Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Kimball's Rowdy Keller puts the clamps on an opponent during Saturday's Banner County Invitational. Keller swept the competition to finish first in the 120 pound weight class at Saturday's meet.
Kimball's Eric Escajeda, right, makes a move against an opponent during Saturday's Banner County Invitational. He finished fourth in the 285 pound weight class.
Coach Wade Brashear had a very limited squad at the Banner County Wrestling Tournament Saturday due in part to sickness, injury, test requirements and other reasons but none the less there were bright spots for the Longhorns.
From his squad of 11 that checked out, only four were available for the Banner County Tournament but senior Rowdy Keller brought home the gold medal winning the 120 pound weight class and scoring 20 team points. Keller won all five of his matches winning 9-2 over Abernathy of Lingle, pinning Nelson of Bayard in 2:23, pinning Goss of Sedgwick County in 1:30, pinning Schwartz of Garden County in 5:13, and winning 11-7 over Kaufman of Lingle in the championship match.
Eric Escajeda at 285 pounds placed 4th winning by fall in :32 over Abeyta of Sutherland, winning by fall in :51 over Edwards of Hemingford, losing by fall in 1:45 to Hessler of Morrill, losing by fall in :48 to Gallegos of Bayard, and losing by fall in 3:48 to Struckmeyer of Holyoke.
James Smith at 113 placed 5th losing by fall in 1:36 to Davis of Hemingford, losing by fall in :44 to Araujo of Bayard, losing by fall in 2:25 to Muller of Sedgwick County, losing by fall in :39 to Dickinson of Sedgwick County, and winning by fall in :34 over Peyton Stancyzk of Garden County.
Logan Stahla at 132 was also 5th overall losing by fall to Ash of Sutherland in 3:06, winning by fall in 3:49 over Lay of Lingle, losing by fall in 1:17 to Lousberg of Holyoke, winning by fall in :18 over Thiel of Minatare, and winning 9-2 over Lay of Lingle.
Bayard won the team championship with 160 points followed by Sedgwick County with 119.5, Holyoke 109.5, Sutherland 88, Morrill 58, Crawford 47, Lingle 37, Hemingford 33, Kimball 32, Minatare 30, Garden County 26, Hyannis 15, BANNER COUNTY 12.5
"We only had four wrestlers compete at the 49th annual Banner County Invite. Three wrestlers were out due to illness, and another was taking the ACT," Brashear said. "Overall, we wrestled well. We were led by senior Rowdy Keller who went 5-0 on the day and ended with a first place finish. Eric Escajeda also placed, by finishing fourth. Eric competed in a solid heavyweight class that included state qualifiers and a state placer. Eric's performance was the best of his high school career.
"Logan Stahla added a 3-2 record, and although he didn't place, he showed many improvements in his game. Freshman James Smith tasted some success as he recorded a pin in his final match of the day. James is loaded with athletic talent, but is very new to the technique required in the sport of wrestling. Altogether, I was pleased with our team's performance."
Kimball will be back on the mats for their final time before the break this Saturday at the Sidney/Bridgeport Tournament with a scheduled start time of 7:30 a.m.
