Area teams finish strong at Southwest mat meet

Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette Southern Valley's Sam Hunt tries to break the leglock applied by Troy Juenemann of Decatur Community (Oberlin, Kan.) during the 113-pound championship match at the Southwest Invitational wrestling meet Feb. 2 at Bartley. Hunt claimed the gold medal with a 6-4 decision over Juenemann.

BARTLEY, Neb. -- A few new school colors made a tough Southwest Invitational wrestling meet even tougher this season.

Over 20 varsity and junior varsity teams were represented in the meet Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Southwest High School gym in Bartley. Several Gazette area teams battled for top team honors, with the Decatur Community Red Devils from Oberlin, Kan. claiming first place.

Oberlin scored 170 points, with Southern Valley second with 133 points. Hershey was third with 119, followed by Medicine Valley with 91.5

Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette Brock Shoff (front) of Cambridge fights to escape the grasp of Trevor Jensen of Dundy County-Stratton in the 195 pound championship finals Feb. 2 at the Southwest Invitational wrestling meet at Bartley. Shoff defeated Jensen, 7-3, to win first place.

Dundy County-Stratton was sixth at 85, and the host Roughriders eighth at 73, one point ahead of Cambridge. Chase County was 10th with 39 points.

The McCook junior varsity earned just one individual medal, and the Bison reserves finished 13th with 30 points.

Hitchcock County was 15th with 25 points.

Steve Kodad/MCCook Daily Gazette Rodger Farr (front) of Medicine Valley works to break free from Griffin York of Southern Valley in their 132-pound consolation semifinal match at the Southwest Invitational at Bartley Feb. 2. York nipped Farr, 5-4, to advance to the consolation finals, where he won third place.

MEDICINE VALLEY has been one of the top Class D teams in the area in recent years. Raiders head coach Barry Mraz likes the tough competition for his squad at Southwest, with districts just around the corner.

"It's a pretty good tournament. A lot of new teams to see," Mraz said. "It's fun to come here right before districts. It's a good primer -- it's tough just like districts will be, and that's what we tell the kids."

"Med Valley had three medalists, all champions in their respective weight classes.

Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette Michael May (right) of Chase County works for a reverse against Tyrell Reichert of DCS in the third-place final at 138 pounds at Southwest. May claimed the third-place medal with a 5-2 decision.

Rulon Taylor remained unbeaten with a gold medal at 220 pounds. Taylor faced a battle with Channing Fortin of Oberlin in the championship finals. Taylor prevailed in a classic match with a 1-0 decision.

Thomas Foster placed first at 126 pounds for Med Valley, and teammate Quinten Chancellor also placed first at 182.

SOUTHERN VALLEY also had three individual champions in Sam Hunt at 113 pounds, Christian Lewis at 120 and Isaac Bergquist at 145. The Eagles also had runner-up efforts from Dillon Hunt at 126 and Tucker Bergquist at 138.

Team champion Oberlin also had three individual champs in Dayton Dreher at 132, Kade Brown at 152 at Matt Glading at 160. In addition to Fortin at 220, the Devils also had runner-up finishes from Troy Juenemann at 113, Chris Anderson at 145 and Red Diederich at 170.

Cambridge had one individual champ in Brock Shoff, who won a 7-3 decision over Trevor Jensen of DCS in the 195-pound title match. DCS also had Jonathan Johnson place second at 285.

Southwest had a trio of third-place medalists in Adam Eaton (120), Asic Helberg (152) and Oliver Kragelund (170). Chase County's top finisher was Michael May, with a third-place effort at 138.

McCook's lone medalist was Matt McBride, who finished fourth at 195 pounds.

AREA PREP WRESTLING teams are gearing up for district meets on tap Friday and Saturday, Feb. 8-9.

Chase County, Dundy County-Stratton and Southern Valley will compete in the Class C-4District at Southern Valley High School south of Oxford.

Cambridge High School will be the site of a competitive Class D-3 District with the host Trojans plus Arapahoe, Eustis-Farnam, Medicine Valley and Southwest.

Hitchcock County and Wauneta-Palisade will be among the teams in the Class D-4 District at Sutherland High School.

SOUTHWEST INVITATIONAL

Team Standings

Championship Final Match Results

106 pounds -- Tucker Hicks, Hershey, pinned Tanner Schnuerle, Franklin, 3:02.

113 -- Sam Hunt, Southern Valley, dec. Troy Juenemann, Decatur Comm., 6-4.

120 -- Christian Lewis,Southern Valley, dec. Mack James, Franklin, 5-1.

126 -- Thomas Foster, Med Valley, dec. Dillon Hunt, Southern Valley, 8-6.

132 -- Dayton Dreher, Decatur Comm., major dec. Lane Carpenter, North Platte JV, 15-2.

138 -- Tanner Rupprecht, Red Cloud/Blue Hill, dec. Tucker Bergquist, Southern Valley, 9-5.

145 -- Isaac Bergquist, Southern Valley, dec. Chris Anderson, Decatur Comm., 7-0.

152 -- Kade Brown, Decatur Comm., pinned Makay Beck, Garden County, 4:17.

160 -- Matt Glading, Decatur Comm., pinned Ethan Haussermann, Franklin, 2:32.

170 -- Garrett Sharp, Red Cloud/Blue Hill, pinned Rex Diederich, Decatur Comm., 3:41.

182 -- Quinten Chancellor, Med Valley, pinned Matt McGahan, Hershey, 3:48.

195 -- Brock Shoff, Cambridge, dec. Trevor Jensen, DCS, 7-3.

220 -- Rulon Taylor, Med Valley, dec. Channing Fortin, Decatur Comm., 1-0.

285 -- Lane Richardson, Hershey, dec. Jonathan Johnson, DCS, 3-1.

Third-Place Final Match Results

106 -- Jacob Calvert, DCS, pinned Kyle Biggs, Hitchcock County, 2:16.

113 -- Conner Bergquist, Southern Valley JV, won by forfeit over Levi Baughman, Hitchcock County.

120 -- Adam Eaton, Southwest, major dec. Gabe Anderson, Decatur Comm., 12-4.

126 -- Chayton Crow, Hershey, dec. Austin Minard, Southwest, 8-3.

132 -- Griffin York, Southern Valley, pinned Garrett Fries, Southwest, 1:35.

138 -- Michaely May, Chase County, dec. Tyrell Reichert, DCS, 5-2.

145 -- Dillon Schnuerle, Franklin, dec. Jake Lueth, Chase County, 6-0.

152 -- Asic Helberg, Southwest, dec. Dylan Shannon, Red Cloud/Blue Hill, 11-4.

160 -- Grant Gillian, Decatur Comm. JV, dec. Taten Banzhaf, Cambridge, 4-2.

170 -- Oliver Kragelund, Southwest, pinned Logan Evans, DCS, 4:20.

182 -- Austin Rice, Cambridge, pinned Konnor Witt, Decatur Comm. JV, :52.

195 -- Adam Steffes, Hershey, dec. Matt McBride, McCook JV, 8-3.

220 -- Robert Hannah, Cambridge, pinned Tom Percival, Southern Valley, 3:48.

285 -- Cody Wurm, Decatur Comm., pinned Mason Low, Cedar Valley, 2:02.