Salina South's Kayson Dietz gets a late escape to win first state wrestling championship

PARK CITY — All year, Kayson Dietz had a picture in his head of winning a state wrestling championship.

That picture became a reality on Saturday night at the Class 5A boys state wrestling tournament.

In his final week of high school wrestling, the Dietz needed an escape against Bonner Springs' Tony Caballero with one second left to capture the 285-pound championship at Hartman Arena, 3-2.

The championship victory came after Dietz also used an escape in the semifinals to beat Blue Valley Southwest's Andrew Farrell, 2-1.

"I've just decided I wanted to make it real bad," said Dietz, who finishes his season with a 41-3 record. "It's incredible what a little bit of time and effort can get you."

When the final whistle blew, Dietz was filled with joy and his adrenaline was flowing. He said his knees had been hurt the past two weeks, but that he felt no pain while celebrating.

"Doing it for your coaches and your family (and) making all of them happy," Dietz said.

South coach Kanean Wendall said it was incredible to see Dietz accomplish the goal he set at the beginning of the season.

"Not very many people get to end their season the way they wanted to," Wendall said. "Not many people get to end their career the way wanted to and Kayson got to end his season (and) his career the way he wanted to. He's maintained a level of coolness through it all.

"We've lost a few matches. His sense of calmness and the big moments, (I'm) really just super proud of just how he competed."

Wendall added that Dietz stuck to the game plan.

"(At) 285 in 5A, it was loaded," he said. "There were really four kids in that bracket that all could have put together the weekend that Kayson put together. I don't think any opponents fazed him."

When Dietz gave Wendall a hug after celebrating his victory, Wendall knew Dietz winning that championship couldn't have happened to a better kid.

More: Here are the top performers in high school basketball in Saline County for week of Feb. 21

"There's not that many heavyweights that work as hard as Kayson," Wendall said. "Just the amount of work that he's put in, the adversity that he's had with his wrestling career. Being a freshman that had 10 wins, injuries his sophomore year, battling through whether he wants to wrestle or not.

"I can't be more proud of our kiddo and how he wrestled and what he's done the last two weeks in achieving that goal."

South also had Brandon Fletcher qualify for state at 195 pounds, but he was eliminated in the second round of the consolation bracket by a 3-2 decision to Emporia's Bobby Trujillo.

Central places two at state

Out of its six wrestlers who qualified for state from Salina Central, two made it onto the podium.

Jase Adam placed third in his state debut at 113 pounds by making his way through the back side of the consolation bracket. After losing his quarterfinal match to Newton's Nick Treaster, Adam won four straight matches, including a 4-2 decision over Valley Center's Aiden Shields for third place.

Elix Hernadez took fourth at 152, dropping a 5-1 decision to Blue Valley Southwest's Cole Cronk.

Isaac Phimvongsa (120) and Dawson Hogan (145) were eliminated in the second round of the consolation bracket. Julian Castro (170) and Tyrus Young (195) were knocked out in the first consolation round.

More: Third time's the charm as Southeast of Saline's Matthew Rodriguez claims his first state wrestling title

Abilene's Tucker Cell wins second straight title

Tucker Cell went into the Class 4A state tournament as an underdog as a freshman at 113 pounds.

He responded by winning a state title.

Wrestling at 132 as a sophomore, he accomplished the same feat Saturday, beating Tonganoxie's Noah Bailey by a 20-5 technical fall in the finals for his second straight championship at Tony's Pizza Events Center.

"This year, I wasn't the underdog," said Cell, who finished with a 39-1 record. "I knew I had pressure on me (and) had a big target on my back. I knew over the summer I just worked my tail off.

Now that Cell has won two state titles, he wants to become the second Abilene wrestler to be a four-time state champion.

"I'm trying to be the next person they look up to," Cell said. "I've got a lot of my kids that I'm training in my basement. They're looking up to me, so I like to show them how it's done.

Seth Kinker of The Topeka Capital-Journal and Billy Watson of The Hutchinson News contributed to this report.

Dylan Sherwood has been a sports reporter for the Salina Journal since August 2019. He can be reached at dsherwood@salina.com or on Twitter @DSherwoodSJ

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Salina South's Dietz wins Class 5A Kansas high school wrestling title