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'The Five' will lead Bison wrestlers to state meet
McCOOK, Neb. -- Who can say football linemen aren't fast after watching the McCook Bison clinch their state wrestling spots on Saturday?
Senior Eric Langan certainly didn't let a near late hit and head-first bump into the wall both him for long.
Langan lost that semifinal match to Cozad's Zeke Derr.
Yet exactly 18 seconds of mat time later, Langan was celebrating a chance to earn another Class B state medal.
That's all the time he needed to pin Chadron's Lance Cattin in his consolation semifinal.
Langan (26-6 record) punctuated the B-4 district performance by winning a tough 3-2 final match from Holdrege's Chaten Edgren.
Langan now turns his focus to a repeat steate medal after placing in Omaha last year.
"I'm going for top three," he said while agreeing a higher placeceratinly isn't impossible.
The same can't be said for every B-4 district wrestler who faced McCook's Jared Matson or Kaleb Taylor Friday and Saturday.
Basically, no top wrestler from 11 0ther schools never had a chance.
Taylor tore through the 220-pound field while his aunt cheered every big point just inches from the mat.
"She's a big fan," Taylor said. "It's fun to have cheering for me like that."
Taylor finished his three matches with none lasting longer than 2:32. Most impressive was a 1:12 win over 41-9 finals foe Garrett Nelson of B-4 team champ Scottsbluff.
K.T. certainly agreed he's hitting his stride at the right time.
Both Taylor and Matson battled through mid-season injuries.
"I missed Holdrege cause of ringworm and Valentine we didn't go because of snow," he said. "Those were two big meets. But I've been able to stay out there since and get mat time."
Matson injured ribs during a win at Oberlin, Kan., in early January.
He also missed a few meets, but regained top strength for the season's best stretch.
Matson delivered his strongest for Saturday at McCook's Peter & Dolores Graff Center.
He pounded and pinned two opponents with 75 combined wins.
After routing 31-11 Ethan Mullen of Hastings Adams Center, Matson pinned 44-12 Noah Gugelman from Gothenburg in his 220-pound title match.
"It was fun to wrestle here in front of all our fans," Matson declared about the first district wrestling meet ever held in McCook. "I got second (in B-4) last year, so I really wanted to win it."
Matson and Taylor will both take top seeds into Omaha for Class B state.
Meanwhile, senior Dunncan Rogers always showed real speed after getting good blocks from these three Bison football lineman.
Now he'll follow them to state after earning fourth place at 160 pounds on Saturday.
"Those are three of my best friends," Rogers confirmed.
Rogers also had to shake off adversity against a "loaded" weight class. He dropped matches against Alliance's Danny Vallejo (32-2 record) and Lexington's Pierro Garcia (36-7).
Yet he never lost focus and took charge of Saturday's most important match.
Facing elimination, Rogers scored a quick two-point takedown and went on to defeat Sidney's Jack Feddersen, 3-1.
Rogers (28-12) clinched state while knocking out one more 30-plus match winner. Feddersen entered the finale at 31-12.
"It's been a tough class all year, but I still want to go down there (to state) and medal," he said.
His last comment about those three lineman teammates shows Rogers' attitude.
"I don't wrestle any of those guys -- but I might like to just for bragging rights," the running back admitted while smiling.
Joining the four Bison veterans will be first-time state qualifier Carson Richards at 106.
That's only because it's the freshman's first high school -- a terrific one considering he reached 30 wins on Saturday.
Richards (30-9) earned a super 7-6 semifinal win over 37-14 Tristen Obermiller of Adams Central to clinch his state spot.
While there have been several other great tournament wins, Richards looked beyond those matches when discussing his "rookie" success.
"I think a big difference is I've learned a lot of new stuff, rather than just doing the same stuff in every match," he said. "I think wrestling against my parter, Trevor Felber (sophomore at 113) has helped us both learn a lot."
The Bison nearly qulified a sixth wrestler, but sophomore Colin Giron lost his heavyweight finale to Lexington's Jade Wurth. He still posted a strong 25-15 record while giving up pounds to most opponents.