Area wrestlers earn preseason honors

Thirteen area and five city wrestlers are ranked in the Kansas Coaches’ Wrestling Assn. preseason rankings.

Free State High’s Matt Somers (119 pounds) is ranked fifth in Class 6A, while Kyle Frank (171) is fourth and Nick McGovern (189) is fourth. Lawrence’s Aaron Madill (160) is ranked sixth, and Kenny Poeverlein (275) is fourth.

Among area schools, Baldwin and Santa Fe Trail each have three wrestlers ranked in 4A. The Bulldogs’ Kyle Flory (171) is second, Dan Hamilton (189) is fourth and Sam Coffey (275) is sixth. The Chargers’ Chad Schmale (130) is ranked third, Travis Eden (145) is second and Justin Wiscombe (152) is fourth. SFT and Baldwin are ranked seventh and tenth in 4A.

Eudora has two ranked 4A wrestlers in Luke Powers (152) and Shane Grant (275), while Mill Valley’s Eric Pingleton (189) is second, Ottawa’s Rick Croucher (189) sixth and Tonganoxie’s James Hartshorn (215) sixth.

Wellsville has two ranked 3A wrestlers in Cody Gardner (112), ranked second, and Kyle Patton, the top-ranked wrestler at 119 pounds. The Eagles are ranked third among 3A teams.

Baker coach, defender earn NAIA accolades

Baldwin — Baker University’s Ron Pulvers has been named coach of the year and BU defender Kelly Wolverton player of the year in NAIA Region Five men’s soccer.

Wolverton also earned first-team all-region honors along with teammates Eric Taylor and Blake Reynolds. In winning Region Five and qualifying for the national tournament, the Wildcats finished with a 14-4-3 record.

Oskie wins pair at dual

Oskaloosa — Oskaloosa High won two wrestling matches and Wellsville won one on Wednesday at a season-opening dual meet. Oskaloosa (2-0) beat Wellsville 36-33 and Pleasant Ridge 48-30, and Wellsville (1-1) defeated Pleasant Ridge 48-12.

Correction

Lawrence High sophomore defensive back Jeff Colter earned honorable mention on the All-Sunflower League football team. Colter was omitted from the original listing in Tuesday’s Journal-World.