TonganoxieMirror.com

Jeremy Goebel couldn't have planned his Thursday night any better at the Tonganoxie High gymnasium.

The THS wrestling coach saw his six seniors lead the Chieftains to a 61-13 blowout victory against the Basehor-Linwood Bobcats on Senior Night.

Goebel, in his sixth year as wrestling coach, was also celebrating his five-year wedding anniversary with his wife, Lisa.

"It's a great day," Goebel said. "It's kind of ironic that our anniversary is during wrestling season. It's something that my wife knows I love and she supports me. It's a fun way for me to enjoy my anniversary, doing something I love with the people I love, with my kids (Jace, 3, Addison, 2) and my family here watching. It's me in a nutshell: Family and wrestling."

Tonganoxie had six seniors wrestle their last matches at the THS gymnasium: Wally Rachford (125), Travis Adcox (140), Matt Ditty (145), Wyatt Coffin (152), A.J. DeMaranville (215) and Cameron Adcox (289).

The seniors went a combined 5-1. The Adcox cousins, Ditty, Coffin and DeMaranville won via pinfall. Rachford lost, 12-1, in a hard-fought match against Basehor-Linwood's Joe Johnson.

Cameron Adcox ended the night with a salute to the crowd after he pinned Basehor Linwood's Jordan Chaney in the dual's last match. Adcox was so excited that after the referee raised his arm to finalize his victory, he ran to the student section and high-fived countless friends who supported him.

"This was the biggest turnout, student-body-wise, that we've ever had," Adcox said. "It was pretty exhilarating. They were all cheering pretty loud. I just like to show appreciation that they come out and support us and show them that it does mean a lot to us."

DeMaranville added that he saw Senior Night as a representation of how the wrestlers prepared for competition on a daily basis.

"Anybody in their right mind wouldn't want to be practicing every day, cutting weight, sweating constantly and beating the crud out of each other," DeMaranville said. "But it's not for everyday people. It takes a special breed to do this. We're glad that we're finally getting respect."

Early on, after the match between the wrestlers in the 125-pound weight class, the Bobcats actually took a 13-6 lead. The Chieftains won the next 10 matches and scored 55 unanswered points on the Bobcats.

Kevin Hamm (119) won via pinfall for the Chieftains. Jeff Ross (103) won on a 4-1 decision, Matt Brock (130) won on an 8-4 decision and Zach Kaighin (189) won on an 11-2 decision.

"I'm going to miss this place a lot," Cameron Adcox said. "This is my hometown. I've grown up here all my life. This is the last time I'm going to get to perform in front of everyone. Anybody could understand that means a lot to somebody. Just to go out there, get a pin and have the whole team win, it feels great right now."