Busy weekend in big events for Buffs’ winter sports teams

BUFFS ROUNDUP: Monday, January 27, 2020

It was a busy weekend for GCHS athletic teams with boys basketball, boys and girls wrestling, boys swimming and boys and girls bowling all in action Friday and Saturday across the state.

BOWLING

The GCHS Boys and Girls bowling teams were in action Friday and Saturday at the Great Plains Invitational Tournament in Wichita.

The Buffs’ boys competed on Saturday while the Lady Buffs were on the lanes at North Rock on Friday in the massive 32-team tournament.

The boys team finished in second place behind Salina Central, dropping the title Baker Format best 2-of-3 by scores of 145-176 and 194-212. That came after the Buffs, seeded No. 8 following a 3-game American 10-pin series and 12 Baker qualifying games.

In the opening round of match play, the Buffs defeated Campus, 211-183 and 223-207. In the semifinals, they rolled over Kapaun Mt. Carmel 198-142 and 234-178. In the 3-game American 10-pin format, the top 5 series of the 6 bowlers counted. Ty Weilert led the way with a 637 series, Caleb Carr at 635, Kaden Whitehurst at 620, Jayce Farr at 611 and Denicio Resendiz at 589. Zane Roth’s 579 series did not count.

Then, the Buffs went into the Baker format qualifying, shooting scores of 224-200-228-212 against Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 155-130-181-190 against Holcomb and 179-151-162-205 against Wichita South. That put them at 5,309 total pins, advancing to match play by a mere eight pins.

“The boys were really consistent in the way they bowled, and the scores were quite high overall,” head coach Kip Nichols said.

Kaden Whitehurst prepares to throw a practice shot during a recent home match. (Photo by Tylee Biera)

On the girls side, the Lady Buffs saw Karly Larson finish sixth at 606, Angelina Leeper eighth at 603 and Holly Bridges ninth at 597. Following scores included Emilee Giger at 560, Britney Cruz at 530 and Lily Leeper at 434.

In the Baker qualifying 12-game set, the Lady Buffs had games of 202-188-170-170 against Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 184-181-158-220 against Holcomb and 190-244-171-181 against Wichita South. That put them at 5,155 total pins and seeded No. 1 going into match play.

“The girls had been steady all day going into match play,” Nichols said. “They’re really bowling for each other and it shows in the Baker scores.”

In the first match as the No. 1 seed, they faced WAC rival Great Bend and came up short in the best 2-of-3, winning the opening game 210-126 before dropping games by scores of 167-170 and 183-191 in the deciding game.

“For both teams, with the boys taking second and the girls tied for fifth among 32 teams, I thought it was a very good weekend,” Nichols said.

The Buffs return to the lanes on Tuesday, Jan. 28, with a road WAC dual at Dodge City. First ball rolls at 3 p.m. at Spare Tyme Bowl in Dodge City.

WRESTLING

Garden City High School’s boys wrestling team placed fourth at the Bob Kuhn Hays Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 25, finishing the meet with 144 points. Great Bend captured the team title with 187.5 points, Wichita-Kapaun Mt. Carmel was second with 146.5 and McPherson third with 146 points. There were 25 teams in the tournament.

Meanwhile, also on Saturday, the Lady Buffs wrestlers captured first place at the Buffalo Invitational in Atwood, scoring 95 points to easily outdistance runner-ups Holcomb and Hugotn, with 35 points each.

Senior Silas Pineda, last year’s Class 6A 113-pound state titlist, took the lone first-place finish at 120 pounds, defeating Great Bend’s Wyatt Weber by a 1-0 decision in the championship match. His 4-0 meet mark improved his season record to 30-8. Jacob Holt, Josh Janas and Alex Rodriguez placed second at 138, 152 and 170 pounds.

Garden City Buffalo Silas Pineda battles on Saturday at the Bob Kuhn Prairie Classic in Hays. Pineda won the 120-pound division with a 1-0 victory over Wyatt Weber of Great Bend. (Photo by Tylee Biera)

Holt, a two-time state champion and once runner-up in 6A, had a heart-breaking 4-2 sudden victory setback to Great Bend’s George Weber (15-2). Holt’s season mark slips to 21-2. Janas (23-7) went 3-1 in the meet, dropping a final match to Nathan Bowen of Haysville-Campus by a fall at 3:19 of the second period. Alex Rodriguez had one of the closest title matches, as well, falling by a 9-7 decision to Wichita-Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s Nathan Fury (25-1) to see his season mark slip to 11-4.

Ryan Heiman was fourth at 126 pounds, finishing with a 4-2 meet mark and his season record left at 27-10. Erick Dominguez took sixth at 145 pounds. Sebastian Rodriguez, in going 3-2 over the weekend, placed fifth and his season record is now 23-5.

In the girls tournament at Atwood, Anjelina Serrano posted a 5-0 record to capture the 130-136 pound division and improve her season record to 24-5. Belle Hernandez went 3-0 to take the top spot at 116-123 pounds and Kallista Rhoades received a pair of byes at 170-191 to take the 170-191 division.

