Four medal at combined conference meet

Four Plainsmen wrestlers came home with medals from the combined conference tournament of the SPVA and Western Trails conferences last Friday.

This marks the second year that the two conferences have joined forces to hold their tournament together. This year the meet was held in Bridgeport.

By combining the teams from both conferences, it provides enough wrestlers for eight-man brackets in each weight class. 

The Plainsmen were led by Brandon Knoles. He pinned his first two opponents and then took a 19-10 decision over Nathan Coley of Mitchell for the 220 class. 

He improved his record to 39-11.

Sophomore Ashton Meyer improved to 28-17 with a fourth place finish at 285. 

After dropping his semifinal match, Meyer won the consolation semi to get back to the third place match,losing a 5-1 decision to finish fourth. 

Colton Pouk finished fifth at 138. He won his first match with an 8-0 decision but then dropped his semifinal and consolation final to put him in the fifth place match.

There he pinned this opponent to finish fifth.

Bryder Hickey finished sixth at 145. He dropped his first match but won his way back to the consolation semifinal. He lost that match and finished sixth after falling in the fifth place match. 

Coach Tanner Collins said the two-conference format works but he would like to see the classes wrestle in pools versus an eight-man bracket. 

With pools, everyone would get more matches. In bracket format, a wrestler who loses twice is done. 

Districts Friday, Saturday

All of the efforts of the season come down to this Friday and Saturday when the Plainsmen compete in the C4 District Meet in Hershey.

The first round and first consolation round will be held Friday, with action slated to start at 2 p.m. MT.

Collins said a number of wrestlers have a chance to punch their ticket to the state meet with a top four finish.

Collins said they have seen a good share of the wrestlers they will face in districts.

He said there’s going to be some tough weight classes where his wrestlers will need to perform.

Pouk could face a Gordon-Rushville wrestler that he’s already wrestled three times. This could be the meet to rise up and beat him, Collins noted.

Even with a 39-11 record, Knoles could still get the third seed at 220. His bracket includes the No. 2 and No. 6 rated wrestlers in Class C.

Meyer has the opportunity to qualify as well. His bracket includes the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked wrestlers in the state.  Collins says they remain beatable so Meyer will have to compete hard. 

Jace Wid at 160 has missed the last several weeks after an injury suffered at Chadron. 

Collins said they’ve held him out of practice but have been working on conditioning. 

Wreslting on Saturday begins at 9 a.m. MT.

The teams competing in the C4 district include Ainsworth, Amherst, Arcadia/Loup City, Bridgeport, Broken Bow, Chase County, Gordon-Rushville, Hershey, Hi-Line, Kearney Catholic, Loomis/Bertrand, Mitchell, Ord, Perkins County, Ravenna and Valentine.

Results from the SPV/WTC meet are as follows:

SPVA-WTC Conference 

132 Trye Hickey (5-14)—Champ. Rd. 1: Carter Buchheit (Hemingford) 22-4 won by tech fall over Hickey (TF-1.5 4:00 (15-0)); Cons. Rd. 1: Hickey received a bye; Cons. Rd. 2: Hickey won by fall over Hayden Umble (Mitchell) 4-7 (Fall 5:19); Cons. Rd. 3: Damien Bell (Bridgeport) 26-14 won by fall over Hickey (Fall 3:22).

138 Colton Pouk (30-17) 5th place—Champ. Rd. 1: Pouk received a bye; Quarterfinal: Pouk won by major decision over Hunter Deeds (North Platte St Pats) 19-18 (MD 8-0); Semifinal: Jace Freeseman (Gordon/Rushville) 22-14 won by decision over Pouk (Dec 3-2); Cons. Semi: Beau Lake (Bayard) 8-11 won by decision over Pouk (Dec 13-6); 5th Place Match: Pouk won by fall over Trey Schindler (Kimball) 21-16 (Fall 4:11).

145 Bryder Hickey (12-14) 6th place—Champ. Rd. 1: Hickey received a bye; Quarterfinal: Jake Chasek (Mitchell) 15-7 won by fall over Hickey (Fall 1:46); Cons. Rd. 2: Hickey won by decision over Brice Vitosh (Chase Co) 7-19 (Dec 3-1); Cons. Rd. 3: Hickey won by fall over Hayden McDonald (Hemingford) 7-19 (Fall 2:51); Cons. Semi: Joseph Burris (Kimball) 5-10 won by fall over Hickey (Fall 2:30); 5th Place Match: Keagan Hitchcock (Hemingford) 7-24 won by fall over Hickey (Fall 0:36).

170 Kyler Bullock (6-18)—Quarterfinal: Josh Warren (Bridgeport) 36-4 won by fall over Bullock (Fall 1:16); Cons. Rd. 1: Trendon Starr (Gordon/Rushville) 23-17 won by fall over Bullock (Fall 2:46).

220 Brandon Knoles (39-11) 1st place—Quarterfinal: Knoles won by fall over Jett Eggers (Hemingford) 6-17 (Fall 0:58); Semifinal: Knoles won by fall over Tanner Hirsch (Bayard) 3-6 (Fall 2:41); 1st Place Match: Knoles won by decision over Nathan Coley (Mitchell) 19-10 (Dec 9-2).

285 Ashton Meyer (28-17) 4th place—Quarterfinal: Meyer won by fall over Xavier Robb (Hemingford) 1-5 (Fall 2:32); Semifinal: Stephen Bateman (Kimball) 22-11 won by fall over Meyer (Fall 5:09); Cons. Semi: Meyer won by fall over Brock Knutson (Mitchell) 11-10 (Fall 1:25); 3rd Place Match: Riley Snyder (Gordon/Rushville) 10-8 won by decision over Meyer (Dec 5-1).

Team Scores—1, Bridgeport, 153.0; 2, Mitchell, 119.0; 3, Gordon/Rushville, 107.0; 4, Hemingford, 95.5; 5, Hershey, 84.0; 6, Sutherland, 65.0; 7, Bayard, 48.0; 7, Perkins Co, 48.0; 9, Kimball, 47.0; 10, North Platte St Pats, 34.0; 11, Chase Co, 30.0; 12, Morrill, 28.0.