Bachman places at state wrestling

Jordan Bachman (Sophomore, HHS) wrestling his first round opponent in the 138 weight class. Karrie Rathbone/Special to the Free PressThree Hillsboro High School wrestlers went to Hays this weekend to compete at the State level in the KSHSAA 3A/2A/1A Championship.

“We are very proud of the efforts of these three guys at Hays and the way they competed at the state level,” said Coach Scott O’Hare.

Jordan Bachman returned to the state tournament this year and took fourth place. Jordan (34-10), a 138 pound sophomore won the first round when he outscored his opponent from Wellsville, Wyatt Bird (23-16). He lost in the quarter finals when he was pinned by Tristin Hauck (38-3) of Minneapolis.

“Jordan was not phased at all by the environment. He started off day one strong with a convincing win in the first round.He came out and wrestled tough in the first period in his quarterfinals match against the eventual state runner-up, but was outwrestled in a couple key scrambles, including one that resulted in a sprained ankle, before being pinned. This loss sent Jordan into the consolation bracket where it becomes ‘win or go home’,” said Coach Scott O’Hare.

On Saturday, Bachman went on the win the next two rounds, first outscoring Sam Twombly (31-17) of Rossville and then pinning Aidan Stephenson (27-10) of Oakley. Then in the semifinals, Bachman beat Kendrick Woody (24-15) of Atwood-Rawlins County. He secured fourth place when he lost the third place match to Jaden Atwood (37-9) of Smith Center.

“The three wins advanced him all the way into the consolation finals where he faced Jaden Atwood of Smith Center in a match for third place,” said O’Hare. “Although his season finished with a loss in that match, Jordan had a great season and an outstanding state tournament run. He made huge strides this weekend, not just as a wrestler, but in his development of becoming a young man. He had to battle through injury, doubt, and various levels of adversity. I am very proud of how he responded.”

Jordan joins Mike Dawes as the only two Hillsboro High School wrestlers to earn medals at the state tournament as underclassmen.With his performance this weekend, he also broke the Hillsboro High School record for the most takedowns in a single season. The record was held by Andrew Bina in 2006, when he finished as the 3-2-1A State Runner-up.

“I am excited to see him continue to progress over the next couple years,” said O’Hare.

Freshman Tristan Rathbone and Senior Lane Flaming both lost in their first rounds. Here are their results:

145 Tristan Rathbone (24-18)

Champ. Round 1 – Chantz Vath (Lincoln) 35-5 won by fall over Tristan Rathbone (Hillsboro) 24-18

Cons. Round 1 – Kamden Brownlee (Sabetha) 30-10 won by decision over Tristan Rathbone

182 Lane Flaming (24-18)

Champ. Round 1 – Eli King (Oskaloosa) 21-7 won by fall

Cons. Round 1 – Braden Burks (Beloit) 20-17 won by decision

“Both Tristan and Lane had very tough draws in the first round, as we expected they would as third and fourth place regional placers. Being their first times competing at the state meet, some nerves may have played a role. However, they both competed hard. In their first round consolation matches on Friday, both wrestled tough and suffered close loses to be eliminated on day one,” said O’Hare.

O’Hare summed it all up with the sentiment that many in the Hillsboro Community share as well. He said, “We are very proud of the efforts of these three guys at Hays and the way they competed at the state level.”

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