Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Kimball's Garrett Pedersen controls his opponent at the state wrestling competition last week. Pedersen, a sophomore, wrestled in the 106 pound weight division and though he did not medal, he is looking forward to training in his off season.
Garrett Pedersen walks through a tunnel of classmates and well-wishers as he left for state wrestling competition last week. Turn the page for more photos.
Kimball High sophomore, Garrett Pedersen, made his second trip to the Nebraska State High School Wrestling Tournament this past week. Last year he went as a spectator and to cheer on his teammate Clay Keller. This year he went as a contestant after qualifying at the District Tournament!
The lanky 106 pounder didn't come home empty handed as he won a match on the big stage and finished 1 and 2 in wins and losses. No medals this season but a lot of good memories and a lot of experience to carry him over to next year, and the year after. Garrett ended up with a season record of 16-16, but really came on strong in the latter part of the season.
Garrett had a very tough first round draw at Omaha and lost by fall in 1:54 to Brandon Schram of Tekamah-Herman with Schram going on to finish 4th overall in the Class C 106 pound weight class. On Friday morning in the consolation Round 1 Garrett showed he wasn't about to fold and wither as he pinned Drew Trautman of Wilber-Clatonia in 4:40 to give him a win in his first state competition. Later in the day he suffered his second loss to Sam Saldivar of Johnson County Central by a score of 17-2
"I enjoyed the state tournament," said Pedersen. "It was a lot of fun and even though I was there last year to observe, it was still a bit awesome to be a part of it all. I am looking forward to the off season although I will be busy with continuing to develop my wrestling skills with camps and workouts, and I am already looking forward to next season."
Garrett said he will be checking in with Shawn Nagel, former Kimball High and University of Nebraska standout wrestler for some special instructional workouts and will be attending the Rocky Mountain Nationals in March in Denver along with some other camps.
Kimball coach Wade Brashear said the 2016 NSAA championships were as exciting as always. "We knew going in that we had a tough first round draw, but our goal was to win a match this year and we did just that. In the third period of our first consolation match, Garrett was able to gain a reversal from a low leg scramble position and proceeded to put Wilber-Clatonia's Drew Trautman on his back and secure the fall."
Brashear went on to say that overall he was happy with the progress of this year's team with everyone returning next year.
"Our wrestlers are hungry for more experience and training. We look forward to building our program for the upcoming years," Brashear said.
With two more years remaining, Garrett is excited to get back to Omaha two more times and his goal now is to bring home medals to add to his already growing collection from other tournaments. Hopefully, next season he will have teammates making the trip with him, not as spectators, but as fellow contestants.