BonnerSprings.com

While the day did not go perfect for the Bonner Springs Braves at the class 5A regional wrestling tournament on Saturday at Shawnee Heights, there was plenty that went right.

In particular, five Braves qualified for the Class 5A state tournament, and the Braves will head to Wichita with arguably their most talented state tournament lineup in recent memory.

Bonner Springs will be represented by a trio of freshmen and two veteran juniors.

Freshman 103-pounder Justus Seaton, junior 119-pounder Caleb Seaton and freshman 140-pounder Aaron Puckett all captured regional titles.

Freshman Jonathan Blackwell placed third at 130 and junior Brian Callahan took third at 171.

Justus Seaton set the tone for the Braves with his championship run at the lightest weight. He received a first-round bye and then tallied a first-period pin against Highland Park’s Lizvette Sanchez in the semifinals. After that, he battled to a 7-2 decision against Gardner-Edgerton’s Kiefer Price for the championship.

His older brother followed suit at 119. Caleb Seaton earned a first-period pin against Jon Boucher of Topeka Seaman in the first round. A 16-0 tech-fall against Austin Richards of Shawnee Heights earned Seaton a spot in the finals. There, he made quick work of Emporia’s Skyler Carlson with a 14-0 major decision.

Puckett continued his strong freshman campaign with a tournament title. He knocked off three seniors on the day to earn the championship the hard way.

Blackwell faced a tough draw and managed to go 3-1 on the day, culminating with a victory over Hunter Garrett, a senior from Seaman.

After losing his opening match to Austin Ogden from Seaman, Callahan fought his way out of a hole by winning three straight matches to take third. The third-place match was a rematch against Ogden, but this time Callahan edged him in a close decision, 4-3.

Two other Braves narrowly missed out on trips to state. Senior 215-pounder Colin Stirling and senior 285-pounder Jake Barren both finished 1-2 and came a victory shy of qualifying for state.

Emporia won the regional title with 220.5 points, Shawnee Heights was second with 160 and Gardner finished third with 144. BSHS took fifth with 90.5 points, well ahead of Kaw Valley League rival Mill Valley which placed sixth with 66.

By winning regional titles, Justus Seaton (25-12), Caleb Seaton (40-2) and Puckett (30-8) all earned No. 1 seeds at state and will face fourth-place finishers from other regionals. Blackwell (32-11) and Callahan (26-12) will square off against opponents who were runners-up at other regionals.

The state tournament takes place Friday and Saturday at the brand-new Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita.

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