Lawrence senior EJ Jewsome (red) is smiles after pinning Gardner Edgerton's Shawn Waters (blue). Lawrence fell to Gardner Edgerton 54-27 on Wednesday.

In the first meet of the new season, Lawrence High’s wrestling team showed glimpses of its potential.

Lawrence ultimately dropped a 54-27 decision during a dual with Gardner-Edgerton Wednesday night at LHS. Yet all three of the Lions’ ranked wrestlers recorded wins, while some unranked wrestlers found success on the mat, as well.

Senior AJ Powell, who is not ranked, downed his opponent with 31 seconds left in the third period to claim a win over Zane Stutzman in the 182-pound weight class.

“It was really intense,” Powell said. “I have a lot of room to improve. As for the team, we have a lot of young guys. But we will be good by the end of the year.”

AJ Powell looks for a takedown in a match with Gardner Edgerton’s Zane Stutzman. Powell won his match with a pin in LHS’s 54-27 loss on Wednesday.

Senior E.J. Jewsome (285 class), freshman Kevin Honas (106 class) and sophomore Logan Farrell (113 class) won their matches, as well. Farrell’s 4-2 decision was the lone win by a Lion that didn’t come via a pin. Jewsome pinned his opponent with 1:21 left in the second period, while Honas took care of business with 1:47 left in the first period.

All three wrestlers are ranked No. 6 in their respective weight class, according to the preseason poll by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association. TT Totty notched the only other win for LHS, recording a pin with 1:32 left in the first period.

“It feels good to have the whole gym on your side,” Jewsome said. “I couldn’t ask for better teammates, they are amazing.”

Lawrence returns to action at 9 a.m. Saturday in a tournament at Leavenworth.

Firebirds dominate season opener

Free State took care of business in the pool this week, as the boys swim team won its home meet with ease.

The Firebirds won 11 of the 12 events during Wednesday’s quadrangular at the Indoor Aquatic Center, scoring 597 points as a team. Lawrence High placed second in the event, scoring 318 points to finish ahead of Shawnee Mission South and Leavenworth.

FSHS won all three relays, starting with the first race of the event. Jake Viscomi, Riley Sirimongkhon-Dyck, Reilley Moore and Brady Flynn took first in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:44.22.

Benjamin Vorthmann and David Stuart, along with Sirimongkhon-Dyck and Flynn, won the 200-yard free relay with a time of 1:35.33. To close the meet, Vorthmann, Finn VanDyke, Viscomi and Moore won the 400-yard free relay with a time of 3:29.42.

Moore won two individual races, finishing first in the 100-yard fly with a time of 51.98 and claiming the top spot in the 500-yard free with a time of 5:15.90. Sirimongkhon-Dyck posted first in a pair of races, as well, clocking a time of 2:10.12 in the 200-yard individual medley and then finishing with a mark of 1:05.27 in the 100-yard breastroke.

VanDyke also won the 200-yard freestyle with a 2:02.92, while Vorthmann won the 50 free with a mark of 22.65. Flynn placed first in the 100 free with a time of 52.59, while Viscomi took the crown in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 59.86.

LHS, meanwhile, finished second in four of those races. Braden Augustine, Luke Dunlap, Giovani Lule-Paredes and Tyler Jones took second in the 400-yard free relay with a time of 3:46.86. Augustine, Andrew Severn, Logan Grose and Dunlap also placed second in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

Jones came in as a runner-up in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:21.05, while Augustine claimed the silver in the 100 freestyle with a mark of 54.03.

Both teams are back in action at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at Kansas State University.

Free State quadrangular

Team scores: 1. FSHS 597; 2. Lawrence 318; 3. SM South 229; 4. Leavenworth 206

FSHS/LHS results

200 medley relay: 1. Jake Viscomi, Riley Sirimongkhon-Dyck, Reilly Moore, Brady Flynn, FSHS, 1:44.22; 2. Finn VanDyke, Devon Lyle, John Kelley, Benjamin Vorthmann, FSHS, 1:49.44; 4. BRaden Augustine, Andrew Severn, Tyler Jones, Luke Dunlap, LHS, 1:53.00

200 free: 1. VanDyke, FSHS, 2:02.92; 2. Trenton Hartman, FSHS, 2:13.10; 3. Nathan Stoddard, LHS, 2:13.18; 5. Alexander Moore, FSHS, 2:22.29; 9. Andrew Augustine, LHS, 2:37.49; 10. JJ Smith, LHS, 2:37.68.

