As the postseason draws near the winning doesn’t stop. Manhattan High, ranked first in 6A, capped off their regular season by defeating Basehor-Linwood 48-27 in their final dual of the year — an adequate end to a season enriched with trophies and winning tournament brackets.

“The meet against Basehor went really well,” senior 285-pounder Eldon Picou said. “We came out pretty strong and maintained a good drive throughout the meet.”

Picou won his match in under 50 seconds.

“We had a couple of kids step because A.B. [Sanchez, junior] was out sick and Hunter [Christensen, junior], our 225-pounder, was sick,” junior 152-pounder Jalin Harper said.  “Some freshman stepped up, wrestled and competed which means a lot to me. We handled business pretty well.”   

Regardless of Manhattan’s regular season victories, the postseason is a different monster. The Indians might have finished ranked number one in the state but league and regionals both stand in the way of a state title.

“Going into league, regionals and state I’m feeling really good,” senior 145-pounder Mason Wallace said. “No one is injured, there’s been some illnesses but we’re all healthy right now. We’re working hard as a team.”

Wallace will look to earn his third individual state title this postseason.  

“It’s pretty much just knowing our guys can win matches,” Picou said. “When it counts we can win. It’s worth more than the actual win. It’s the trust we have of ‘We know he’s going to win when we need it.’ We’re going to do big things and hopefully we do good in league, regional and state.”

The Indians next competition will be on Saturday when they travel to Topeka in hopes to repeat as Centennial League winners.