Class B: Boys Town hops ride on backs of terrific trio



With a combined record of 98-2, Boys Town's Chris Leak, Kevin Barrett and Sandi Stanback are riding high in the saddle entering the state wrestling tournament.

Ranked first, first and second in their respective weight classes, they're among the pursued in Class B when competition begins at 8:30 this morning at Qwest Center Omaha. By high noon, the Cowboys trio should be showing their true grit in the quarterfinal round.

Two of them are familiar in these parts. Barrett (35-0) is the returning champion at 215 pounds. Leak (35-1), ranked first at 189, is shooting for a three-medal bonanza after placing fifth and sixth the past two years.

But Stanback (28-1) was a man with no name in the wrestling community before this season. He's a first-year grappler, who dropped 55 pounds from 340 to get to the 285-pound heavyweight limit. His only loss was to Grand Island Northwest pinning machine Hadley Cooksley.

"Sandi is one of the best-conditioned heavies that I've ever been around," Boys Town coach Aaron Groff said. "He gets stronger as the match goes on, and he's been extremely coachable all year."

How Stanback and the magnificent other seven in the Cowboys' wrestling posse will fare in the biggest tournament of the year remains to be seen. But Groff said a schedule of events that included Class A powers Millard South and Omaha Creighton Prep, 10-time Class B champion Omaha Skutt and some tough teams from Iowa has them well-prepared.

Barrett, whom Groff claimed loves the challenge of a big match, made it through unconquered. Chris Leak's only loss came to third-ranked Iowan Derek Nightser of Council Bluffs Lewis Central. And Stanback was tied 2-2 in the second period with Cooksley, who has pinned all 30 of his foes this year, at the Schuyler Invite before getting thrown to his back.

The good, the bad and the ugly for second-ranked Boys Town, however, is that it has eight qualifiers but wrestles in the same class as Skutt, which has 13 qualifiers, nine top-ranked wrestlers and five returning champions. But Groff said chasing the SkyHawks isn't of concern to his team.

"I don't think that's necessarily something we focus on anymore, to be honest," he said. "It's not as much about Skutt is in our classification; it's about us peaking at the right time and wrestling to the best of our capabilities."

Groff thinks the Cowboys have a good chance to bring home a fistful of hardware. In addition to its big three, returning medalists Jay Jacobson (No. 4 at 112) and Jimmy Jones (No. 2 at 140) are among the championship contenders in their weight classes.

Chris Mitchell (135), Kaderrious McCoy (155) and Kevin Humphrey (160) hope to give Boys Town a few medals more.

The Cowboys will be joined by Central City, Alliance, Auburn, Syracuse, Plattsmouth, Beatrice and others in what appears to be a race for second.

In addition to the SkyHawks' quest for their 11th consecutive state title, Skutt's Tyler Sackett's (130) chase for his fourth individual title while teammates Quintin Cottle (135) and Tyler Kottas (145) each go for their third will be in the headlines.

Cooksley's attempt to win every match for the entire season by fall is also of interest in Class B competition this weekend. No one has lasted through the second period with the Vikings heavyweight yet this season.

"He's a machine," Groff said.

Central City's Logan Williams (119), Seward's Mark Fiala (152) and Alliance's Conor Schnell (171) join Cooksley and Barrett as the only unbeaten wrestlers in the Class B field.

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