Undefeated gold medalist tops area highlights at state meet

Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette Medicine Valley senior Rulon Taylor (left) is congratulated by his coach, Barry Mraz, on the podium Feb. 16 after Taylor won the Class D 220-pound championship at the state high school wrestling meet at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha. Taylor capped his prep career with a perfect 37-0 season record and the state meet gold medal after finishing second at state last season.

OMAHA, Neb. -- The Gazette area was very well-represented at the 2013 Nebraska State High School Wrestling Championships.

A total of 26 area competitors earned berths in the annual prep state mat championships held Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 14-16, at the CenturyLink Center in downtown Omaha. Five area matmen advanced to the championship finals in their respective divisions, and two other area representatives claimed individual medals.

THE TOP HIGHLIGHT of the area state meet contingent came from Medicine Valley senior Rulon Taylor. The state meet veteran won four matches at state, including a win by fall over Jacob Woockman of Lutheran High Northeast Saturday evening in the Class D 220-pound championship finals. Taylor finished his senior year with a perfect 37-0 record after losing in the 220-pound Class D championship finals one year earlier.

Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette Dillon Fries (left) of Southwest tries to escape the grasp of Levi Baughman of Hitchcock County in a Class D 113-pound, third-round consolation match at the state wrestling meet Friday, Feb. 15, in Omaha. Fries won a 2-0 decision to end Baughman's state meet. Fries earned a fifth-place medal.

Taylor also placed at state as a sophomore.

Four other area competitors advanced to Saturday's championship finals, but all four settled for silver medals.

TWO ARAPAHOE entries wrestled back-to-back in the Class D finals. Patrick Gardner, a senior, had a tough time scoring points against Austin Ruskamp of Freeman, as Gardner lost a 13-1 major decision at 160 pounds. Gardner won three straight matches to reach the finals, including a pin and two decisions.

Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette Arapahoe senior Patrick Gardner (back) grimaces as he puts the squeeze on Austin Ruskamp of Freeman in the Class D 160-pound championship match Saturday in Omaha. Gardner settled for second place as Ruskamp won by major decision.

Gardner finished with a 42-5 record.

Teammate Tyler Kipp also lost in the Class D 170-pound title match. Kipp was beaten by a 12-0 major decision by Stuart Hircock of Amherst. Kipp won three straight matches to advance to the championship finals, and he finishes his junior season with a 24-5 record.

Southern Valley senior Isaac Bergquist also reached the Class C state finals at 145 pounds. Bergquist couldn't find the right moves in an 11-0 major decision loss to Marcus Nelson of Valentine in the championship match.

Bergquist pinned all three of his opponents at state to reach the finals. He finished the year with a 39-4 record.

CHRIS WERTH of Eustis-Farnam earned his second state meet medal in his second season of prep wrestling. The sophomore advanced to the Class D 113-pound title match, where was defeated by Bryan Wietjes of Amherst in a 13-5 major decision.

Werth reached the finals with three consecutive state meet wins by fall, all in the first period. Werth finished with the silver medal and a 35-2 record after placing fourth at 106 pounds as a freshman in 2012.

Christian Lewis of Southern Valley entered the Class C state meet with an unblemished record. He won his first two matches before dropping a hard-fought, 8-4 decision to Takota Batenhorst of Madison in the semifinals. Lewis battled back to win two matches to place third. Lewis ended the year with a 35-1 record.

SOUTHWEST'S Dillon Fries had the toughest road to a state meet award of the area competitors who earned medals.

Fries, competing at Class D's 113 pounds, lost his opening match, then came back through the consolation bracket with three wins to guarantee a medal. Fries beat Levi Baughman of Hitchcock County, 2-0, in the only matchup of area wrestlers at state. The loss eliminated Baughman from medal consideration.

Fries then lost again to Dylan Moore of Plainview in a 6-4 decision in the consolation semifinals Saturday. Fries came back to pin Josh Davis of Pender to take home a fifth-place medal.