200 IM: 1. Sirimongkhon-Dyck, FSHS, 2:10.12; 2. Devon Lule, FSHS, 2:12.81; 5. Tyler Jones, 2:17.68; 6. Giovani Lule-Paredes, LHS, 2:20.51; 7. Jacob Heinz, FSHS, 2:31.45.

50 free: 1. Vorthmann, FSHS, 22.64; 2. Flynn, FSHS 23.94; 3. David Stuart, FSHS, 24.81; 4. Luke Dunlap, LHS, 25.49; 5. John Kelley, FSHS, 25.77; 6. Andrew Severn, LHS, 26.28; 7. Ricardo Oliveira, FSHS, 26.45; 9. Jack Morse, LHS, 27.46.

Diving: 4. Salvador Good, LHS, 162.15; 5. Kenyan Crawford, LHS, 139.90; 6. Aiden Holt, FSHS, 114.40; 7. Jack Keathley-Helms, FSHS, 103.50.

100 fly: 1. Reilley Moore, FSHS, 51.98; 2. Jake Viscomi, FSHS, 57.64; 5. John Kelley, FSHS, 1:05.48; 9. Alexander Arnone, 1:21.32.

100 free: 1. Brady Flynn, FSHS, 52.59; 2. Braden Augustine, LHS, 54.03; 5. David Stuart, FSHS, 55.24; 6. Trenton Hartman, FSHS, 57.65; 7. Zach Bollinger, FSHS, 59.13; 9. Aiden Holt, FSHS, 1:02.29.

500 free: 1. Reilley Moore, FSHS, 5:15.90; 2. Tyler Jones, LHS, 5:21.05; 4. Nathan Stoddard, LHS, 6:05.99; 5. Jacob Heinz, FSHS, 6:11.27; 7. JJ Smith, LHS, 6:47.42; 8. Max Bates, FSHS, 6:48.55; 9. Nicholas Burket, FSHS, 7:07.61; 10. Trenton Snyder, LHS, 7:32.44.

200 free relay: 1. Vorthmann, Stuart, Sirimongkhon-Dyck, Flynn, FSHS, 1:35.33; 2. Augustine, Severn, Grose, Dunlap, LHS, 1:41.92.

100 back: 1. Viscomi, FSHS, 59.86; 2. Lyle, FSHS, 1:00.82; 4. VanDyke, 1:05.70; 5. Moore, FSHS, 1:10.89; 6. Bates, FSHS, 1:13.56; 7. Arnone, LHS, 1:19.25; 9. Jack Anderson, LHS, 1:30.32.

100 breast: 1. Sirimongkhon-Dyck, FSHS, 1:05.27; 5. Grose, LHS, 1:15.06; 6. Severn, LHS, 1:15.76; 8. Bollinger, FSHS,1:17.27; 9. Viet Nguyen, FSHS, 1:20.75; 10. Aiden Basore, FSHS, 1:20.86.

400 free relay: 1. Vorthmann, VanDyke, Viscomi, Moore, FSHS, 3:29.42; 2. Augustine, Dunlap, Lule-Paredes, Jones, 3:46.86.

FSHS wrestling extends win streak

Free State’s wrestling team won both of its duals Wednesday night against Bishop Miege (75-6) and Olathe East (66-15) to start the season off 2-0.

The sweep also extended the Firebirds’ win streak in duals to 36 consecutive victories in such competitions.

Free State will compete in the Leavenworth tournament at 9 a.m. Saturday.

LHS volleyball players sign NLIs

A pair of Lawrence High volleyball players made their collegiate plans official Wednesday afternoon at LHS.

Senior setter Laura Willoughby signed to play volleyball at Pittsburg State University, while senior middle hitter Brooke Wroten inked her intent to play for Johnson County Community College.

Both players helped the Lions post a 38-2 record en route to a 6A title with a three-set win over Blue Valley in the state championship. It marked the program’s first state title since 1995, ending a drought of 23 years. LHS dropped just nine of its 90 total sets in 2018.