLASS 4A

At Salina

Hayden — Simon Munoz, sr., 120, 13-6.

Highland Park — Mason Dean, sr., 220, 19-17.