The one question i have is at 160.... is there any way Reece could get that spot?

Giggity.

Agreed Beeson - I think Ryne's other losses are to the 1st or 2nd place kid at the Mid America National in Oklahoma and to the 1st place kid Travis Himmelman (CO) at the Top of the Rockies tournament. Both being very high caliber kids.

Also, if I recall correctly he's nationally ranked on Intermat. With that and his previous Fargo results, I'd say that makes him a decent candidate for #1 in All class.

With the #1 spot he will have to continue to wrestle showing why he has deserves it as I'm sure there are plenty out there aiming at it like a bullseye.

Well I guess it's time to voice my opinion on this. I have bit my tongue all year. Before I start I want to say Ryne Cokely is an outstanding wrestler and it is obvious his coaches seek the toughest competition for him. Quagmire, I don't know who you are, but I agree with you. We are definitely in the minority though.

In my opinion (and I am biased) Joey is the #1 wrestler in the State at 145. This year he is undefeated in Kansas and has beaten Victor Dotson (Texas Canyon-Randall). Joey and Victor were wrestling at 152 lbs. at the time. Victor is a two-time state champ and I believe he won the Oklahoma Open pinning all of his opponents. Victor was ranked in the top 30 nationally. Ryne took second at the Oklahoma Open at a higher weight. Joey's only loss was to Jake Snider (Colorado Ponderosa) 4-3. Jake is ranked #7 nationally.

The Chief does a good job with the rankings, but the problem that I have with the criteria is that Freestlye/ Greco and National Tournaments seem to carry more weight than wins or score comparisons in State. I don't think the Chief gives enough weight to kids who don't wrestle in the summmer, but have wins against quality opponents in the last year.

Ryne has wrestled tough competition and has lost some of the matches, to include the one against Cade Blair. Joey's quality wins against nationally ranked wrestlers last year and this year.

Parker Madl (ranked nationally, Univ. of Oklahoma) Joey in OT
Cade Blair (honorable mention nationallly) Joey in OT
*Cade and Joey split last year. Cade in OT
Victor Dotson (ranked nationally)Joey 12-9

I believe the only common opponent is Cade. Unless, Ryne has wrestled Parker in the past.

Joey and I have talked about the potential match with Ryne at Garden City. I believe it is fair to say Joey was looking forward to this potential match more than any other. As I mentioned earlier, Ryne is an outstanding wrestler. He has received more recognition than anyone in previous years. What high school wrestler wouldn't want to see how he/ she stacks up against him.

No disrespect to Dozier, but Rynes got 2 state titles to his credit maybe that factors into Chiefs ranking criteria?




Kevin Seybold

No offense taken, but I think you are comparing apples to oranges. Both wrestlers have faced tough in State competition over the past two years. I believe Joey's in State competition has been a little tougher. You are correct though, this is the criteria currently used by the Chief.

I only posted my opinion because Joey, like many other outstanding wrestlers is lost in the mix when looking at their wins and losses against quality competition. I would bet that many of the people posting their opinions of who should be ranked have never seen the #2, #3, #4 etc. kid wrestle.

Now that Joey's high school wrestling journey is about to conclude I wanted to finally post my opinion. I really enjoy the rankings and the debates that result.

I totally agree with you Mr Dozier! I saw the GC tourney and last night after my son played Jr High b-ball at Abe Hubert i had heard someone saying that GC and Colby had a duel I went over and watched to very good wrestling programs go head to head! Joey is the real deal as is Ryne but come on lets give some credit to Western Kansas Wrestling! I guarantee you that if you have ever wrestled someone from Western Kansas(Norton, Scott City, GC, Colby) then you know that you were in a dogfight!

Dozier is very good, but if he wants to be ranked over Cokeley he needs to wrestle in the summer and go find him. You can't complain you are not ranked over someone if you have very similiar in state credentials according to you. I still think 2x state titles vs. none tip the scales, or even the fact Dozier has never even won the GC tourney. Both have some great wins, and close loses. But then Ryne is the most accomplished wrestler nationally KS has. He has wins over #10 ranked wrestler in the country at 152. (the kid from Wyoming), etc. There is one way to quiet people go find them and wrestle them. And there are no limits in the summer. If you choose to not wrestle then, great, just don't complain when you don't get the nod over a kid who does.

another note-Although it's dissapointing SjA did not get to go to Garden, it's equally dissapointing that Garden pulled out of the Bobcat and Derby. Dozier could have wrestled Cokeley there.

Again I think Dozier is awesome but much less proven overall in wrestling.

Great discussion about two of the best in Kansas. I appreciate Rodney's input and certainly have been impressed with Joey this year. The Dotson win was the first nationally recognized win for him and lifted him into the discussion with Ryne.

The year began with the hopes that these two would possibly meet three times this season. Garden City had competed at Derby and Basehor in the past along with St. James. Then GC rescheduled and left out both of those tournaments. That left only their own tournament for a possible match-up. With that also changing, we are still left with our known criteria for the 145 pound class.

Some of which are:

Ryne Cokeley:

- 2X State Champion

- 30 Career Fargo wins!

- His Freshman season, Ryne competed in what was possibly the toughest state bracket in any class. That bracket included Sharky Slyter, Tyler Anderson, Zac Sparr, Derrick Weller, Zach Jesseph, a 30-1 Ribelin, Denzell Davis and Nick Rockhold. He also went 2-0 vs. Parker Madl that year.

