113 Tucker Cell 1st Place

Cell, a Freshman, entered the 2021 State Wrestling Tournament with a lot of hype and he did not disappoint.  Cell pinned Junior, Kolten Misener just 1:06 into the Championship match.  Misener, finished 2nd last year at 113 to Devon Weber of Pratt.  He was 32-0 entering the Championship match and ranked #1 in all classificiations.  Cell was was in control of the match from the opening whistle and had a 4-1 lead at the time of the pin.  Cell finished his Freshman season  38-0 and became Abilene’s first undefeated Freshman in school history.

Cell opened with the tournament with a dominant win over AJ Schaffer of Garnett, Anderson County.  Cell pinned Schaffer in just 39 seconds. In the semifinals, Cell defeated #3 Braeden Moore of Tonganoxie 10-5. Cell led 5-3 at the end of the first period, 7-5 at the end of the second period and pulled away for the five point victory.  Moore was the only wrestler over the last two weeks to go the distance with Cell.  Moore, a Freshman, who is ranked #7 in all classifications, went on to finish in 3rd Place.

138 Braden Wilson 6th Place

Wilson was a State qualifier in 2020 and improved this season with a 6th Place finish.  Wilson, ranked #6 in 4A, opened the tournament with a 6-4 loss against #2 Collin Creach of Ottawa.  Wilson fell behind 2-0 at the end of the first period.  He was able to tie the match with 45 seconds to go in the second period.  In the final seconds of the second period, Creach was able to get a reversal and back points to take a 6-2 lead.  Wilson was able to get a take-down in closing seconds of the third period but ran out of time.

Wilson came up big, with a 4-2 victory, in the consolation quarterfinals against #4 Keishaune Thompson of Pratt.  Wilson had to win the match to stay alive in the tournament and to medal.  Thompson, a Junior, finished in 2nd Place at the McPherson Sub-State the week before, while Wilson finished 3rd in that same tournament.  Wilson jumped ahead 2-0 in the opening period and never trailed the rest of the match.

In the consolation semifinals, Wilson fell to #1 Tyler Voss 6-0.  Voss, a Junior, lost in the championship semifinals to #3 Cael Lynch of Eudora.  Voss defeated Wilson 12-0 the week before at McPherson.  Voss went on to finish in 4th Place.  He lost to 3-1 to Creach in the 3rd Place match.

In the 5th Place match, Wilson fell 10-0 to Trent Moses of Mulvane. Moses had pinned Wilson in the McPherson Sub-State 3rd Place match last week.  Wilson finished his Sophomore season with a 29-6.

285 Brandon Parker

Parker punched his first ticket to State last week with a 4th Place finish at the McPherson Sub-State.  He entered the tournament as the #6 ranked wrestler in his weight class. He opened with #1 Brady White, a Senior, from Coffeyville, Field Kindley.  White pinned Parker 5:05 into the match.

Parker then fell in the final seconds of his match with Nathan Cunningham.  Cunningham, a Junior from Chanute, pinned Parker at the 4:58 mark of the match.  Parker ended his career with a 22-9 record.  He will wrestle next season at Bethany for former Abilene standout Courtney Strauss.