Bison claim four medals at Lex mat meet

Monday, January 23, 2012

LEXINGTON, Neb. -- The McCook High School wrestling team faced a tough test at a very competitive John Higgins Lexington Invitational Saturday, Jan. 21.

The Bison fared well, with half of the eight McCook entries in the varsity division earning top four finishes in their respective weight classes.

With six open weights, the Bison didn't fare so well in the final team standings. McCook was 11th with 71 points, just nine points out of the top 10. Kearney won the team title with 202 points, and North Platte was second with 158.5 points.

McCook had two wrestlers advance to the championship finals. Skyler Kalinski won the gold medal at 152 pounds, and Mitch Collicott finished second at 285. Two other Bison earned medals, with Kyle Groshong placing third at 138 pounds and Kasey Taylor finishing fourth at 113.

Kalinski, a senior, won three matches en route to the 152-pound title. Skyler earned a 6-1 decision over Class A-ranked Shawn Roblee of North Platte in the semifinals before beating Omar Rodriguez of Schuyler, 5-3, in the finals. McCook head coach Nick Umscheid said Kalinski has faced Roblee several times this season.

"This was one of Skyler's tougher tournaments on the season," Umscheid said. "He wrestled a rated wrestler from North Platte in the semifinals and put together a pretty solid match. He was actually never in trouble. Skyler wrestled (Roblee) better than he did the previous two times he wrestled him this year.

"He was a little disappointed the way he wrestled the kid the last time. He went out there a little bit more focused, a little bit more offensive-minded and wrestled a much better match this time than he did the last time."

Umscheid said Rodriguez was a solid wrestler on his feet, but Kalinski earned two takedowns against the Schuyler wrestler in the finals.

"One of Skyler's biggest strengths is he's always in great position on his feet," Umscheid said. "He's very difficult to take down. You can probably count on one hand how many times he's been taken down throughout the year. He really focuses on that, and that showed in his match in the finals.

"He had a great tournament."

Kalinski raised his season record to 22-1.

Bison heavyweight shines

Collicott, a junior, pinned two opponents before losing by fall to Luke Hayes of Scott City, Kansas, in the 285-pound championship match. Umscheid said Hayes is undefeated this season and a returning Kansas state meet champion.

Collicott pinned Chris Williamson of Hastings in the quarterfinals -- the Bison junior had pinned Williamson in a dual meet against the Tigers two days earlier. Mitch also flattened Edwin Perdomo of Lexington in the semifinals. Perdomo was the second seed in the heavyweight division at the Lex meet.

"To place second in a tournament like this, being only his first year of varsity experience, he's feeling really good about himself, and we're feeling really good about him," Umscheid said. "One of Mitch's biggest strengths is his quickness and his balance, and being able to scramble.

"Even when he gets taken down, he's right back up -- he doesn't lay on the match like the average heavyweight."

Collicott improved his season record to 16-8.

Other McCook medalists

Groshong, a senior, pushed his season mark to 20-5 at 138 pounds, as he lost just one match in the tournament. Kyle lost a 5-4 decision to Jacob Oertle of Kearney in the semifinals, then he came back with two wins to claim the third-place medal.

Taylor continued a strong freshman campaign with his fourth-place effort at 113 pounds. Taylor dropped a 6-4 decision to Mauricio Calmo of Lexington in the semifinals. After a win by fall in the consolation semifinals, the freshman lost a 9-0 decision to Class A Keegan Williams of Lincoln Southwest.

Taylor's season record now stands at 15 wins and 11 losses.

Bison dual tournament

McCook is scheduled to visit Chase County Thursday for a varsity-junior varsity dual meet set to begin at 6 p.m. The Bison varsity will host the annual McCook Duals Tournament Friday at the Senior High gym starting at 3 p.m. McCook will host five other schools in the dual tournament format, where each school will face the other five entries in a dual meet format.

The five rounds of competition will feature matches on three mats simultaneously.

Other teams scheduled to compete Friday include North Platte, Lexington, Alliance, Grand Island Northwest and Wray, Colo.

JOHN HIGGINS INVITATIONAL

Saturday, Jan. 21, at Lexington

Varsity Division

Team Standings

1. Kearney202
2. North Platte158.5
3. Lincoln Southwest152
4. Scott City (Kan.)128.5
5. Lexington111
6. Cozad108.5
7. Hastings106
7. (tie) Schuyler106
9. Beatrice93
10. Millard West80
11. McCook71
12. Holyoke (Colo.)67
13. Sidney37
14. Chase County0

McCook Individual Match Results

106 pounds -- McCook open.

113 -- Kasey Taylor: dec. Connor Lococo, Sidney, 4-2; dec. by Mauricio Calmo, Lexington, 6-4; dec. James Jurgens, Scott City, 4-3; major dec. by Keegan Williams, Lincoln Southwest, 9-0. Taylor placed fourth.

120 -- McCook open.

126 -- Jon Scott: dec. by Michael Muggli, Sidney, 11-7; dec. by Lane Carpenter, North Platte, 4-2. Scott did not place.

132 -- Jake Fahrenbruch: dec. by Paul Krayee, North Platte, 4-2; dec. by Alex Regenos, Kearney, 3-2. Fahrenbruch did not place.

138 -- Kyle Groshong: major dec. Nicholas Ortner, Holyoke, 8-0; dec. Jacob Oertle, Kearney, 5-4; dec. Seth Shields, Lexington, 6-1; dec. Kaleb Neugin, Hastings, 6-0. Groshong placed third.

145 -- Cory Engler: pinned by Adam Beckwith, Millard West, 4:10; pinned by Ethan Adams, Beatrice, 2:14. Engler did not place.

152 -- Skyler Kalinski: pinned Cody Navickas, Millard West, 3:00; dec. Shawn Roblee, North Platte, 6-1; dec. Omar Rodriguez, Schuyler, 5-3. Kalinski placed first.

160 -- McCook open.

170 -- Austin Swartz: pinned by Bobby Cahill, North Platte, 2:40; pinned by Clayton Welch, Beatrice, 1:49. Swartz did not place.

182 -- McCook open.

195 -- McCook open.

220 -- McCook open.

285 -- Mitch Collicott: pinned Chris Williamson, Hastings, 3:!6; pinned Edwin Perdomo, Lexington, 3:02; pinned by Luke Hayes, Scott City, :47. Collicott placed second.

___

Chase County Individual Match Results

145 -- Michael May: pinned Zach Denney, North Platte, 2:46; pinned Brandon Charron, Lincoln Southwest, 1:28. May did not place.

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