The FHSU Tigers finished third in the 2011 installment of the Kansas Cup, a second year event that features all eight Kansas' intercollegiate wrestling programs. The Tigers were the defending champions in the event.
Complete tournament information is available here -
Tournament Headquarters
The nation's fourth-ranked NJCAA team, Labette Community College, coasted to the tournament championship with five champions and 104.5 team points. Baker University was second with one champion and 82.5 team points, followed by FHSU with three champions and 77.5 team points.
Pratt Community College finished fourth with 29.0 points, and were followed by Neosho County Community College, Newman University, Colby Community College and Northwest Kansas Technical College. Neosho County Community College had the other individual champion.
The Tigers were paced by their three nationally ranked athletes.
Alson Isenberg extended his season record to 25-1 and earned his fifth tournament championship of the year with his performance at 133 pounds. The eighth-ranked Isenberg finished 2-0 on the day with a semifinal pin over Damion Walls of Colby and a 14-5 major decision over Labette's Ty Fittje in the finale.
Fifth-ranked Andre Harrison repeated as the 141 pound Kansas Cup champion. Harrison had a workman-like outing and is now 14-3 on the season after scoring three decisions on the day, including a 6-0 win over Baker's Phillip Henes in the championship bout.
Seventh-ranked Travis Budke held off a late flurry by Baker's Jakob Price in the closing seconds of the championship bout at 165 pounds for the 5-3 win. Price had locked up riding time and was close to scoring a match tying takedown at the buzzer, but Budke was able to hold position on the edge of the mat as time expired for the win.
Two Tigers posted runner-up performances. Derek Koehn advanced to the 157 pound final, before losing by fall to Labette's Kayton Marshall. Justin Glenn came out on the wrong end of a match ending scramble and dropped a 5-2 decision Labette's Reno Redleaf at 285 pounds. The match was tied at 2-2 with approximately 15 seconds left and Redleaf closing in on an extra point for riding time. Glenn came to his feet and then executed a standing roll that nearly earned him the reversal, but Redleaf hipped over just in time to catch Glenn on his back for a two point nearfall and the extra point for riding time.
Four Tigers advanced to the consolation finals, with two winning their third place bouts. Travis Kuhn bumped up two weight classes to fill in for an ailing Mitchell Means at 149 pounds and nearly pulled off the upset of the day in the tournament's first round when he took the top seeded Jarell Price of Baker to overtime. Kuhn eventually gave up a takedown in the second stanza of sudden victory, but Kuhn bounced back to earn third place. Tyler Gonzales was also able to shake off an opening round loss to earn third place honors at 184 pounds with his victory over Newman's Tyler Hasenbank.
Aaron Berscheidt (174 pouunds) and Malcom Norris (197 pounds) each placed fourth on the day. Rory Wilkinson placed sixth at 125 pounds.
Next action for the 19th-ranked Tigers will be on Thursday in Gross Memorial Coliseum when they host 18th-ranked Adams State at 5 pm and then face New Mexico Highlands at 7 pm. It will be the final home event of the season.
The FHSU Tiger Takedown Club will be hosting a pre-match hospitality room for their members beginning at 4 pm in the Tiger Room.
