Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Unseeded Stephen Bateman Wins The Gold At Garden County
Kimball's Stephen Bateman, right, stands on the top level of the award stand after winning the championship of the 285-pound weight class at the Garden County Wrestling Tournament this past Saturday
Kimball High wrestler Stephen Bateman had a career best day in winning the 285-pound championship at Saturday's Garden County Invitational Tournament!
Coach Wade Brashear said, "The day belonged to Steve. As an unseeded wrestler in the tournament, Steve upset the number one and number two seeded heavyweights to go on to his first individual tournament championship of his high school career."
Coach Brashear went on to say that "Steve has been wrestling very well and it was a testament to his hard work at practice. He has not missed one single practice and has overcome a slow start to the season putting him into a good position for the upcoming D-4 District Tournament".
En route to his championship, Bateman pinned Frost of Holyoke in 1:04, won 1-0 over Hodges of Hitchcock County, won 13-1 over Austin Meyer of Perkins County, and decisioned Ashton Meyer of Perkins County 11-0.
With wrestlers sitting out with injuries and another with a military commitment, Kimball had only four wrestlers compete at Garden County.
Matthew Johnson at 106 was 0-2 on the day. Connor Cluff at 132 and Trey Schindler at 138 both wrestled and wound up just one match short of placing as both went 3-2 on the day. Cluff recorded three pins total and Schindler won twice by falls and one match by 15-7 decision.
Kimball will be in Imperial this Saturday for the Chase County Tournament.