- No other current HS wrestler in Kansas has competed nationally like Ryne Cokeley. He wrestled 165 matches last year!


Joey Dozier:

9th - DNP
10th - 4th at State
11th - 3rd at State

- Great wins over Parker Madl, Cade Blair and Victor Dotson!


I believe these two would be a very close match. They are both in the elite level of the class of 2010. We are at a pivotal point in the season and another state bracket awaits. I wish the best for both of these awesome kids.

One question remains...

Can we get both of them to enter the newly created High School Division at Kids State?!

Isn't Dozier a Senior? Nationals is the same weekend.

It just confirms my opinion about the overall rankings. Kid has lost one match in two years (by a controversial 1 point to the #1 kid) and he is ranked 6th overall. I have always thought there is a bias for the bigger schools to the overalls. 119 last year was another case in point.

Mr. Campbell,

As Badbo elequently (sp?)points out Joey has some work to do before he can qualify for Nationals. Regionals competition and depending on the matchups at State he could have tough matchups with Cody Shavlik, Connor Middleton and others.

Badbo,

I appreciate your comments, but I don't understand your post about not winning the Garden City Tourney. I recommend that you research the competition Joey has had the past few years at the Garden City Invitational. I believe that anyone in the State (to include kids that have graduated) would have had tough matches with Jake Snider and Max Ortega (Rio Rancho- Indiana Univ. I believe). Not to mention Kelly from Ponderosa, Benny Armstrong (Andale)and Dakota Hayes, who is always in the match no matter what the score is.

For what it's worth even though he hasn't won this tournament some of my proudest moments are watching him battle against this competition.

Kind regards,

I do wish Dylan's team had a tougher schedule. The #6 ranking is not his fault. I just can't elevate a kid whose best criteria is a close loss. Lay out your bias contention with real data. Otherwise it's just a talking point.

I absolutely agree he has faced very tough competition at GC and he is a great wrestler, but I was only trying to point out (maybe very poorly) that he needs something else to elevate him to offset Cokeley Fargo placements, super 32 placings, etc.

It would not surpise me if Joey could beat anybody in the state, but without the matches to prove it, it's tough to complain. Out west you have better air quality and cheaper taxes, on the positive but you get overshadowed on your schedules in the rankings on the negative. Good luck as your son finishes his HS career. He is a awesome wrestler.

I think saying that a kid is being "penalized" by not wrestling a tougher schedule is not really accurate. It is more that those who do wrestle more are being REWARDED! The ALL CLASS RANKING, to me, is the only ranking where you get recognized for your "body of work". It rewards those who put in a whole year's worth of wrestling. Those boys sacrifice fishing, hunting, baseball, jobs, etc to find the best competition and the best improvement opportunities. If Dylan and Joey desire to be at the top it would be great to see them on May 8th at the FS/GR State Tournament or before that at the USA Folkstyle Nationals, Brute Nationals, NHSCA Nationals, Flo NATIONALS, or even at Kids State in the new HS division. There are opportunities to showcase your talent and the best ones sometimes exist outside of the KSHSAA Wrestling Season. Good Luck to both as I hope the best to all that read this and support the GREATEST sport, WRESTLING!

Thanks Badbo. I respect the Chief's rankings, although I have a different opinion about how I would rank the wrestlers. My intentions were not to complain, only to point out that others (in this case Joey) may be worthy of discussion for the top spot. Tyler Davis is someone else that could be in the mix on any given day.

Your point about Summer wrestling is well taken. Joey has decided to work the past few Summers. We have talked about how this would affect his chances of being recruited by larger universities. He understands this and is happy with the colleges that have shown interest.

As far as the rankings, I think I'm more into than he is. He wants the State Championship and I guess that's the way it should be.

Hey Shudog I just wanted to give all the facts and give some support to the western Kansas kids. Good luck to all the 112s the rest of the year. What a weight class!

I guess it depends on your definition of bigger schools. There are even some weights that don't have any 6A kids ranked at all.
Current AC Rankings:
6A = 30
5A = 36
4A = 55
321A = 21

obviously the original statement is unfair, and untrue.

Just a clarification here. Victor did NOT win the Oklahoma Open this year, he got 2nd. He was getting creamed when he got pinned. It is funny that he was at 140 in November and then wrestling 152 just a few weeks later in HS. The Oklahoma Open has remote weigh ins and in my opinion they were not very strict.

This past fall Ryne won the Bighorn Nationals at 152 beating Andy McCulley (Rock Springs, WY) ranked nationally in the top 20.
Champion Ryne Cokeley Kansas
2 Andy McCulley Wyoming
3 Tylar Parker Colorado
4 Britt Thompson Montana
5 Logan Addis Arizona
6 Brandon Hoffman Colorado

Joey placed 6th at the 2009 Monster Match Nationals

1 Andy Rico
Texas Tribe WC
18
145

2 Tylar Parker
Frederick Warriors
18
145

3 Joshua Martinez
Frederick Warriors
18
145

4 Vicente Gallegos
Arvada West
18
145

5 Jesse Werth
Fort Collins HS
18
145

6 Joey Dozier
Greater Gold Garden City
18
145

behind Tylar Parker, Vinny Gallegos, and Jesse Werth. Three wrestlers Ryne has beaten in the past 12 months.