Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Matthew Johnson controls an opponent at the recent Junior High meet in Perkins County. Johnson earned first place in his weight division for the Longhorns.
Aaron Gilming (in red) grapples with an opponent during the Perkins County meet last week. Gilming took second place in his weight division.
Young wrestlers from Kimball earned top billing at the Perkins County Junior High meet on Tuesday, Nov. 20. Three Longhorns took first place with four in second place and two earning third.
Kimball's Matthew Johnson earned first place in the 62-72 weight bracket and 18 team points with his first round win by fall in 25 seconds over Hershey's Aden Bates. He followed up with a round two win by 7-2 decision over Garden County's Wyland Lobner and a third round win by fall in 2:26 over Kevin Dannatt of Chase County.
Teammate Gage Schaeffer also earned first place, his in the 105-110 weight division, and added 18 team points to the Longhorn board with a first round win by fall in 47 seconds over Dundy County Stratton's Lane Brown.
In the second round Schaeffer fell to Bridgeport's Chase McGrath by 9-6 decision but he rallied in the third round to win by fall in 2:46 over Hershey's Corbin Ryan.
The final first place winner for the Longhorns at Perkins County was Domincik McCloskey, who earned 18 team points for Kimball as well.
McCloskey won by fall in 1:31 over Dundy County Stratton's Blake Emig in round one and followed with a round two win by over Grady Vogl of Ogallala in 1:47. McCloskey sealed his place at the top of the 116-120 weight bracket with a third round win in 13-9 sudden victory over Gavin Hunt of Garden County.
Caleb Schaeffer took second place in the 123-131 weight division and added 14 points to the Kimball board with a first round win by fall over Ogallala's Jack Rezac in 1:30. Though Schaeffer quickly fell to Johnny Vargas of Garden County in the second round, by fall in 41 seconds, he rallied in the third to pin Hershey's Brodey Hund in 1:49, securing his second place victory.
Kimball's Trey Schindler placed second in the 132-135 weight bracket and earned 14 team points with his round one win over Casey Hanson of Perkins County by fall in 1:41 and a second round win by fall in 1:21 over North Platte St. Pats' Chase Bryant. Schindler would have taken home the gold but for his third round loss to Merritt Skinner of Ogallala by fall in 36 seconds.
Teammate Chris McCloskey earned second place in the 111-119 division, and 13 points for Kimball, with a round one win by 12-1 major decision over Chase County's Cooper Dillan and a round two win by fall in 1:51 over Ogallala's Dallas Walker. McCloskey fell to Ty Coss of Garden County in 1:00 in the third round.
Kimball's James McGinnis earned second place and 12 team points for Kimball with a round one win by 8-4 decision over Chase County's Zach Herbert and a round two win by fall in 1:40 over Tony Lyon of Perkins County. Round three brought McGinnis's sole loss, by fall in 45 seconds, to Cole Stokey of Ogallala.
Makhi Bryson earned third place in the 96 – 101 weight bracket and added nine points to the Longhorn board.
Bryson lost to Hayden Gamble of Sutherland in round one by 12-1 major decision, but he came back in round two to pin Joshua Bracken Jr. of Dundy County Stratton in 24 seconds. Round three brought a sudden victory loss for Bryson to Kyle Rote of Garden County.
Kimball's Gabe Brooks took third place in the 120 – 124 weight division and earned Kimball seven team points though he fell to Hershey's Keltin Vanarsdall in 43 seconds in round one and lost to Nate Billey of Garden County by 7-1 decision in round two. Brooks rallied in the third round to win by 6-3 decision over Ogallala's Zachary Christensen.
Aaron Gilming took second in the 80-94 weight division and earned three points for Kimball despite a round one loss to Ogallala's Jayden Curtis by fall in 29 seconds. There are no results for round two but Gilming won by major decision, 13-4, over North Platte St. Pats' Jonathan Dekleva.
Brandon Paxton, Braylon Miller, Tyler Loffland and Uziel Flores each placed fourth in their respective weight brackets and earned four team points for Kimball at Perkins County.