Our Senior State Champion!
By Courtney Kasson
February 26, 2008
Senior Alex Hackathorn is enjoying his well earned days of R&R (rest and relaxation) after his phenomenal performance at the 4A State Wrestling tournament on February 22nd and 23rd.
Hackathorn is the 2008 Class 4A Heavyweight State Champion! He
performed to the max going 3-0 in the State tournament last Friday
and Saturday making his overall record 38-4. "It feels
unbelievable, no words can describe how I feel. Last year I was
watching the tournament in the stands thinking, "What if I’m never
able to do that." And then to come out and win state was just
amazing," stated Hackathorn about his experience.
The weekend before, Hackathorn took 3rd place at the Regional
Tournament. He lost to Cameron Adcox 3-1 in the 3rd round putting
him in the 3rd or 4th place position in the bracket.
"Losing in front of my home crowd was the worst feeling ever. But placing 3rd seeded me perfect to compete in the State Finals, so it was actually a blessing in disguise," said Hackathorn about Regionals.
After his loss Friday night at regionals, Hackathorn won his
next match. His win put him in a situation to wrestle for 3rd
place Saturday night against Holton's Dennis Devader.
Hackathorn won this match by forfeit when Devader was unable
to wrestle.
This gave Hackathorn his shot at winning the State title. He and three other Kaw wrestlers made it to the State competition including, sophomores Colton Miller (125) and John Mehl (112) and junior Jacob Callahan (135).
By Saturday night Hackathorn was the only Kaw wrestler left. In his first match on Friday, he pinned Clearwater's Spencer Hilley, ranked 2nd, then Sam Belcha of Ottawa (winning by injury default), and finally moving on to beat 3rd ranked B.J. Finney of Andale 2-1 in the semifinals.
Two of the three wins were considered big upsets in the heavyweight bracket. This left Hackathorn to wrestle number one ranked Bobby Doxon of Goodland.
Then came Saturday. Hackathorn had to sit all day until the Championship round that started at 6:30 p.m. His nerves were through the roof until he looked into the stands. "After most of the boys basketball team showed up after driving through a blizzard, I wasn’t going to lose no matter what," said Hackathorn.
By the end of the first period Hackathorn was on top. By the end
of the 3rd and final period Hackathorn was on his feet pumping his
hands in the air waiting for the official to throw his hand up. The
7-2 victory was a huge win for Hackathorn.
"The crazy thing was when I was taking my picture, 30 seconds before I was thinking "Is this really happening to me?" and then the buzzer went of to end the match. It was amazing," said Hackathorn still in shock two days later.
Hackathorn wasn't taking all the credit though, "There is no way I could’ve done it by myself. My dad got me into wrestling when I was eight years old. Then there were my coaches who kept pushing me to be the best that I could be. And then there was the fact that I got to work out with a past State Champion every day before state. I really could've done it with out them."
