Chris Saferite just finished his sixth season as head coach of the Rose Hill High School wrestling team. 

“We wrestled well, I was proud of the guys,” Saferite said. “We had a couple of matches not go our way and Tonganoxie had a few matches go their way. You get in a tournament like that and one or two matches become a big deal and we just came up short on a couple of those.”

Saferite reflects on the team’s performance at state.

“Over all, the emotions of getting second kind of stings. Second place is not where we wanted to finish and you don’t always have chances to win a state title, so it hurts when you finish second place. However, I was super proud of the guys and their ability to stay engaged and bounce back when they needed to.”

Saferite explained that second place is never where we want to finish, but that the state tournament is always emotional no matter what place you end up.

“Thunder was a state champion and wrestled really well, James Bilby, Cash McVay and Remington Murlau all finished second and I was very pleased with their performance as well,” said Saferite. “Sebastian Bentley took third and he was able to bounce back from a loss and wrestled his best match ever for third and fourth and came out on top. Tucker Saferite bounced back as well after a heartbreaking loss and ended up taking fifth, he was also the match that decided our fate for the team taking second place after beating Andale on the back side.”

Saferite said that the team’s goal next year is easy. 

“To be state champions – plain and simple,” he said.