Coach Ross capped off a great coaching career last year as his Derby Panthers were the 6A State Champions. The new Head Coach Heincker will have a hard time repeating due to a very large class of seniors last year. No doubt, Coach Heincker will have the Panthers ready but it will be an uphill battle. This year’s 6A team title is really up for grabs. Manhattan is the clear front runner with the most returning team points and the most returning state qualifiers. Washburn Rural is only a state placer behind, and Mill Valley is only a state placer behind them, and Garden City is only a state placer behind them. It is all going to come down to which team brings up some good jv and freshman wrestlers, stays healthy and has a stellar weekend in late February.
If you have not seen my broadcast on the teams returning the most team points in the boys 6A classification, here is another look at the top 10.
Rank
School
Returning Points
2023 State Finish
1
Manhattan
132.5
4th Place
2
Washburn Rural
119
6th Place
3
Mill Valley
110
3rd Place
4
Garden City
99.5
2nd Place
5
Olathe East
77
11th Place
6
Olathe North
76
5th Place
7
Derby
69
1st Place
8
Junction City
65.5
7th Place
9
Gardner Edgerton
49
9th Place
10
Blue Valley West
33
18th Place
#1 Manhattan Indians – 132.5 returning state team points
Manhattan finished just 3 points out of a trophy last year with a 4th place finish. That is a tough one to swallow as a coach. I’m sure the Indian Coaching Staff went through the state tournament several times figuring out where those 3 points could of and should of came from. With that type of motivation and the fact they only had 1 graduating senior from their state team, Coach Bammes and company will start out this season as the top team in 6A. The Indians have 2 returning state champions to help lead them, and as you can see below they have plenty of other returners to that can help increase there point total.
Name
This Year’s Grade
Last Year’s Weight
Last Year’s State Finish
Caeleb Hutchinson
10
106
State Champion
Cameron Coonrod
10
113
5th Place
Taivaughnn Walsch
10
120
S.Q.
Logan Lagerman
11
126
3rd Place
Jameal Agnew
12
132
State Champion
Ben Uher
11
144
S.Q.
Isaac Sinks
12
157
5th Place
Landon Dobson
11
175
S.Q.
Raymond Gary-Hernandez
12
190
S.Q.
Clayton Frehn
12
285
3rd Place
#2 Washburn Rural Junior Blues – 119 returning state team points
After a 6th place finish last year, Coach Hogan and the Washburn Rural Junior Blues will look to get back into the trophy hunt again this year. They have a solid group of state returners to lead the team. Not only do they have a chance to trophy this year, they could push for another state title. They have 2 returning state champions in their line-up as well and they are only 13.5 points out of 1st right now and have 6 other returning state wrestlers. If those wrestlers can all improve their state performance, the Junior Blues have a chance.
Name
This Year’s Grade
Last Year’s Weight
Last Year’s State Finish
Easton Broxterman
11
113
State Champion
Landon Kocher-Munoz
10
120
State Champion
Walker Doyal
10
126
S.Q.
Cooper Stivers
10
132
6th Place
Blaine Baird
12
138
4th Place
Kristjan Marshall
11
150
4th Place
Brody Byrne
12
157
4th Place
Chase Calhoon
12
215
S.Q.
# Mill Valley Jaguars – 110 returning state team points
Mill Valley finished 3rd last year just ahead of Manhattan. Coach Lazor has done a great job continuing the strong tradition that Coach Keal built at Mill Valley. They are in a great position to trophy again this year. The Jaguars have a pair of State Champions as well as the 2 teams above. And as you can see below they have a number of wrestlers returning with state experience. Again, if they can get some more production from the qualifiers and placers they could be moving up when state rolls around.
Name
This Year’s Grade
Last Year’s Weight
Last Year’s State Finish
Jeredy Nilges
10
106
S.Q.
Jacob Reitz
10
113
S.Q.
Robert Hickman
12
120
S.Q.
Dillon Cooper
12
126
State Champion
Maddox Cassella
12
138
3rd Place
Brady Mason
12
144
3rd Place
Collin McAlister
12
150
State Champion
#4 Garden City Buffaloes – 99.5 returning state team points
Don’t sleep on the Garden City Buffaloes. As you can see below the defending State Runner-up team has 9 wrestlers that did not reach their state goal. Coach Prieto knows how to win and will have his wrestlers hungry to improve on their state experience last year. The Buffaloes are only 10.5 points out of 3rd place right now, that is just one state placer. Again, this could be a sleeper team in 6A come February, 2024.
