Illness limits Plainsmen at Sutherland wrestling invite
By Emmalee Parsley Stevens
Grant Tribune Sentinel
The Perkins County Plainsmen wrestling team competed with a limited lineup at the Sutherland meet last week, sending four wrestlers to the tournament as illness affected much of the roster.
Head coach Austin Thelander said only four of the team’s twelve entered wrestlers were able to compete as sickness made its way through the school.
“Sutherland went okay for the wrestlers we were able to take,” Thelander said. “We only had four of our twelve entered due to the illness that has been making its way through the school.”
At 106 pounds, Leighton Fryzek gained valuable experience but fell just short of reaching the medal rounds. Wyatt Adams, wrestling at 165 pounds, had a similar outcome, showing improvement but narrowly missing out on placing.
“They wrestled well and showed some great signs of improvement but just couldn’t quite seal the deal on some close matches,” Thelander said. “More tournament mat time and hitting the practice room over break will help them out moving forward into 2026.”
Carson Green, competing at 132 pounds, turned in his strongest performance of the season, finishing 4-1 and earning second place. Green advanced to the finals before dropping a close decision to a district opponent.
“He wrestled his best yet this season,” Thelander said. “The finals match could have gone either way. I think it will be a big point of emphasis in Carson’s season to see him again down the road and hopefully get a head-to-head win against him leading into districts.”
At 215 pounds, Ernie Perez faced a challenging bracket and wrestled solidly despite missing a week of practice due to illness.
“You could tell he was missing some valuable mat time,” Thelander said. “The fortunate thing is that none of his losses were to district opponents. However, they were tight matches that could have gone either way — the types that we can’t afford to keep ending up on the losing side moving forward.”
The Plainsmen will return to action after the Christmas break on January 3, 2026, at a tournament in Pleasanton. Thelander said the event will provide a strong test against unfamiliar Class D competition.
“It will be a very competitive tournament that will show us some more Class D competition from the eastern and northeastern side of the state that we typically don’t get to see until Omaha in February,” he said.