LHS wrestlers enjoy solid start

? Despite not fielding a full squad for the Eudora Tournament of Champions Friday, seven Lawrence High wrestlers already have assured themselves medals.

Coach Patrick Naughton said it was the Lions’ best opening-day performance of the two-day, 24-team tournament since he has been at LHS.

“We have a lot of kids who like to compete and like to wrestle,” Naughton said. “They really don’t like to lose.”

Reese Wright-Conklin, the No. 1 seed in the 160-pound weight class, went 4-0 on the day and picked up two of his wins by pinning his opponent.

LHS also received solid performances by Dustin Walthall (171), Levi Flohrschutz (140) and Ben Seybert (189).

The top two wrestlers from each of the four pools will advance into the final brackets, and before his wrestlers left the gym, Naughton challenged his team to become selfish when the tournament resumes at 9 a.m. today.

“That’s the thing about it,” Naughton said. “You have to go home and get a good night’s sleep tonight and get rested up for tomorrow. And tomorrow it’s all about how far you want to go in the tournament. If you put yourself up front, everything for the team will happen. But when they go out there, they’ve got to go and get the place that they want because nobody’s going to hand anything to them.”