CHERRYVALE — In an eerie silence without fans, the winter wrestling campaign got underway on Tuesday night as Cherryvale hosted Erie and Humboldt at the Cherryvale Jamboree.

Varsity, JV and girls matches took place throughout the night.

Erie shined on the night, winning 22 matches. Humboldt won 11 matches while Cherryvale won eight.

“We’re on the right track,” Erie head coach Will Weber said. “We practice every day and the kids don’t always understand the bigger picture. But I saw better wrestling on the first day of competition tonight than I’ve ever seen on the first day. I think we’re on a good roll right now.” 

A week removed from KSHSAA’s ruling to ban fans from winter sports until at least Jan. 28 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Tuesday’s opening to the season certainly felt unique.

Cherryvale’s head coach, Casey Lickteig, was also not present as he was quarantined. That left assistant coach Drew Charles in charge of the night for his time.

“Once it’s go-time, it’s pretty much all the kids,” Charles said. “They wrestled with intensity tonight. There were plenty of people to pitch in and help. We’ve got a great AD and a great principal.” 

Charles said that not having fans in the gym was different, albeit manageable.

“I miss hearing people yell ‘squeeze,’” Charles said. “That’s weird to not hear. For some kids, it may be a great thing to have no fans. For others, they’d rather have mom and dad here. I think the kids are just thankful we got to compete.” 

Weber added that wrestlers were able to focus more on matches without fans, but that the energy brought by fans was missed.

“The fans do make a difference,” Weber said. “One good thing about not having fans is that we can coach without yelling over the crowd. And the kids’ heads are in the match more rather than looking at the girlfriend or mom. But the con is that you don’t get the same momentum. That snowball effect really helps if you’ve had some good matches.” 

The jamboree featured two breaks apiece on each match for sanitation while the officials wore face coverings.

“Coaches and players in general are all accustomed to it by now,” Cherryvale athletic director Rodney Vigil said of the health guidelines. “We’re condition trained. We’re just taking that from one place and one season to another.” 

Tuesday’s match was also streamed online by Cherryvale. A small pocket of fans in a truck held signs in the parking lot and watched the stream from outside the building.

“Streaming was a basic priority for us,” Vigil said. “We wanted to make sure that the parents and fans were able to view their kids.” 

A week ago, the winter season was under threat of delay from KSHSAA. That gave extra significance to Tuesday’s jamboree.

“It’s just awful good to be able to wrestle,” Charles said. “It’s a great thing that we got one in. We don’t know how many we’re guaranteed. So it’s great.” 

 

CHERRYVALE JAMBOREE RESULTS

Mat No. 1

113: Kennedy (Erie) def. Coates (Cherryvale) by fall

113: Morrill (Cherryvale) def. Wilson (Cherryvale) by fall

132: Weber (Cherryvale) def. Austin (Cherryvale0 by fall

132: Thompson (Erie) def. Kimmick (Erie) by fall

138: Sinclair (Cherryvale) def. Westbrook (Humboldt) by fall

138: Heady (Erie) def. Coats (Cherryvale) by fall

145: Mata (Erie) def. Bishop (Cherryvale0 by fall

160: Doepke (Humboldt) def. Counsil (Humboldt) by fall

113: Kennedy (Erie) def. Morrill (Cherryvale) by fall

113: Wilson (Cherryvale) def. Coats (Cherryvale) by fall

132: Kimmick (Erie) def. Weber (Cherryvale) by fall

132: Thopmson (Erie) def. Austin (Cherryvale) by fall

138: Sinclair (Cherryvale) def. Coats (Cherryvale) by fall

138: Heady (Erie) def. Westbrook (Humboldt) by fall

145: Mata (Erie) def. Johnson (Humboldt) by fall

160: Doepke (Humboldt) def. Counsil (Humboldt) by fall

113: Morrill (Cherryvale) def. Coats (Cherryvale) by fall

113: Kennedy (Erie) def. Wilson (Cherryvale) by fall

132: Thompson (Erie) def. Weber (Cherryvale) by fall

132: Kimmick (Erie) def. Austin (Cherryvale) by fall

138: Coats (Cherryvale) def. Westbrook (Humboldt) by fall

138: Heady (Erie) def. Sinclair (Cherryvale) by fall

145: Johnson (Humboldt) def. Bishop (Cherryvale) by fall

Mat No. 2

120: Ross (Erie) def. Jackson (Humboldt) by fall

143: Plumley (Cherryvale) def. Saucedo (Cherryvale) by fall

155: Goforth (Humboldt) def. Cobb (Cherryvale) by fall

191: Riebel (Humboldt) def. Wallace (Erie) by decision (6-3)

170: Welch (Erie) def. Scheirlman (Cherryvale) by fall

170: Slocum (Humboldt) def. M. Johnson (Humboldt) by decision (13-8)

220: Becker (Erie) def. Kaufman (Humboldt) by decision (6-2)

HWT: Watts (Humboldt) def. Goodner (Humboldt) by fall

120: Ross (Erie) def. Jackson (Humboldt) by fall

155: Goforth (Humboldt) def. Cobb (Cherryvale) by fall

191: Wallace (Erie) def. Riebel (Humboldt) by fall

170: Welch (Erie) def. M. Johnson (Humboldt) by fall

170: Slocumb (Humboldt) def. Scheirlman (Cherryvale) by fall

220: Kaufman (Humboldt) def. Goodner (Humboldt) by decision (4-2)

191: Wallace (Erie) def. Riebel (Humboldt) by fall

170: M. Johnson (Humboldt) def. Scheirlman (Cherryvale) vy fall

170: Welch (Erie) def. Slocumb (Humboldt) by fall

220: Becker (Erie) def. Goodner (Humboldt) by fall

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