No. 1 and No. 2 teams collide McCook

Thursday, February 1, 2018
Expect plenty of fans to be watching intently from McCook High School and seven other schools when the Southwest Conference wrestling championships take place at MHS on Friday. Opening matches are set for 3 p.m.
R.B. Headley/McCook Gazette

McCOOK, Neb. — Move over, Omaha Century Link Center!

McCook High will be the first to host state No. 1 and No. 2 ranked wrestling teams this month.

A nasty bunch of top-ranked Valentine Badgers and No. 2 Broken Bow Indians lead Friday’s Southwest Conference field into McCook.

Matches are set to begin at 3 p.m., exactly two weeks before all of Nebraska’s best wrestlers embark on their state championship quests in Century Link Center.

Host McCook brings 11 wrestlers to the mats on Friday against the seven SWC schools: Cozad, Ogallala, Minden, Gothenburg, Ainsworth, Class C No. 1 Valentine and Class C No. 2 Bow.

“We feel we that we can compete very well in the SWC this year at several weight classes,” Bison coach Nick Umscheid remarked while adding McCook will bypass the Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference meet on Saturday.

“We are not going to GNAC this year since it butts up against the SWC,” he explained. “Next year, we should be going back as I hear it is being moved to over the Christmas break and that fits into our schedule much better.”

The GNAC currently features six state-rated teams including Class B No. 1 Hastings, Class A No. 3 Kearney and Class B No. 4 Scottsbluff.

“As far as the SWC goes, it is very favorable to the GNAC,” Umscheid said. “Both conferences are very difficult with just different faces.”

Gothenburg joins Bow and Valentine as SWC “teams to beat,” the coach observed.

Valentine features seven Badgers currently in the newrestle.com state rankings while Bow boasts six.

“Both teams field very deep lineups and it should be fun to see who comes out on top,” Umscheid said.

A rundown of each SWC weight class:

106 — Class C No. 1 Chris Williams of Valentine. Trace Decker’s set to compete for McCook.

113 — Class C No. 1 Casey Faulkenberry of Bow. McCook’s Trevor Felber delivered two wins at the home dual invite last week.

120 — Class C No. 1 Gage Krolikowski of Valentine and No. 4 Spencer Gaffney from Bow. McCook sophomore Carson Richards has been a state ratings contender all season after reaching Omaha last year.

126 — Class C No. 3 Patrick Powers of Bow and Class B No. 5 Wyatt Hotz from Gothenburg. Freshman Tate Felber beat a Class B Alliance at home last week.

132 — Class C No. 1 Jordan Kelber of Valentine. Mason Bales has been gaining varsity experience for the Bison.

138 — Class C No. 4 JJ Ramon of Valentine. Freshman Kallen Feikert takes on his first SWC tourney as a Bison.

145 — Class C No. 3 Chase Olson of Valentine and No. 4 Cole Ulmer from Bow. McCook didn’t enter a 145-pounder last week.

152 — Class C No. 3 Joel Myers of Bow. McCook’s Landon Towne has been conquering tough challenges, pinning Kansas state-rated Isaiah Mason from Decatur Community last week.

160 — Class C No. 2 Caleb Long of Valentine. No Bison competed in this class last week.

170 — Class C No. 1 Donald Stephen of Valentine. Look out as McCook’s Kody Hahn earned three home wins last week.

182 — Nobody’s ranked but Bison freshman Alec Langan brings better than 20 wins into the tourney.

195 — Class B No. 6 Noah Gugelman from Gothenburg. McCook’s Jarad Cole will aim to spring an upset.

220 — Class B No. 1 Kaleb Taylor of McCook and Class C No. 2 Trayvon Brooks from Bow. Taylor just returned from breaking a bone in his hand and pinned two foes last week.

285 — No rated heavyweights. Bison sophomore Hunter Cunningham could roll to top of some big triumphs.

“One plus to the SWC tournament is they run a JV tournament at the same time,” Umscheid concluded. “This is one of the few chances all year I get to see our entire team compete in a tournament.”

The Bison only have districts next week and then state in Omaha starting Feb. 16. Watch for SWC results Monday.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: