Kimball hosts young wrestlers, boasts multiple first place finishes

Junior High wrestlers from Banner County, Bayard, Burns/Pine Bluffs, Garden County, Gering, Lingle, Minatare, Mitchell and Morrill all descended onto the Kimball mats on Saturday, Nov. 3 for the 2018 Kimball Junior High Invitational.

Mitchell matmen took top billing with 34 pins totaling 45:57 with Gering close behind, logging 31 pins in 35:39 minutes. Lingle wrestlers, 23 pins in 26:19, edged out Garden County with 21 pins in 23:41 followed by Bayard with 17 pins in 16:14 and Burns/Pine Bluffs with 13 pins in 16:49. Kimball logged 11 pins in 20:23 and Banner County followed with six pins in 10:02. Morrill got four pins in 3:48 and Minatare had two pins in 1:52.

Kimball’s Kyle Fraser earned first place in his bracket and earned 16 points for the Kimball team with his round one win by 7-4 decision over Marco Gonzales of Gering and his second round win by fall in :42 over Minatare’s Miguel Gonzalez followed by his third round win by 6-4 decision over Burns/Pine Bluffs’ Eli James.

James McGinnis placed first in his bracket and earned 16 team points. He won round one by 6-3 decision over Lingle’s Hadley Fleming, pinned Mitchell’s Hayden Umble in 3:47 in round two and won round three by 8-2 decision over Jairette Olson of Garden County.

Teammate Matthew Johnson took first place as well in his bracket and scored seven team points with his round one win by fall in 1:24 over Gering’s Dallas Gonzales and his round two win by 6-4 decision over Mitchell’s Ace Hobbs.

Kimball boasted several second place finishes as well, starting with that of Dominick McCloskey who earned 14 team points and placed second in his division with his first round win by fall in 1:33 over Gering’s Max Schlothauer. His second round win by fall of Lingle’s Cooper Hartung is 1:15 was followed with his third round loss to Nate Bailey, who pinned the young Longhorn in 2:58.

Teammate Uziel Flores also took second in his bracket and added 14 team points to the Kimball board

with his first round win over Burns/Pine Bluffs’ David Merryfield in 2:39. Flores was pinned in 1:54 in his second round by Boyd Oliver of Lingle before coming back in the third round to win by fall in 1 minute flat over Tyler Quick of Burns/Pine Bluffs.

Trey Schindler won second place in his division and earned 13 team points though his first round was a loss to Gering’s Keenan Allen by fall in 1:40. Schindler came back in round two to pin Garden County’s Johnny Vargas in 1:14 followed by an 11-2 major decision over Roque Raya of Burns/Pine Bluffs in round three.

Tying up the Kimball Junior High second place wins was Brandon Paxton who took second in his division and earned Kimball an additional 10 team points.

Paxton won by 7-4 decision over Gering’s Michael Woolsey in round one and lost to Lingle’s Cooper Smith in the second round by 9-4 decision. He came back in the third to win in sudden victory over Ryan Baldwin of Mitchell.

Kimball’s Gage Schaeffer placed third in his division and earned the team nine points with a first round win over Daniel Bunton of Morrill by fall in 2:55. Schaeffer then fell to Banner County’s Adam Knaub and Mitchell’s Devon Engledow.

Chris McCloskey earned third place in his bracket and added nine points to the Longhorns’ board with his second round win by fall in 1:24 over Mitchell’s Nathan Hargraves following a first round loss to Garden County’s Gunner Roberson. McCloskey then fell to Tanner Gartner of Gering in round three.

Gabe Brooks added nine team points and earned third place with his first round win, by fall in 2:30, over Minatare’s Aaron Suhr. He fall to Bayard Matt Applegate in round two and Gering’s Grady Robbins in round three.

Braylon Miller placed third and earned seven team points with his round three win by 9-4 decision over Gering’s Wyatt Soule after falling to Mitchell’s Xavier White and Banner County’s Brendyn Onstott in rounds one and two.

Onstott was the sole Wildcat to take first and he earned the Banner County Wildcats 19.5 team points for the day with a first round win by technical fall over Gering’s Wyatt Soule. He followed with a second round win by fall in 1:43 over Kimball’s Braylon Miller and his third round win over Mitchell’s Xavier White by fall in 1:45 secured his first place.

Teammate Nathan Clement earned second place and scored 14 team points with a first round win by fall in 1:15 over Gering’s Noah Marino. Clement lost to Lingle’s Jaden Van Gundy by 6-1 decision in round two but rallied in the third for a 32 second pin against Mitchell’s Craig Lemoine.

Adam Knaub also earned second place and 14 team points though he fell to Mitchell’s Devon Engledow in the first round in just 26 seconds. Round two brought a win by fall over Kimball’s Gage Schaeffer in 2:32 and he secured his second place finish in the third round with a win by fall in 2:15 over Morrill’s Daniel Bunton.

Eddie McGowan took fourth place and earned the team four points, as did Isaac Olsen, and Noah Yetter took third.