BonnerSprings.com

Being competitive will be important for the Bonner Springs wrestling team this weekend.

The Braves will compete in the Lee Summit Christmas Tournament on Friday and Saturday and it is the best competition the team will see all season.

Coach Dan Burns has had state placers wrestlers who didn't make finals in the tournament, which has 24 teams entered in it.

"There are teams from Iowa, Oklahoma and Idaho," he said. "They do a good job of putting on a top-notch tournament. We have never had kids make it to the finals of it. We have had kids place at state, in the state championship, not able to win that tournament. It is tougher than our state tournament."

With a young team that has no seniors on it, Burns wants the wrestlers to perform well. He wants them to compete.

"It gives them a chance to wrestle on the big stage," he said. "To be the best, you have to wrestle the best. That is all we can do. We have a motto that if it is worth doing, it is probably not going to be easy. We are looking to prepare our kids down the road. We will find out a lot about our kids at this tournament."

Caleb Seaton, a 103-pounder, and Brooks Ballou, a 119-pounder, are two wrestlers who Burns said could show well in the tournament.

Ballou and Seaton went undefeated in the Kaw Valley League duals two weeks ago. The team did not wrestle in a tourney last week. While those are the team's wrestlers who enter with the most momentum, other wrestlers may also perform well.

"Different people step up in different ways," he said. "We might have a kid not expect much out of, do very well.

The Braves are entered in the tournament because Burns coached at Winnetonka High School for a long time and knew the people who ran the tournament.

"I had a good buddy of mine that knew someone that could get us in the tournament," he said. "We are going to struggle, but we need to compete and perform to our best. You want to try and stay in a tournament like that."