Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Garrett Pedersen had a solid week of wrestling for the Kimball High Wrestling Team, winning top honors at both the Western Trails Conference tournament and the Garden County Invitational.
The lanky senior wrestling at 120 pounds won his honors at WTC finishing third overall with losses to Sidney Wrestlers, but since Sidney was an add-on team, he defeated all of his actual WTC opponents, which gave him first and also giving him All Conference Honors as well. At WTC, he suffered two losses buy fall to Sidney wrestlers, but also won by fall to a Sidney wrestler and pinned Kildow of Bayard in :38 seconds along with receiving a bye.
Jordan Cluff finished third at 113 pounds and was given Honorable Mention All Conference. Cluf wrestled five matches and went three wins and two losses on the day. He lost 8-6 to Walker of Hemingford, pinned Cooper of Bridgeport in 2:57, pinned Hood of Gordon/Rushville in 1:43, won 16-1 over Avilez of Bayard, and lost 11-5 to Murillo of Morrill.
Connor Cluff, also wrestling at 120, received 1 bye and had 4 losses. Trevor Ryschon at 126 registered a 14-1 win over Webb of Morrill and pinned Barnette of Bridgeport in 2:36, but also suffered three losses and failed to place with a 2-3 record. Jaden Mohr at 132 was also 2-3 on the day with wins by fall over Verdugo of Morrill in 2:04, and 3:05 over Verdugo. Stephen Bateman at 195 was 2-2 for the tournament plus one bye. He won 12-2 over Snyder of Gordon/Rushville, and won 12-0 over Coley of Mitchell to finish fifth.
Coach Wade Brashear commenting on the conference tournament said "As a team, we did not have our best performance. We had several wrestlers dealing with weight issues".
Garden County Tournament: Coach Brashear had better things to report from the Garden County Tournament held Saturday in Oshkosh. "We had a great turnaround from how we wrestled at conference. It was the most solid wrestling we have had as a team. We ended up with three placers with Garrett Pedersen on top of the 120 pound bracket, Trevor Ryschon third in the tough 126 pound bracket, and Jaden Mohr wrestling well to take fourth at 132 pounds," said Brashear.
Pedersen had two first period pins, won 10-0 over Kildow of Bayard in the semi finals and 5-2 over Ferguson of Sedwick County in the Championship match.
Ryschon lost 6-1 to Araujo of Bayard, but then won four matches including two by pin, enroute to his third place finish.
Jaden Mohr lost only to McKibbon of Bayard, by fall, but won four matches on the mats including three by fall, but because of the five match per day limit rule, he had to forfeit his bid for third place honors.
Connor Cluff at 113 pounds ended up with a 1-2 record. Jordan Cluff, also wrestling at 113 pounds was also 1-2 on the day. Stephen Bateman at 195 was 0-2 in the tournament.
Coach Brashear said "We hope to continue to wrestle well as we head to Imperial this Saturday to wrestle in a very tough Chase County Tournament". Wrestling Saturday will begin at 9 a.m.
Team scoring at the WTC Conference Tournament saw Sidney with 278, Bridgeport 226, Morrill 160, Mitchell 150, Gordon/Rushville 107.5, Bayard 104, Hemingford 98.5, Kimball 55.5, and Banner County 4.
Bridgeport won the 20 school Garden County Tournament with 177 points followed by Morrill with 140, Mullen 124.5, Southeast 100.5, Sedgwick County 95.5, Bayard 93, Crawford 79, Pekins Co. 73, Kimball 51, Hemingford 50, Dundy Count 35, Garden County 35, Sutherland 33.5, North Platte JV 28, Lingle 19, Hay Springs 17, Minatare 13, Banner County 7, McPherson County 5, Gering JV 4.