Name
This Year’s Grade
Last Year’s Weight
Last Year’s State Finish
Braydon Pacheco
11
106
State Runner-up
Julius Medina
12
113
S.Q.
Mathew Long
11
120
3rd Place
Logan Avalon
11
126
S.Q.
Robert Corrales
11
138
S.Q.
Sergio Sanchez
11
150
S.Q.
Ethen Allen
12
157
S.Q.
Brayden Hill
11
215
4th Place
Sebastian Lopez
12
285
State Runner-up
#5 Olathe East Hawks – 77 returning state team points
Olathe East rounds out the top 5 teams in 6A. The Hawks finished in 11th place last year. With a solid team of returners including a state champion and a runner-up, this could be a breakout season for Coach Larson’s Hawks. They will need the help of those other qualifiers and placers to improve on their state finish to move up the placing and to fend off teams that are just below them.
Name
This Year’s Grade
Last Year’s Weight
Last Year’s State Finish
Cohen McGill
11
113
S.Q.
Aiden Stuart
11
120
State Runner-up
Ender Rider
11
144
6th Place
Joey Taylor
12
150
S.Q.
Michael Costello
12
190
6th Place
Brett Carroll
12
285
State Champion
#6 Olathe North Eagles – 76 returning state team points
Name
This Year’s Grade
Last Year’s Weight
Last Year’s State Finish
Jaxson Scott
10
106
S.Q.
Blake Samuelson
10
113
4th Place
Quinn Alderman
10
120
S.Q.
Taggart Murphy
10
126
S.Q.
Trevor Vasquez
12
150
3rd Place
Jacob Vasquez
12
165
State Runner-up
Vance Provost
10
175
5th Place
Braden Hales
11
285
S.Q.
#7 Derby Panthers – 69 returning state team points
Name
This Year’s Grade
Last Year’s Weight
Last Year’s State Finish
Jayden Grijalva
11
106
3rd Place
Tanner Heincker
11
113
S.Q.
Diego Gauna
12
132
S.Q.
Peyton Neptune
12
175
4th Place
Mason Hopper
12
190
5th Place
Maxwell Robinson
10
285
6th Place
#8 Junction City Blue Jays – 65.5 returning state team points
Name
This Year’s Grade
Last Year’s Weight
Last Year’s State Finish
Ezekiel Witt
12
113
State Runner-up
Jaime Villanueva
12
132
5th Place
Griffin Bohanan
12
165
3rd Place
Cooper Bogenhagen
12
190
S.Q.
Damarion Shaw
11
215
S.Q.
#9 Gardner Edgerton Blazers – 49 returning state team points
Name
This Year’s Grade
Last Year’s Weight
Last Year’s State Finish
Roman Clouse
10
106
5th Place
Kasen Smith
12
120
6th Place
Caden Smith
12
126
S.Q.
Kaden Schwendemann
11
132
S.Q.
Ty Hammers
11
175
3rd Place
#10 Blue Valley West Jaguars – 33 returning state team points
Name
This Year’s Grade
Last Year’s Weight
Last Year’s State Finish
Scott Fohlmeister
10
113
S.Q.
Henry White
10
120
4th Place
Logan Meinheit
11
132
S.Q.
Brady Watts
12
150
S.Q.
Sam Dew
12
157
S.Q.
Kenny Woods
12
165
S.Q.
Brody McMannamon
12
285
S.Q.
3 thoughts on “6A – up for grabs!”
James Bilby
Great analysis
Manhattan will widen the gap with Fargo Finalist Zeke Witt joining the fold at 113lbs. Yet losing Sinks moving out of state it should still a positive side of 13-15 teams points from the total on there.
Jason Christenson
The addition of Maize really changes things up in 6A. I’m curious to see your thoughts/rankings if they’re added in to the equation.
Manhattan
Washburn Rural
Mill Valley
Garden City
Olathe East
Olathe North
Derby
Junction City
Gardner Edgerton
Blue Valley West
Great analysis
Manhattan will widen the gap with Fargo Finalist Zeke Witt joining the fold at 113lbs. Yet losing Sinks moving out of state it should still a positive side of 13-15 teams points from the total on there.
The addition of Maize really changes things up in 6A. I’m curious to see your thoughts/rankings if they’re added in to the equation.
Checkout the 5A video! At the end I took Maize out of 5A and put them in to 6A!