MHS - Wrestling / February 26, 2023 By Kasey McDowell
The Mulvane wrestling team brought 3 wrestlers to the 4A State wrestling tournament this past Friday & Saturday, senior Chris Dietrich, senior Maurice Fuller, and sophomore Koehn Dietrich.
In round 1 of the tournament, Koehn was the first up for the Cats in the 106 lb weight class. He faced off against Christian Belden from Concordia and Dietrich took the match to the final buzzer and scored a 6-3 win by decision, a staple win for Koehn as Belden was the #6 wrestler in the state that he had lost to twice previously this season. Next up for the Cats was Fuller in the 144 lb weight class and he faced Tucker Cell from Abilene. Maurice lost by fall at the 1:05 mark in the first period. Chris was last in the round in the 190 lb weight class and he faced Isaiah Melugin from Independence. Chris was able to get a win by fall at the 1:57 mark in the second period to advance to the semifinals.
In round 2, Koehn was slated to wrestle Brock Johnson from Paola, a tall order as he was the #1 ranked wrestler in the state in the weight class. Koehn lost by fall at the 0:58 mark of the first period to go to the consolation side of the bracket. Chris faced Jack Harvey from Baldwin, another tall order as Jack went on to be the state champion in the 190 lb class, and Chris lost by fall at the 1:39 mark of the second period and went to the consolation side of the bracket.
Maurice was slated to wrestler Jesse Hopper from Baldwin in round 3, but Hopper had to withdraw due to injury, so Maurice advanced to the next round in the consolation bracket.
The next consolation round was on Saturday and Koehn faced Harry Costa from Wamego and Dietrich took care of business with a pin at the 1:38 mark in the second period. Maurice faced Brody Gomez from Fort Scott and Maurice lost by fall at the 1:27 mark in the second period, ending his tournament. Chris faced Collin Scott from El Dorado and took the match the distance and got a 5-2 win by decision.
The next round was the "heartbreak" round, if you win you are on the podium but if you lose you are finished. Koehn faced Elijah Foy from Augusta and was able to blank him with a 7-0 win by decision, solidifying a spot on the podium. Chris faced Keaton Shelman from Meriden-Jefferson West and Chris was able to dispatch him with an 8-2 win by decision, also solidifying a spot on the podium.
Next up was the consolation semifinals, which determines if the wrestler will proceed to the 3rd place match or the 5th place match. Koehn faced Ryder Dempewolf from Colby and lost by fall at the 0:24 mark in the first period, which sent Koehn to the 5th/6th place match. Chris faced Justin Degollado from Ulysses and took the match to the final buzzer, but lost with a 2-5 decision, which also sent him to the 5th/6th place match.
Koehn faced Tristen Cox from Andale and lost by fall at the 0:40 mark in the first period and Koehn finished his state tournament with a 6th-place medal. Chris faced Seth Carrow from Osawatomie and was able to finish his wrestling career at Mulvane with a pin at the 1:39 mark in the second period, earning himself a 5th-place medal.
The Wildcats finished in 22nd place out of 52 teams with 25.0 points.
Koehn Dietrich (35-9) placed 6th and scored 9.0 team points.
Maurice Fuller (26-14) place is unknown and scored 3.0 team points.
Chris Dietrich (35-6) placed 5th and scored 13.0 team points.
