Successful opening weekend for wrestlers

Plainsmen wrestlers got their season off to a good start with tournaments at Elwood and Broken Bow.

Junior Colton Pouk at 138 and Senior Brandon Knoles at 220 each came home with a championship.

Pouk’s championship came at Elwood where he avenged a loss at last year’s Elwood meet. 

In the semis, he defeated Sutherland’s Jon Peterka, who was ranked in the top four in Class D at 138.

In the finals, he pinned Overton’s Cinch Kiger for the first place medal. 

At Broken Bow, Pouk wrestled at 145 and avenged another loss from last year, with a 5-3 decision over Kadin Perez of Mitchell. 

He faced a former PCS school mate, Conner Wells, in the finals, losing a 6-4 decision. Coach Tanner Collins said it was great match to watch. 

After getting upset in the semifinals and finishing third at Elwood, Knoles came back strong at Broken Bow.

Collins said Knoles defeated  state medalist Nathan Coley of Mitchell in the semis and then came back for a 6-4 decision over Broken Bow’s Keifer Anderson.

Collins noted Anderson was ranked 6th at 220 in Class B.

Freshman Mason Toner performed well in his first high school tournaments, Collins noted.

After dropping his semifinal match at Elwood, he wrestled his way back to a third place medal with a pin over Arapahoe’s Wayne Lee.

He finished fourth at Broken Bow.

Junior Austin Meyer fell in the semis at Elwood but came back through the consolation bracket to take third. 

The team heads to Gordon-Rushville Saturday. Collins said Knoles and Bryder Hickey will miss the meet due to ACT testing Saturday.

Results of the two tournaments are as follows:

Hi-Line @ Elwood

120 Mason Toner—Quarterfinals: Toner over Austin Kennicutt (Overton) (Fall 3:29); Semifinals: Ethan Mins (Lexington) over Toner (Fall 5:10); Cons. Semis, Toner over Aiden Shutts (Hi-Line) (SV-1 8-6); 3rd Place Match: Toner over Wayne Lee (Arapahoe) (Fall 0:56).

138 Colton Pouk—Rd. 1: Pouk received a bye; Quarterfinals: Pouk over Rafe Hill (Arapahoe) (Fall 1:12); Semifinals: Pouk over Jon Peterka (Sutherland) (Dec 4-3); 1st Place Match: Pouk over Cinch Kiger (Overton) (Fall 5:16).

152 Bryder Hickey—Rd. 1: Hickey over Trey McCrumb (Wauneta-Palisade) (Fall 0:15); Quarterfinals: Cristian Melendez (Lexington) over Hickey (Fall 1:35); Cons. Rd. 2: Hickey over Nicolas Perez (Lexington) (Fall 1:41); Cons. Rd. 3: Hickey over Adam Corbett (Cambridge) (Fall 0:42); Cons. Semis, Jaden Henderson (Medicine Valley) over Hickey (Fall 1:23).

160 Henry Taylor—Rd. 1: Taylor received a bye; Quarterfinals: Cooper Dillan (Chase County) over Taylor (Fall 0:50); Cons. Rd. 2: Nate Redwine (Hi-Line) over Taylor (Fall 2:25).

220 Brandon Knoles—Quarterfinals: Knoles over Ashton Smith (Maxwell) (Fall 3:58); Semifinals: Jaret Peterson (Chase County) over Knoles (Dec 3-2); Cons. Semis, Knoles over Drew Knoerzer (Hi-Line) (Fall 0:41); 3rd Place Match: Knoles over Ashton Smith (Maxwell) (Dec 3-0).

285 Austin Meyer—Rd. 1: Meyer over Syrus Snow (Hi-Line) (Dec 7-4); Quarterfinals: Meyer over Derik Kennicutt (Wauneta-Palisade) (Fall 1:08); Semifinals: Levi Kerner (Arapahoe) over Meyer (Fall 2:20); Cons. Semis, Meyer over Brendon Hall (Sumner-Eddyville-Miller) (MD 8-0); 3rd Place Match: Meyer over Dalton Carlson (Overton) (Fall 3:54).

285 Huntin Taylor—Rd. 1: Keithen Huntley (Cambridge) over Taylor (Fall 1:35); Cons. Rd. 1, Taylor received a bye; Cons. Rd. 2: Taylor over Melvinly Dohres (Overton) (Fall 1:29); Cons. Rd. 3: Brendon Hall (Sumner-Eddyville-Miller) over Taylor (Fall 0:15).

Team Scores—1, Sutherland, 123.0; 2, Garden County, 114.0; 3, Maxwell, 102.0; 4, Chase County , 99.0; 5, Arapahoe, 88.0; 6, Lexington JV, 86.0; 7, SEM, 82.0; 8, Perkins County, 79.0; 9, Hi-Line, 68.0; 10, Overton, 53.0; 11, Cambridge, 50.0; 12, Medicine Valley, 41.0; 12, Wauneta-Palisade, 41.0; 14, Dundy County Stratton, 19.0.

Broken Bow

120 Mason Toner—Quarterfinals: Toner over Jerrett Fear (Mitchell) (Dec 5-2); Semifinals: Logan Peterson (South Loup) over Toner (Fall 1:06); Cons. Semis, Toner received a bye; 3rd Place Match: Ashton Johnson (Twin River) over Toner (Fall 1:38).

145 Colton Pouk—Quarterfinals: Pouk over Gavin Wright (Broken Bow) (Fall 1:26); Semifinals: Pouk over Kadin Perez (Mitchell) (Dec 5-3); 1st Place Match: Connor Wells (Broken Bow) over Pouk (SV-1 6-4);

152 Bryder Hickey—Rd. 1: Jack Myers (Broken Bow) over Hickey (Fall 3:12); Cons. Rd. 1, Hickey received a bye; Cons. Rd. 2: Beau Zoucha (Twin River) over Hickey (Fall 0:31).

160 Henry Taylor—Quarterfinals: Hayden Thurnau (St Paul) over Taylor (Fall 0:24); Cons. Rd. 1, Taylor received a bye; Cons. Semis, Layton Lindner (Broken Bow) over Taylor (Fall 0:57).

220 Brandon Knoles—Quarterfinals: Knoles over Rylie Thomsen (St Paul) (Fall 3:59); Semifinals: Knoles over Nathan Coley (Mitchell) (Dec 3-2); 1st Place Match: Knoles over Keifer Anderson (Broken Bow) (Dec 6-4).

285 Austin Meyer—Rd. 1, Sawyer Bumgarner (Broken Bow) over Meyer (Fall 0:19); Rd. 2: Nathan Scheer (St Paul) over Meyer (Fall 3:37); Rd. 3: Tyler Thomas (Broken Bow) over Meyer (Dec 8-2)

Team Scores—1, Broken Bow, 237.0; 2, St. Paul, 170.5; 3, Twin River , 129.0; 4, Broken Bow JV, 85.0; 5, Mitchell, 78.0; 6, Chase County, 60.0; 7, Perkins County, 46.0; 8, Southern Valley, 37.0; 9, South Loup, 36.0; 10, Kearney Catholic , 34.0; 11, Grand Island Central Catholic, 4.0.