Sara Chapa finished second to Hernandez in the 116-123 pound class and Chloe Sullivan was runner-up at 101-109 pounds when she had to default due to injury in the finals. Anahi Cervantes placed third in that weight class.

Next up for the Buffaloes boys team will be the 62nd Annual Rocky Welton Invitational, hosted by the Buffs on Friday-Saturday, Jan. 31-Feb. 1 at The Garden. There are 46 teams scheduled to participate in what will be one of the biggest and toughest prep tournaments in Kansas this season. There are teams from 5 states entered.

BOYS SWIMMING

The Garden City High School boys swimming team saw their toughest competition of the season on Saturday, competing at the Wichita Heights Invitational.

There were 22 teams competing, with the Buffs placing seventh in the team standings with 164 points. Wichita East took the top spot with 249 points.

“Swimming with that many teams and the caliber of the competition was an eye opener for our team,” head coach Brian Watkins said. “We kind of knew where we stood against these teams going in, but reality can hit hard when you are riding high off some really good team results (5 wins in 6 previous events).”

Junior Connor Cupp earned a pair of medals, placing third in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 56.56 seconds and then was sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:06.51. Jeremiah Bunce had a pair of top 10 finishes, taking ninth in the 50-yard freestyle (23.92 seconds) and eighth in the 100-yard freestyle (52.35 seconds). Freshman Kobe Otero took seventh in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 59.68 seconds.

The three relay teams also had solid performances, with the 200-yard medley team of Otero, Lane Durst, Cupp and Esai Morales clocking a 1:49.84 time. The 200-yard free unit of Bunce, Devin Chappel, Morales and Joel Contrarez took fifth with a time of 1:37.59. The 400-yard relay group of Bunce, Chappel, Cupp and Otero trimmed four seconds off their previous mark with a time of 3:33.75.

The Buffs will be competing in two Wichita events in the next week, the Wichita Invitational and the Wichita Northwest Invitational. The Buffs’ top six swimmers will compete on Feb. 1 at the Wichita Invitational, while the remainder of the team competes on the same day at the Wichita Northwest meet. Only swimmers who meet time qualifications can compete in the Wichita Invitational. The Buffs are slated to host a home event on Feb. 6, but that is pending as the heater at the YMCA Pool is currently being repaired.

at Wichita Heights
Team Scores: 1. Wichita East, 249; 2. McPherson, 238; 3. Andover Central, 229; 4. Wichita Heights, 225; 5. Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 217.5; 6. Wichita-The Independent, 205.5; 7. Garden City, 164; 11. Great Bend, 57; 22 Schools competed.
Individuals: 100y butterfly: 3. Cupp, 56.56; 200y medley: 7. (Otero, Durst, Cupp, Morales), 1:49.84; 50y freestyle: 9. Bunce, 23.92; 100y freestyle: 8. Bunce, 52.35; 200y freestyle relay: 5. (Bunce, Chappel, Morales, Contrarez), 1:37.59; 100y backstroke: 7. Otero, 59.68; 100y breaststroke: 6. Cupp, 1:06.51; 400y freestyle relay: 4. (Bunce, Chappel, Cupp, Otero), 3:33.75.

BOYS BASKETBALL

After winning its opening game in the Valley Center January Jam on Thursday, Jan. 23, against Coffeyville (50-45), the Garden City Buffaloes boys basketball team ran into two tough opponents in the semifinals and third-place games on Friday and Saturday.

The Buffs were derailed on Friday against Shawnee Mission East, 82-59, in the semifinals and then dropped a 68-39 decision to Blue Valley West on Saturday in the third-place match-up. The 1-2 tourney mark left the Buffs with a 5-7 season record. They will play host on Tuesday night, Jan. 28, to the Ulysses Tigers in an 8 p.m. tip-off at The Garden.

They will then have a week off before heading to Dodge City on Feb. 4, to face the Red Demons in the final game of the double round-robin Western Athletic Conference schedule. The Buffs are currently 0-3 in the WAC.

In the semifinals against Mission East, the Buffs couldn’t keep up with the high-scoring team, falling behind 20-13 after one quarter and 36-26 at halftime. They trailed 52-38 after three periods.

Luke Tolbert led the Buffs in scoring with 13 points and Isaiah Reyes added 10.

The third-place game on Saturday was much the same for the Buffs, trailing 19-6, 38-15 and 63-33 at the quarter stops. Azavier Williams was the only hot-hand for the Buffs, finishing with 23 points, including four 3-point baskets.

January Jam Semifinals

Shawnee Mission East  20  16  16  30  — 82

Garden City  13  13  12  21  — 59

Garden City (5-6) — Rosales 6, Williams 9, I. Reyes 10, Flores 5, Tolbert 13, C. Reyes 3, Wiese 8, Tanner 3, Nuzum 2. 3-point goals: Rosales 1, Williams 1, I. Reyes 2, Flores 1, Tolbert 3.

January Jam Third Place

Blue Valley West  19  19  25  5  —  68

Garden City  9  6  18  6  —  39

Garden City (5-7) — Rosales 2, Williams 23, I. Reyes 2, Tolbert 3, C. Reyes 2, Wiese 5, Nuzum 2. 3-point goals: Williams 4, Tolbert 1.