Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Clay Keller, center, shows off the championship banner after winning the SPVA Conference wrestling tournament last week in Grant. Keller is now 24-3 on the season heading into districts.
Kimball High freshman, Clay Keller, won the 132 pound championship at the SPVA Conference Wrestling Tournament held at Grant this past week. With the win Keller ran his season win-loss record to 24-3, the mark he will take into this week's district tournament being held at Mitchell.
Keller won all five of his matches at the conference tournament, four by fall and one by injury default. Keller pinned Brown of St. Pats in :32 seconds, pinned Conley of Bridgeport in 1:53, pinned Ash of Sutherland in :33, won over Weiss of Chase County by injury, and in the championship match pinned Cook of Perkins County in 1:14.
Kimball had only five wrestlers in action at Grant as senior Rowdy Keller was sitting out recuperating from an injury but should be ready to go for the district tournament, according to his father.
Garrett Pedersen at 106 had 3 matches and won 1, an 11-1 decision over Brown of Hershey. Logan Stahla at 132 won 2 of his 5 matches pinning Jessup of Maxwell in 3:44, and winning by injury default over Weiss of Chase County. Justin Mohr at 138 ended up 4th going 1 and 3 for the day with his win a 4-2 decision of Mackley of Hershey. Eric Escajeda at 285 suffered 4 losses by fall in his tough weight class.
Sutherland emerged as team champions scoring 241 points.
It was a close battle for second place honors with North Platte St. Pats runner up with 208, Maxwell at 206, Bridgeport at 201, Chase County 190, Hershey 95, Kimball 64, and Perkins County 55.
Kimball will be in action this Friday-Saturday at the District Tournament in Mitchell hoping to qualify as many wrestlers as they can for the upcoming State Tournament in Omaha slated for February 19-21. The top four in each weight class will advance out of district to the state tournament.
It appears on paper that Kimball's best chances are the Keller brothers along with Justin Mohr. Coach Wade Brashear says, "this district is one of the toughest in the state."
"We had a good showing at the SPVA conference," Brashear said. "Clay Keller won 5 matches to be conference champion at 132. Justin Mohr finished 4th, one place out of the medals. Garrett Pedersen finished with a third place medal. Rowdy Keller, and Cody Kirby did not complete. This is our final week of preparation for the C-4 District in Mitchell on February, 13 and 14. The C-4 district is one of the most competitive in the state. We hope to wrestle our best and return with some state qualifiers."