Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
James McGinnis grapples with Chase McGrath of Bridgeport on his way to a first place win.
James McGinnis earned first place for the Longhorn junior high wrestlers along with teammates Trey Schindler and Matthew Johnson.
Junior high mat men from the Panhandle and eastern Wyoming competed in Morrill on Friday, Nov. 16, with three young Longhorns earning first place.
Trey Schindler's placed first in the 126-138 weight bracket and earned the Longhorns 24 team points. Schindler won the quarterfinal match by fall in 13 seconds over Petar Carlson of Hemingford before pinning Leyton's Kaleb Borges in 1:10 in the semifinal match. His championship was cemented with a win by fall over Parker Farrenkopf of Bridgeport in 1:16.
Teammate James McGinnis also took first in his weight bracket, 101-110, and added 20 points to the Kimball board with a quarterfinal win by 5-2 decision over Kaden Riggs of Lingle. In the semifinal round McGinnis pinned Chase McGrath of Bridgeport in 1:10 and followed up with a win by 9-2 over TC Hughson of Mitchell in the final round.
Matthew Johnson took first and earned 18 team points with his round one win by fall over Trevor Sandlin of Lingle in 1:32. Johnson followed up with a round two win over Ayden Shimic of Southeast Goshen in 1:55 and a round three win by 7-0 decision over Lusk's Ridge Kupke.
Uziel Flores earned second place in the 170-177 weight bracket and added 15 points to the Longhorn board with a quarterfinal bye followed by a semifinal win by 10-2 major decision over Tommy Mulkey of Southeast Goshen. In the final match Flores took a loss by injury default to Riley Murphy of Mitchell.
Gage Schaeffer placed third in the 108-110 weight bracket and added 15 team points with a win by fall in 1:52 over Mitchell's Jackson Mitchell in the quarterfinal. Schaeffer fell to Bayard's Zach Araujo in 1:45 in the semifinal match before rallying in the consolation match to win by 19-11 major decision over Mitchell's Ryal Baldwin. Schaeffer secured his third place win by fall over Nathan Clement of Banner County in 1:31.
Dominick McCloskey earned a fourth place finish and ten team points with his quarterfinal win by fall in 1:23 over Banner County's Wyatt Reichenberg followed by a semifinal round loss to Matthew Chapman of Southeast Goshen. McCloskey came back in the consolation round to win by 15-4 major decision over Gabriel Tretter of Leyton before falling to Cooper Lakin of Burns/Pine Bluffs in 2:40.
Brandon Paxton earned two team points in Morrill, Braylon Miller added one as well. Other competitors for the Longhorn team were Aaron Gilming, Kyle Fraser, Gabe Brooks and Tyler Loffland.
Banner County grapplers were led by Brendyn Onstott, who earned second place in the 107-115 weight bracket and 14 team points for the Wildcats. Onstott won by 6-0 decision over Alec DeMarce of Southeast Goshen in the quarterfinal and followed up in the semifinal with a 10-3 win by decision over Kimball's Brandon Paxton before falling in 1:48 in the final round to Alex Flores of Burns/Pine Bluffs.
Teammate Nathan Clement earned fourth place and added ten team points with a quarterfinal win by 12-2 major decision over Hemingford's Zane Hinman before taking a loss to Clay James of Burns/Pine Bluffs in the semifinal round by 14-2 major decision. Clement rallied in the consolation round to win by fall in 49 seconds over Mitchell's Jackson Mitchell but ultimately lost to Kimball's Gage Schaeffer by fall in 1:31 in the third place round.
Noah Yetter earned three team points for the Wildcats at the tournament and other Banner County wrestlers included Adam Knaub, Wyatt Reichenberg and Isaac Olsen.