2019 KSHSAA 4A State Wrestling Tournament Results
Congratulations!!
Launch the media gallery 1 playerThe Ulysses Tigers Wrestling Team finished their season with a bang at the 2019 KSHSAA 4A State Wrestling Tournament this past weekend! For the first time since 2004, Ulysses placed four wrestlers in the top 6 at the state tournament. The team exceeded expectations by placing 8th as a team, despite never cracking the top ten in regular season rankings.
"As a a whole, we were kind of overlooked all season" said head coach Zach Pixler. "We had a very successful regular season, including runner-up finishes at all of our tournaments in December and winning the team title at the Augusta tournament in January. Not being in the rankings as a team motivated us to wrestle to the best of our ability and prove some people wrong. We certainly peaked at the right time and saved our best wrestling for the postseason."
Quentin Pauda upset two ranked wrestlers en route to placing 4th at 106 as a sophomore. Quentin never made the rankings this year, so he opened some eyes this weekend!
After two consecutive years of losing in the consolation semi-finals at Regionals, senior Corbyn Pauda not only qualified for state, he placed at state! He wrestled tough and smart on his way to a 5th place finish at 113 pounds.
Senior Juan Urbina entered the weekend ranked 6th at 138 pounds. After nearly pinning the eventual undefeated state champion in the semis with his signature cradle, he lost the match and fell to the backside. He wouldn’t lose again, and wrestled his way to a 3rd place finish.
Junior heavyweight Ayston Perez lost in the second round to a tough kid after making a small mistake on his feet. Not letting a misstep ruin his weekend, he pinned three of his four remaining opponents and stormed through the backside, earning a 3rd place finish.
The wrestlers that didn't place, Jonathan Lara, Nick Holmes, Alex Corpus, and Jace Garrison, all contributed valuable team points by winning matches in their first state tournament. "Even though they didn't place, those guys all played a huge role in getting team points to lock up our 8th place team finish" Pixler said. "It was a full team effort for sure." Pixler went on to say "even our kids that didn't qualify helped us at the state tournament! Their work ethic and commitment in the room pushed our qualifiers to be better wrestlers, which obviously paid dividends this weekend."
Next season, the Tigers will return 6 of their 8 state qualifiers, and two of their state placers. Pixler said "I was very excited that Juan and Corbyn, our outgoing seniors, placed in their final state tournament, and I'm even more excited that we are returning so much talent next year. We will once again have very high expectations going into next season, and we are all eager to get back to work!"