Bison seniors miss medal at Class B state mat meet

OMAHA, Neb. -- Two McCook High School seniors got to finish their prep wrestling careers with a trip to the Class B state meet.

Neither Mitch Collicott or Trevor Gleason could advance to the medal rounds in the three-day state mat carnival Feb. 14-16 at the CenturyLink Center in downtown Omaha.

Collicott came close, as the all-state football player dropped a 5-4 decision Thursday night to Ronaldo Trevino of York in the 285-pound quarterfinals. Collicott won his second-round consolation bracket match Friday, Feb. 15, to get one win away from a medal. But he was pinned by Cal Griencewic of Elkhorn South to end his season with a 31-12 record.

Gleason dropped his matches at 220 pounds at state to finish with a 14-18 overall record.

Both Bison earned their first berths at state as seniors. McCook head coach Nick Umscheid will carry fond memories of two teams leaders.

"Mitch and Trevor, I still remember when they were in eighth grade and came to our summer camp," Umscheid said. "It was the first time that either one of them had ever wrestled. They came into the wrestling room and it was a little hot and they weren't sure if wrestling was the thing for them. But they're both very tough guys, tough athletes. They saw the benefits that wrestling could help them in other sports, especially football. I think if you asked either one of of them, wrestling made them better football players.

"It was just great to see both of them mature and do well out there on the wrestling mat."

Gleason battled knee injuries in his prep career, cutting short his time on the football field and the wrestling mat for two years. He battled back and earned a fourth-place medal at the B-4 District meet at Sidney Feb. 8-9 to qualify for state.

"It would have been nice to see Trevor Gleason get a win at the state tournament, with all the hardship that he's been through with injuries. It was nice to see that his high school (wrestling) career ended on a positive note. He's one of the few that gets to end his athletic career down there at the state tournament. That was quite the accomplishment."

COLLICOTT'S quarterfinal loss to Trevino came down to a penalty point assessed when Collicott received his second stalling warning in the third period. Coach Umscheid said the penalty point "kind of woke Mitch up" late in the match, but he could not score a takedown as the York heavyweight held on for the one-point win.

Umscheid credited Collicott for battling back and blanking Blake Chick of Gretna, 6-0. The Bison coach said Chick looked like a pretty good athlete, but Mitch dominated the match.

Collicott then faced a tall task in Griencewic of Elkhorn South, a football lineman who Umscheid said played in the fall at over 300 pounds. The Elkhorn South heavyweight had to drop weight to get under the maximum 285 pound limit for wrestling.

Collicott is probably not 6 foot tall, but he makes up for that with strength and quickness in his 250-pound frame. But Griencewic had a definite height advantage.

"He made Mitch look like a peanut out there, and that's not easy to do," Umscheid said.

Collicott got caught in a headlock and was pinned in just 17 seconds to end his state meet hopes. Griencewic went on to place third, winning two more matches after beating Collicott.

"Mitch was really frustrated to end the season like that," Umscheid said. "But he came a long way from his eighth grade summer to what he was able to accomplish."

A two-year varsity starter for the Bison, Collicott tied the McCook school record for most victories in a season by fall (24). He also broke the school record for fastest pin when he won a match at the Valentine Invite last December in just five seconds.

"That's not a record that's going to be broken anytime soon," Umscheid said of the quickest pin mark. "Looking back on his season and career, he'll have a lot of positive memories."

The Bison had a young squad this season, with nearly three-quarter of the roster comprised of freshmen and sophomores. Umscheid hopes the valuable experience his youngsters gained this season will translate into future success. But the Bison coach warns his young matmen that they will have to put in more work in the off-season to help correct their mistakes and continue to improve.

CLASS B STATE HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

220 pounds -- Trevor Gleason: pinned by Parker Johnson, York, :59; pinned by Chase Hron, Schuyler, 1:19. Gleason (14-18) did not place.

285 -- MitchCollicott: pinned Octavio Gaytan, Plattsmouth, 5:43, dec. by Ronaldo Trevino, York, 5-4; dec. Blake Chick, Gretna, 6-0, pinned by Cal Griencewic, Elkhorn South, :17. Collicott (31-12) did not place.