Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Longhorn Connor Cluff was all-in during the Chadron tournament, going 4-1 before being stopped from competing further due to the state limit for high school wrestlers of no more than five matches in one day.
Connor Cluff at 126 pounds was Kimball's top wrestler at the Chadron Invitational Tournament this past Saturday with a record of 4 wins and 1 loss, and finishing 4th in his class.
Stephen Bateman at 285 placed 5th, going 2 and 2. Trey Schindler at 138 was 1 and 2, and Joseph Burris was 0-2.
Cluff might have placed even higher but had an unfortunate situation, according to Coach Wade Brashear.
"We had some up and downs at the Chadron Invite," the coach said. "Connor Cluff was our top placer and placed 4th because he had to have a no-contest match in the consolation finals, as a high school wrestler in Nebraska is only able to wrestle five matches in one day.
"Connor changed weight classes this week to 126 and is more competitive at this weight. Trey Schindler lost two close matches including an overtime loss to get into placing. Stephen Bateman was one takedown away from being in the finals, losing in overtime to the number one seed from Bridgeport. In his next match, he gave up a last second pin while winning the entire match to Valentine. He won his final match for 5th place."
Cluff won 2 matches by fall and 2 by decision and lost his only match of the day to Markowski of Mitchell 12-8. Bateman won a 5-1 decision over Davis of Hill City and pinned this same wrestler in his final match for 5th.
Coach Brashear went on to say, "We need to work on conditioning and situations to win big matches, so that we can peak at the right time, which is districts in two weeks."
The Longhorns will be at Mitchell this Saturday and then at Bridgeport on February 6 for the combined SPVA and WTC Conference Tournaments.
