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Bison wrestlers 8th at Kearney Invite; Nate Morgan claims 103 title; still unbeaten
KEARNEY -- On Saturday the McCook Bison varsity wrestling team competed in the Kearney Invite.
There were 12 teams represented from both class A and B, with several teams ranked in the top 10 of their classes.
The Mccook wrestling team placed eighth.
"We knew going in that it was going to be a tough tournament with some really good wrestlers from schools that we don't normally get to see," said McCook wrestling coach Nick Umscheid. "It was good for our wrestlers to get this mat time and experience since we were not able to compete in the Cozad tournament earlier in the season due to weather conditions.
"I was a little nervous competing this soon after the holiday break with only having two practices. We have never wrestled over the holiday break since I have been here but I was pleased to see the results we had. Out of ten wrestlers competing five of them placed in the top four. We can't be to upset about those results considering the competition we were up against."
Starting off the day for the Bison wrestlers was Nate Morgan at 103 pounds. Morgan added to his undefeated season and came home with his third tournament title of the year.
"In the finals Nate took control early and never looked back as he dominated a returning state qualifier from Lincoln East on his way to the title," Umscheid said. "Once again Nate just went out there and looked very relaxed and at ease. I think that with every win he is getting more and more confidence and it's showing in his matches. He is a real threat out there on the mat and it's fun to watch him do what he does.
"He has great balance and scramble abilities which sometimes are things that as a coach you can't teach. Every match he continues to improve and we hope that his success will continue on throughout the season."
Another placer for the Bison was freshman Rusty Sullivent at 119 pounds.
"This was Rusty's second varsity tournament of the year and it was good to see him come away with a medal," Umscheid said. "He placed fourth on the day and picked up some valuable mat time that will help him on later in the year."
Chris Schleeman came away with the third-place medal at 189 pounds. "Chris was in one of the toughest brackets of the tournament," Umscheid said. "Every match that he was in was a dogfight. In most tournaments your better wrestlers usually don't meet up until the semifinals or finals, but Chris' bracket was loaded with talent. He looked very good out on the mat.
In the semis he was wrestling the top seeded and fifth rated wrestler in Class A in his bracket and was in good control of the match. Late in the match he made one critical mistake and it ended up costing him. It was good for him to be wrestling in this type of tournament. Even though he lost a match he improved as a wrestler and I know that the loss will motivate him to do better.
"He had to use everything in his arsenal to score points on Saturday and I am very proud of his performance. If he can put that effort into the rest of his matches the rest of the year he is going to be very happy at the end."
One of the best matches for our team on the day came from Sam Frazier at 215 pounds. In the finals Sam wrestled the No. 2- rated wrestler in the state and returning state finalist from Columbus.
"This match had everything that a wrestling fan looks for," Umscheid said. "There was some good scoring, exciting scrambles and even some controversy at the end. Sam gave that kid everything he had and looked very good out on the mat. This was Sam's first tournament back since the second week in December and it looked like he hadn't lost a step.
"The final score of the finals match was 3-2 with Sam bringing home second place but I was pleased with how Sam kept the pressure on the whole match. He didn't back down and went toe to toe with the Columbus kid for six solid minutes. They will most likely meet up again in the GNAC tournament later on in the year with hopefully Sam being victorious."
The final placer on the day came from Matt Bair at heavyweight.
"Matt placed third on the day and wrestled some very smart matches," Umscheid said. "He cut down on some of the mistakes that was hurting him before the holiday break. Not to mention that he was sick and hadn't practiced at all before Saturday, coming home with third place in a tournament of this magnitude makes us feel real good of what he can accomplish when he is feeling 100 percent.
"In the consolation finals he avenged a loss from last year by pinning his opponent from Hastings in convincing fashion. What was good to see was that he stuck to the game plan that we had and it worked for him. The team finished eigth overall and was in the top five for most of the day. We are just missing a couple of more wrestlers that need to keep improving and start collecting a few more wins at these tournaments and we could be in the top five at the end.
"Hopefully Thursday and Saturday we will be at full strength and have our complete varsity roster when we make the trip to Oberlin for a triangular with Oberlin and Phillipsburg and then travel to Scottsbluff on Saturday for our next tournament. We need to have another good week of practice this week because the road doesn't get any easier for us the rest of the season."
Kearney Invite Results
Team finish: 8th out of 12 teams
Individual results
103 Nate Morgan 3-0 1st place
119 Rusty Sullivent 1-2 4th place
125 Keldon Osterman 0-2
130 Alex Smith 1-2
140 Andy Smith 0-2
145 Danten Downing 0-2
171 Eric Chalupa 2-2
189 Chris Schleeman 4-1 3rd place
215 Sam Frazier 2-1 2nd place
Hwt Matt Bair 3-1 3rd place