Wrestlers Show Coach Improvement; Schindler Wins

The young Kimball Longhorn wrestlers next compete Friday, Dec. 11, at North Platte St. Pats after showing improvement in their first two outings this year, coach Bob Culek told the Observer.

Kimball opened the season Friday, Dec. 4, at Bayard and wrestled in the Mullen tournament the next day.

In Bayard, Kimball had Aaron Gillming at 113 pounds, James McGinnis at 132, Connor Cluff at 145 and Trey Schindler at 152.

“We wrestled OK for the first meet out this year,” Culek said. “We had some things to work on, but overall I thought we wrestled good. We were close in all our matches, but ultimately Trey Schindler was our only win in Bayard.”

At Mullen, Kimball went with the same wrestlers at the same weights except for Cluff. He moved down to 138.

“We wrestled much better on Saturday,” Culek said. “James McGinnis had a strong tournament, finishing second. Connor Cluff also had a strong tournament, finishing third. Trey Schindler wrestled well, losing in the semis and then a tough loss in the consolation semis. Aaron Gillming is young and improved from Friday, and he lost two close matches.”

Culek said the team “identified several areas” to improve and “will be working hard to get some things corrected.”

“Overall, I was happy with how we competed both days,” he said. “We are a young team except for our lone senior, Connor Cluff. I see some good things to come for this group of kids.”

After St. Pats, Kimball competes Dec. 15 and 17 at Chase County/Leyton.