BonnerSprings.com

Brandon Jobe had a hunch his Bonner Springs wrestling team belonged among the best at the Bobcat Classic.

On Friday and Saturday at Basehor-Linwood High School, the second-year BSHS coach’s team proved him right.

The Braves produced three medalists and a top-10 finish at a tournament considered by many to be the toughest in Kansas.

Oak Park (Mo.) won the 34-team tournament with 211.5 points, Goddard was second with 185.5 and Blue Springs (Mo.) finished third with 181.5. Bonner Springs placed 10th with 96.5.

“Coming in, I had an expectation or goal of us getting in the top 10 as a team,” Jobe said. “Team-wise, that’s right where I was hoping we’d be. That was the goal, but I didn’t know if we’d make it or not because the competition — especially at 135 and 140 (pounds) was so tough.”

Interestingly, if those two brackets hadn’t been so strong the Braves might have placed higher in the team standings because two of their medalists hailed from those weight classes. Sophomore 135-pounder Jonathan Blackwell and sophomore 140-pounder Aaron Puckett both placed fourth in their weight classes while senior 125-pounder Caleb Seaton was a tournament champion.

Seaton dominated his bracket from start to finish. After receiving a first-round bye, He earned a 7-4 decision against Blue Valley’s Kellen Rios — Seaton’s closest match of the tournament, followed by a pin and a 7-0 decision to reach the finals. Once there, he manhandled St. Thomas Aquinas’ Tommy Williams with a 12-2 major decision.

It was the most consistent performance of the season for the three-time fourth-place state medalist.

“That’s the best Caleb’s wrestled this year by far,” Jobe said. “He’s had some injuries, and he finally set those aside and focused on his wrestling.”

Blackwell started strong in his bracket with a pin and a 10-1 major decision to reach the quarterfinals before losing a 10-8 decision to Cain Salas, of Oak Park. Blackwell bounced back with an 8-6 decision against Steve Gutschenritt of Blenwood (Iowa) before dropping a 2-1 decision to Salas in the third-place match.

Puckett faced an equally stout bracket and a similar fate as Blackwell. After winning his first-round match with a 3-0 decision against Michael Wurts of Olathe North, Puckett routed Dominic Cervantes of Oak Park with a 15-0 technical fall and reached the quarterfinals. Two-time state champion Taylor Moeder of St. James Academy knocked Puckett into the back side of the bracket with an 11-3 loss. From there, three more tough matches followed. Puckett earned an 8-3 decision against Tanner Staats of Paola and a 7-6 decision against Cory Mitze of Mountain Range (Colo.) before falling in the third-place match to Keenan Hagerty of Blue Springs, 15-4.

“Those brackets had multiple state champions,” Jobe said. “Every bout was tough; there were so many close matches, and coming out on the winning end I was real proud of those guys.”

Jobe was equally proud of some of his nonmedalists who still contributed to the team’s success by winning matches and accumulating points.

Justus Seaton (112 pounds), Mark Hobson (145 pounds) and Jared Clements (171 pounds) all came within one victory of medaling, and 103-pounder Josiah Seaton and 215-pounder Nick Clark also picked up victories.

Jobe said the Bobcat Classic provided great competition for his team, as well as a measuring stick to see where the team stands with one month remaining in the regular season.

“By no means do I think we’ve peaked yet. We’re on the way up, and they understand that,” Jobe said. “For all of our guys, it’s just a gauge of where we’re at right now and of the things we need to work on. Every single one of these guys has things to come back and work on in the practice room. But it’s a real good gauge of where we are compared to high-level competition, and I like where we’re at.”

Bonner Springs next competes Friday and Saturday at the Blue Valley Northwest Husky Invitational.

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