photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State wrestler Brogan Hagen wrestles in the 37th Annual Leavenworth Challenger on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Leavenworth.

Leavenworth — Free State wrestling is back in session to defend its Sunflower League title with a new-look team that started its season with a dual and a tournament in Leavenworth.

So far, Free State coach Randy Streeter has seen a lot of growth from his team.

“We’re super young — I don’t know what to expect (from the team this season),” Streeter said. “We’re competing and getting better every day. The room has good atmosphere.”

Over the last two years, the Firebirds have graduated a lot of talent and leadership. So while this year’s team is younger, the group is humble and ready to grow.

“These guys have been waiting for a long time, especially our junior class,” Streeter said. “I like what I see so far… I think everybody gets along great and they respect each other and those guys are working hard to make it happen, not just this year but next year too.”

Even with having a younger team, practices remain pretty much the same from previous years. Streeter hammers the fundamentals and tries to avoid overcoaching his team. The continual work on fundamentals has helped the young squad have a solid start to the year with plenty to grow from.

“It’s probably more fundamental than before, but we saw today how fundamentals won the day,” Streeter said. “We still have to get better in a lot of places. We have to build on it and get tougher in a few more weight classes.”

Olathe West Dual

The Firebirds started the year with a dual win over Olathe West, 51-24, on Thursday. Of the 15 matches in the dual, Free State won 10. Davauri Goodman pinned his opponent in the 106-pound weight class, and Olathe West got a free six points in the 113-pound weight class as Free State didn’t have a wrestler.

Avett Landis in the 120 and Damian Quick in the 126-pound weight classes got pins, while Tristan Moore in the 132 and Aaron Whalen in the 138-pound weight classes won by major decision. The Firebirds lost the 150-pound bout but won the next four matches.

Coghlan Odom got a pin in the 157-pound weight class, and Ben Lyles pinned his 175-pound match as well. Zane Shaw won by a 10-2 major decision in the 190-pound weight classes. The Owls won the 215-pound weight class and the 285-pound weight class.

Leavenworth Challenger

On Saturday, the Firebirds took first out of 12 teams in the 37th Annual Leavenworth Challenger with a 310.5 team score. Three Firebirds won their weight class on Saturday, with another three finishing as the runner-up.

Odom won the 157-pound weight class and scored 45 points for the team. Four of his five matches were decided by pins, with the other being a medical forfeit in favor of Odom. In the first-place match, Odom pinned Olathe East’s Judah Rider in the third period to win the bracket.

This was Odom’s first time winning a varsity tournament, and Streeter said he has stepped up as a leader for the Firebirds this season.

Shaw had two pins, two technical falls and a major decision win as he took first place in the 190-pound bracket. After a 12-second pin in the first round, Shaw earned a 16-1 technical fall in the second round. He followed that up with a 17-second pin before a 20-4 technical fall to reach the first-place match. There, Shaw won in a 17-6 major decision.

The other first-place champ was Xander Swoyer in the heavyweight bracket. All five of Swoyer’s matches ended in pins, with the first four rounds ending in under a minute. For the first-place match, Swoyer pinned Olathe East’s Devion Murray late in the second period.

In the 120-pound weight class, Landis finished as the runner-up. He started with three pins to reach the championship picket, where he recorded his fourth pin to get to the first-place match. Landis was pinned in the title match for his first loss.

Quick was the runner-up in the 126-pound bracket, and he scored 22.5 points for the Firebirds. After losing in the first round via a pin, Quick pinned his next two opponents to reach the championship bracket. There, he won by a 4-1 decision to reach the first-place match.

Quick lost to Lansing’s Jeremy Welch for a second time by pin to solidify his second-place spot.

In the 132-pound bracket, Moore was the runner-up with 27.0 points. He won his first two matches from a pin and a technical fall. Moore’s pin in the third round put him in the championship bracket, where he won by a technical fall 17-1 to go to the first-place match. Moore lost his first match of the tournament by pin in the second period.

Brogan Hagen placed third in the 144-pound weight class, going 4-1 in the tournament. Hagen started with a bye before winning his next two matches with pins. His lone loss came in round five from a technical fall, but Hagen bounced back to pin his opponent in the third-place match.

Aaron Whalen and Hudson Andrew both placed fourth in their weight classes. Whalen competed in the 138-pound bracket and started with a loss before a 13-8 decision win in the third round sent him to the championship bracket. He lost there and in the third-place matches on pins.

Andrew in the 150-pound bracket started with a bye and two wins, including a technical fall in the fourth round, 24-9. Andrew lost his fifth-round match and the subsequent third-place match.

Goodman, Lyles and Cameron Salb each placed fifth in their weight classes. Salb reached fifth with a 4-0 decision win in the fifth-place match, while Lyles earned fifth with a pin in the sixth round.

The Firebirds have nearly a week off before competing in a tournament at Blue Valley on Friday.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State wrestler Hudson Andrew shoots for the legs in the 37th Annual Leavenworth Challenger on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Leavenworth.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State heavyweight wrestler Xander Swoyer battles in the first-place match in the 37th Annual Leavenworth Challenger on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Leavenworth.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State’s Ben Lyles wrestles in the 37th Annual Leavenworth Challenger on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Leavenworth.