Overland Park ? The city of Lawrence ganged up on the rest of the Class 6A wrestling regional at Shawnee Mission West as Free State and Lawrence High finished 1-2 in the standings, qualifying a combined 22 wrestlers for state.

The Firebirds took home the top honors by scoring 194 points and will send 12 wrestlers to next week’s state tournament. The Lions were second with 161 points.

But the rivalry still produced two of the most anticipated matches.

Lawrence’s Pharouk Hussein squared off against Free State’s Mike Goble for the fourth time this year in the 130-pound weight class. Hussein went up by two after a slow start and controlled the match from there, coasting to a 16-5 decision.

Hussein said he used the match as an opportunity to try different tactics.

“Before our match, Goble and I were talking, and we both looked to give each other a good match,” Hussein said. “We’re both going to state already, so we just basically went out there to have fun and see what we can do.”

The two city schools also clashed in the 160-pound final, pitting the Lions’ Nolan Kellerman and Firebirds’ K.J. Siebert.

Kellerman opened with a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period and held it most of the way in a defensive bout.

Siebert managed a couple of take-downs late in the match, but it wasn’t enough as Kellerman won, 9-5.

Although Lawrence claimed both finals against Free State, the Firebirds made up sufficient ground against other schools, notching five first-place finishes.

One of those came from surprising freshman Kenny Flanders in the 119-pound class.

He was far too fast for Leavenworth’s Nathan Dickson. Nearly every time Dickson tried to grapple with Flanders, Flanders wiggled free.

Flanders said that was something he set out to do after watching Dickson pin one of his earlier opponents.

“I was watching him on a couple of matches, and he was throwing people,” Flanders said, “and I didn’t really want to get thrown.”

The strategy worked and resulted in what FSHS coach Darrell Andrew said could be the first of many accolades for the young wrestler.

“Kenny is really coming around. Kenny’s going to be an all-around wrestler for us,” Andrew said. “To come up as a freshman and win the regional in a pretty decent weight class speaks a lot about his abilities.”

Andrew said he thought his team could make a run at a top-10 finish next weekend at the state tournament.

But LHS coach Mark Dulgarian warned that the regional result would not necessarily paint an accurate picture of what would happen at state for any team because of the strength of the other regions.

“There are a couple of kids coming from here who were first or second,” Dulgarian said. “They’re going to wrestle third and fourth people from other regions, and they’re going to be dog food. They’re going to be smashed.”

The state tournament starts Friday in Wichita.