IRON WILL: Hays Indians; TMPIRON Monarchs WILL ■ By Conor Nicholl For Kansas Pregame
Photo by Everett Royer, ksportsimages.com
PRESTON WEIGEL & AARON MOORE
Proud to support Hays High football!
In the spring, Hays High School’s Preston Weigel was playing catch in the school gymnasium when he broke his tibia. Weigel missed the rest of track season and was still limping in mid-June. Weigel, though, is expected to be healthy and cleared by August, a critical part of the Indians’ quest for a fourth Western Athletic Conference title and third straight playoff berth under fifth-year coach Ryan Cornelsen. “I should be good and going,” the soft-spoken Weigel said. Weigel is already the best wrestler in Indian history with a state runner-up showing as a freshman and back-to-back dominant state crowns the last two years. He has lost just three matches in three years and is likely one of the nation’s best come winter. Helped by the Indians’ weight room, Weigel wrestled at 145 pounds as a freshman, but competed at 195 pounds last winter. “Genetics and eating good,” Weigel said with a smile. This fall, Weigel, a fullback/linebacker, and heralded junior quarterback Alex Delton are easily the two most experienced and talented Indian players. Delton, ranked as the No. 2 quarterback at the Rivals Underclassmen Challenge held in early July in Dallas, collected 1,198 passing yards and 640 rushing yards with a 15/5 TD/INT ratio and 10 rushing scores on the Indians’ 7-3 team last year that outscored opponents 367-279. Weigel collected 553 rushing yards during the regular season. Up front, the Indians return all-conference selections Kenny Rounkles and Brandon Hardwick, but lose allstate center/nose guard Cade Sharp. “We are both going to have to play hard, be part of the team,” Weigel said. “Like the line, we are going to have to keep everyone healthy, not get hurt.” Defensively, at times, it was 10 seniors and Weigel in 2012. This year, Weigel is the senior member of the defense that allowed 27.9 points per game, but was better than the numbers. Many times, especially in a 51-34 Week 3 win against Liberal, the Indians allowed points when the game was out of reach. Delton is expected to start in the defensive backfield after he rarely played defense last year. Weigel, Delton and the supporting cast will be well-prepared for the season because of Cornelsen’s well-known weightlifting program and Hays High’s brand-new weight room. While the weight room was a hot-button topic in Hays for months, one fact was never denied: The Indians’ previous weight room didn’t match up to other Class 5A schools. Cornelsen, who is 29-9 at Hays High and has four straight boys’ state track titles, had to make do with a small weight room next to the gym for his first several years. Now HHS has a facility on par with other big high schools and many small colleges. The facility also has a sprint area that can be used for agilities, plyometrics and even track practice if the weather is poor. In-kind donations and the players selling gift cards has helped the financial process, too. “It’s important,” Weigel said. Since the injury, Weigel has still lifted daily, but has just worked on his upper body. Before the injury, Weigel had maxed out in clean between 320 and 340 pounds and his bench was between 345 and 350 pounds. Weigel has especially strong forearms – great for wrestling – because of daily exercises. The Indians have plenty of solid athletes back, too. At the High Plains Sports Combine in the spring, Kevin Rounkles took ninth in overall athletic rating – and first among linemen – with 3,360 points. Kenny Rounkles was 12th with 3,341 points, Hardwick was 13th with 3,283 points. Delton has ran a 4.52 40-yard dash and has already received a scholarship offer from Kansas State. The 6-foot, 185-pound Delton has a 245-pound max in bench press, a 415-pound squat max and a 31-inch vertical, according to Rivals.com. Thomas More Prep’s Aaron Moore Aaron Moore didn’t see time on varsity and saw little action on junior varsity as a Thomas More Prep-Marian freshman. Then, Moore decided to get in the weight room and work as hard as possible. Two-plus years later, the 6-foot-1, 250-pound Moore holds the Monarch squat record at 475 pounds and was close to the hang clean and bench marks in mid-June. Moore, an offensive and defensive lineman, is expected to be one of the top players for a Monarch team that looks to improve from a 2-7 season last year. “My goals are just to be as best as I can, just work as hard as I can, and help my teammates along with that,” Moore said. “Make sure they are at their best, so we can play good this fall.” Moore has helped the Monarchs’ weight program under John Montgomery, a former Fort Hays State University player in his fourth year at TMP, and second as head coach. “It’s exciting to see, and we will see how it plays out onto the field this year,” Montgomery said. The Monarchs, traditionally known for basketball and baseball, haven’t made the playoffs in football since 2002, but did go 5-4 two falls ago and missed the postseason by one game. This year, the Monarchs return eight offensive and 10 defensive starters. Moore is the biggest returning starter, but the team has three returning starters over 200 pounds, a rarity for a school not known for great size. As well, for the second year, TMP’s staff includes Colby McKinney and Ricky Jacques, both former Ft. Hays football players. “When Aaron came in as a freshman, he definitely had a lot of development to do,” Montgomery said. “As we have worked on our weight program over the last four years, he has bought in 100 percent and his success last year and then coming into this year, I think can be directly tied to the commitment that he has made on a daily basis in season and then out of season to get bigger, to get faster and to get stronger.”
MOORE / Continued on page 49