Depleted Kimball Wrestling Team Survives Quad

With Rowdy Keller and Jonathon Withrow sidelined due to injury, Kimball held little hope of winning Thursday’s home quadrangular on team points.

Still, two match wins and one exhibition victory allowed the Longhorns to claim some success from the event featuring two Wyoming squads—Lingle-Ft. Laramie and Southeast—and the familiar blue and gold of the Morrill Lions.

Tatum Morgan captured the team’s first match victory on the night, pinning Southeast’s Sean Feagler after almost two minutes of frantic up and down grappling. Just time expired in the first period, Feagler tried to cross. Morgan saw an opportunity and dropped him to the mat with a loud smack.

“It was a good, physical match,” Kimball’s lone senior said. “Having my temper under control—that was big for me.”

Morgan sometimes allows a moment of frustration to get the better of him during a head to head contest. Lane Hageman of Lingle-Ft. Laramie took advantage of this fiery nature and pinned the Longhorns’ wrestler in the night’s first dual. Morrill’s Austin Descharme would do the same in the final.

Morgan finished the evening 1-3, dropping his season mark to 7-11.

Justin Mohr’s win came after a grueling effort against Morrill’s Justus Peterson. He held a 6-3 advantage at the end of one and dominated the second period—until Peterson trapped Mohr’s ankles.

“I could tell that kid was tired,” Mohr said. “So was I.”

Still, the score was a comfortable 13-5 into the third.

Throughout the final period, Mohr fought his opponent into a pin position, only to see him break contact. Late in the match, Peterson turned the tables with a sudden move, picking up three quick points and maneuvering the Longhorns’ sophomore into a precarious position.

“I went a little too far and got flipped,” Mohr pointed out. “But I was not going to get pinned after all that.”

He held on to win a 13-8 decision.

Earlier in the evening, Mohr conceded a 10-5 decision to Merritt Hageman from Lingle-Ft. Laramie. He emerged from the night with a respectable 9-12 record on the year.

Garrett Ryan notched an exhibition victory over the Doggers’ Brock Lay after falling to T.C. Garvie in the same dual.

The opener did not last long. Ryan drove toward Garvie’s legs but could not complete the move. He lost balance and leverage.

“The first one wasn’t good—I took a shot that didn’t work out,” he said. “I didn’t know I was going to have two.”

Thanks to Keller’s injury, Ryan (2-5 on the season) faced C.J. Sidrow of Morrill. The 106-pound Lions’ senior has waged a season-long battle with Keller, winning their first two meetings but falling on their last encounter.

“Not really, no” Sidrow responded when asked if he missed working against Keller. “But I do want to get my payback,” he added with a laugh.

“I guess I’ll see him at Lingle,” Keller said. The Kimball sophomore expects to return to the mat in time for the January 18-19 tournament in Wyoming.

Tristan Carruthers dropped all three of his matches by pin. Overall, the Longhorns were 2-8 in points matches on the night.

“This is the grinder part of the season,” head coach Wade Brashear observed. “When things are hectic, you don’t wrestle well.”

Injuries hurt the Longhorns, too. Keller is 15-6 in 2012-13 and Withrow 17-4. The latter’s return to action depends on the results of an MRI scheduled for earlier this week. He missed districts last year.

“We have to get healthy and work in fundamental wrestling,” Brashear said.