The BVNW wrestling team has built quite a resume for this past season. No other Husky wrestling team has won the Husky Invitational, taken first place at EKL, won regionals, qualified every member of it’s team for state, and placed third overall at state.

“We definitely had the guys to do it this year,” sophomore Max Tierney said. “We had a ton of senior leadership. It really comes to practicing everyday and getting prepared, and we did that.”

The following placed at state this past weekend:

Sophomore Sam Elliott became the new state champion in the 120 lb weight class. He finished his season with a 41-2 record. Sophomore Max Tierney became the new 152 lb weight class state champion to cap off his season with a 31-14 record. In the 126lb weight class, Jason Laramore took sixth place at state and ended with a 35-12 record. Senior Jaquwan Stone took third place at state in the 145 lb weight class. He finished his season with a 40-4 record. In the 182 lb weight class, junior Chris Lyons took fifth place at state to end his season with a 27-12 record. Senior Carter Tierney took sixth place at state in the 220 lb weight class for a 32-9 record.

“It’s a long time coming [to have this much success],” head coach Tim Serbousek said. “It’s something that our teams in the past have built a real solid foundation for. To do what what we did this weekend, you have to have a little luck on your hands and you have to wrestle well, and they did that. So they accomplished a lot.”

According to sophomore Max Tierney, the coaches and the team deserve the third place finish. Tierney said since the program has never taken home hardware from the state tournament, the coaches and team were extremely happy.

“I was actually up in the stands when we found out about third place,” Tierney said. “I had no clue what was going on. They all started freaking out and high-fiving each other and hugging each other so I assumed we had placed. So that made me and the rest of my teammates really thrilled.”

Sophomore Sam Elliott agreed, the third place finish was much deserved. At the beginning of the season, Elliott said the team set two goals: Get everyone to state and place in the top three.

“I’d say our success had a lot to do with the amount of talent we had this year,” Elliott said. “We had a lot of kids who just worked so hard and put in the effort. We all got along pretty well and we all just wanted it so bad.”

Sophomore Max Tierney’s state run:

A stolen bag of dip’ndots ice cream put a medal around sophomore Max Tierney’s neck and gave him the title of 6A state champion.

According to Tierney, the state tournament was a lot of fun. On the way down to Wichita, Tierney said the team was joking around which helped him get comfortable. However, upon arrival, the team got serious and got down to business.

“Going to Wichita for the state tournament, we knew anything could happen,” Tierney said. “It was just a lot of fun. I had a good time with my teammates.”

Tierney had to wrestle two of his hardest matches on the first day. According to Tierney, he had wrestled his opponents before and had been defeated. In order to mentally prepare, Tierney went into the matches thinking that anything could happen and that he could beat them, and he did. After going 3-0 on the first day, Tierney was set to wrestle in the state finals the following morning.

However, his opponent (senior Andrew Millsap) and a fellow teammate stole one hundred dollars worth of dip’n dots that night and got caught. Millsap was not allowed back in the gym to compete and his teammate was banned from the arena for two years. Tierney became the state champion by default.

“I honestly was really surprised,” Tierney said. “I didn’t expect it. I mean, I was totally fine with it. It meant a lot to become a state champion as a sophomore. I never thought I’d get to state, much less place there. I attribute my success to practicing everyday. The coaches really helped me a lot as well as my teammates and my practice parter Chris Lyons. He helped me a ton. We put in a lot of work everyday at practice.”

Sophomore Sam Elliott’s state run:

When Elliott first stepped foot onto a wrestling mat at a young age, his head filled with dreams and goals of being a state champion. Eight year’s later, his dream finally came true.

“It means everything to me,” Elliott said. “It’s everything I’ve ever worked for in this sport. It’s been my biggest goal since I started. It’s unexplainable, the feeling of getting my hand raised at the end of it. It was surreal.”

Prior to the state tournament, Elliott had already achieved an EKL and regional title, only having lost twice in the season. After a painful and heartbreaking experience at the state tournament freshman year, Elliott vowed never to lose at the tournament again. At the conclusion of the regional tournament, Elliott said he was both excited and ready to go win.

“Right after last season I started preparing,” Elliott said. “I wrestled in a bunch of tournaments, got stronger, and just put my heart into it.”

Elliot’s first match of the tournament was against a kid he had already beaten, and he proceeded to pin his opponent in the first period. His second match, however, would prove to be much more difficult.

“The guy I wrestled in the second match took third at state last year,” Elliott said. “So I knew it would be tough. I was super nervous because if I won that won I would automatically place in the top six. So I went out there and scored a bunch of points. I got up nine points going into the second period. And then during the match, suddenly my breathing started to not work well. I was just so nervous. I ended up winning 15-12, so it was just rolling around and craziness. But I pulled it off.”

Elliott defeated his next opponent 13-0 in the quarterfinal match to secure the opportunity to wrestle in the state championship. According to Elliott, the wrestler he was to take on in the championship had wrestled him before, and Elliott knew it would be a close match.

“I was excited,” Elliott said. “I had expected to get there because I’d been working so hard for it and I wasn’t going to let myself lose. I just kept telling myself, ‘I’m not going to lose.’”

Despite a bad case of nerves the first day, Elliot said he was surprisingly calm before the championship match.

“I mean, it was nerve-wracking to be there,” Elliott said. “But I wasn’t really that nervous. The whole arena is watching you. It’s a huge arena with hundreds of people, and everyone’s eyes are on you. I expected to be nervous, but it was weird because I wasn’t. I just went out there and wrestled as well as I could, and it ended up working.”

Elliott defeated his opponent and as his arm was raised into the air, he burst into tears of joy. After eight long years of hard work and sweat, Elliott said his dream had finally come true.

“It’s been exciting,” Elliott said. “My coaches really pushed me. Everyone has tried to push me to the best of my abilities. I ended up 41-2 on the season. I wish I had those two matches I lost, but I have another two years. I just worked as hard as I could and put everything I had into it … I don’t want to lose again in high school. Hopefully next year I will get my second state title. That’s what I want.”

According to Serbousek, it has been 14 years since the wrestling program has had a state champion.

“Anytime you have a state champ, it’s emotional,” Serbousek said. “Anytime any of those kids gets on the stand it’s emotional. But to be a state champ? To have two state champs? I was speechless.”

Serbousek said it is rare for everything to fall into place for the state tournament, and this year, it did. Serbousek was able to put his best wrestlers on the mat and leading up to the tournament the coaching staff and team were excited.

“It’s been a great season,” Serbousek said. “I mean I can’t even fathom it. It’s been special. There’s a lot of memories [from this weekend]. One match you’re excited because someone won and then two minutes later you’re devastated because someone lost. It’s not like any other program out there. Overall, the best memory was all fourteen going and all fourteen of them dressed up, and got their pictures taken because they placed.”

While Tierney said he sees talent coming in for the following years, varsity hopefuls have a lot of work to do if they want to wrestle at the highest level. However, Tierney believes if anyone can get them ready, it’s Serbousek.

“Hopefully next year I can defend my state title,” Tierney said. “For my team, the records we set this year are going to be hard to beat. We’re losing a lot of key guys. I think with the help of our coaches we’ll be able to do some good things next year. I don’t know if we’ll break our records from this year, but I think we’ll still have success.”