photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence junior Jadin Harrell grabs a hold of Gardner-Edgerton senior Ty Hammers in the championship round of the 190-pound weight class in the 6A East regional tournament at Olathe Northwest on Saturday, February 22, 2025.

Free State’s boys wrestling team qualified 12 wrestlers for state, which set a school record, while the Lawrence team qualified three in regional tournaments over the weekend.

The Firebirds participated in the 6A West regional tournament at Garden City High School, which began on Friday and finished fifth with 196.0 points. Lawrence competed in the 6A East regional tournament at Olathe Northwest and finished 12th with 71.0 points.

“Today we finished up pretty good,” Lawrence coach Patrick Naughton said. “I’m really glad for (freshman) Logan (Druen) in the 106, (junior) Jadin (Harrell), who had a great tournament, and (junior) Lou (Elsten), who gets to keep his season rolling. It really sets those guys up well for state.”

Each school had one regional champion and one regional runner-up. Elsten won the 120-pound weight class with two pins and a technical fall. Free State senior Grayson Hagen won the 165-pound bracket with two pins and two major decisions.

Elsten had a good idea of where he stood against local wrestlers, having seen them numerous times throughout the season. He said he prepared to face Blue Valley’s Kai Hedgecock, who he battled in the championship match. Elsten got the win with a pin in three minutes and 30 seconds.

“It’s good to go into state on a win — that builds confidence,” Elsten said. “I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing, keep practicing hard and just go out and wrestle.”

Hagen bounced back after finishing fourth in the Sunflower League championship with his regional performance. He won the bracket with a 10-2 major decision over Braden Salsbury, a senior with only two losses on his record entering the tournament.

Junior Jadin Harrell was Lawrence’s runner-up in the 190-pound weight class. He started with a 25-second pin, followed by another pin in 1:20. A 6-0 decision win in the semifinal brought him to the championship, which he ultimately lost from a technical fall.

Free State senior Otto Reese started with a 40-second pin before winning his next two matches with technical falls to reach the championship, which he lost by technical fall.

Druen qualified with a 31-second pin on the consolation side of the bracket that moved him into the seventh-place match. He won that match with a pin in the third period.

Free State had two wrestlers, each of whom placed third in their bracket. Senior Blaine Larkin did it in the 215-pound weight class, and sophomore Xander Swoyer also took third in the 285-pound weight class. Larkin started with two pins before losing his first match. He then finished with two more pins to take third. Swoyer also started with two pins before losing and finished with two pins to win third. Three of Swoyer’s four pins came in under a minute.

Senior Drew Streeter finished fifth in the 132-pound weight class with a 7-0 decision win in the fifth-place match. Senior Quinton Hice won the 106-pound weight class’s fifth-place match with a pin. Senior Gabe Swoyer also won his fifth-place match in the 157-pound bracket with a pin.

Senior Michael Hernandez finished sixth in the 113-pound weight class, sophomore Tristen Moore took sixth in the 126-pound weight class and sophomore Coghlan Odom placed sixth in the 138-pound bracket.

Junior Zane Shaw won from a disqualification to place seventh in the 190-pound bracket, and sophomore Hudson Andrew finished eighth in the 150-pound weight class.

Both teams will be much closer to home than usual next week with the state tournament being held in Overland Park. Traditionally, it has been held in Wichita, and Naughton said it will be nice for kids to have friends and family who can support them, given that it won’t be a three-hour drive for the first time in his over 20-year coaching career. The 6A state tournament will be on Friday and Saturday at AdventHealth Sports Park.