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Three McCook Bison wrestlers medal at Valentine meet
VALENTINE -- The Valentine tournament lived up to its tradition as being one of the toughest tournaments in the state once again on Saturday.
There were more than 50 rated wrestlers from Nebraska and South Dakota.
McCook sent six wrestlers and came away with three medalists on the day. Alex Smith at 125 pounds really stepped up his level of wrestling on Saturday.
"He lost his first match but was able to battle through the consolation bracket to place fourth," said McCook coach Nick Umscheid. "He avenged a couple of losses by beating a wrestler from Minden who just last week had beaten Smith twice.
"That is what we are looking at every week is improvement from the wrestlers. For Alex to go out and beat that wrestler shows me that he has cut down on the mental and physical mistakes that was preventing him from winning last week.
"Also the wrestler who beat Alex in the first round didn't even place, so that is a sign that Alex picked up his intensity and ability on Saturday after that first round loss. That's the sport of wrestling you can't dwell on a loss for to long. You have to learn from it and regroup for your next match. If you don't somebody who you should beat is going to sneak up on you."
Sam Frazier placed third on Saturday at 189 pounds.
"Sam looked very tough out on the mat," Umscheid said. "His only loss was to the number one rated wrestler in Class C from Neligh-Oakdale. Sam has the opportunity to do great things this year. He is a two-time state qualifier who I believe stands a very good chance of improving on that and placing this year at the state tournament.
"This was the first time this year he had wrestled 189 pounds and looked very strong and quick on his feet. For the past couple of weeks he had been wrestling 215 pounds and ran into some bigger and stronger wrestlers. At 189, he matches up very well with the best in the state."
The final placer for McCook was Matt Bair at heavyweight.
"Matt improved quite a bit on Saturday," Umscheid said. "He lost a close match to a kid from Valentine but was able to over come that loss and end up placing fourth.
"Matt added some new technique to his wrestling this week and it really paid off. Instead of relying on one move he used a variety of different moves depending on the wrestler he was wrestling.
"Matt is at a weight where one bad move can kill you out on the mat. Anytime a heavyweight wrestler ends up on their back it usually means the match is over. Matt stayed out of trouble for the most part on Saturday to come away with fourth place.
Overall, McCook improved on its finish from last year. Last year, the Bison did not have one medalist and this year McCook came home with three.
"We have made great strides this year in the first half of the season," Umscheid said. "Now is the critical part of the season when some wrestlers improve over the holiday break and some stay where they were at before.
"We need to make sure that we are improving ourselves everyday in practice over the holiday break because the season doesn't get any easier for us in the second half."
McCook returns to the mat Jan. 2 in a triangular at Oberlin against the host Red Devils and Phillipsburg.
Valentine Invitational Results:
Team finish 12 out of 14 teams
103 Nate Morgan 0-2
125 Alex Smith 3-2 4th place
135 Ahren Hays 1-2
171 Eric Chalupa 0-2
189 Sam Frazier 4-1 3rd place
Hwt Matt Bair 3-2 4th place