Wrestling boys bring home 2nd, 3rd and 5th medals

By Alan Carman
The Imperial Republican
    The Chase County Wrestlers came home with a lot of hardware from Omaha this past weekend. The Longhorns qualified four wrestlers for the Nebraska State Wrestling Tournament and brought home three medals and an 11th place team finish, out of the 58 class C teams that were represented.
    Zach Tarin finished second at districts and entered the state meet with a record of 44-2. On Thursday, Tarin won both his matches, the first by a 7-1 decision and the second went down to the ultimate tie breaker, which he won 3-2 over Evan Lutkemeier, (46-1) of Minden. That meant he wouldn’t wrestle again until the semifinals Friday night.
    In the semifinal match against Mason Planer, the score was tied at 1 apiece when the third period ended. That put the wrestlers into sudden-victory.
    Planer shot for a double leg takedown, but Tarin schucked him by and got on top and behind him to score a three point takedown and a trip to the finals. In a defensive battle, Jared Doxey of Winnebago won a 1-2 decision in the finals, giving Tarin a second place finish.
    At 144 pounds, Luis Co won his first two matches on Thursday, advancing him into the semifinals Friday night and
a guaranteed medal.
    Co wrestled tough in the semifinals match, but fell to undefeated and eventual state champion, Easton Hochstein of Cedar Catholic.
    Co came back Saturday morning and won both his matches with identical scores of 4-1 to take third place honors at 144 pounds.
    In the 157 pound division, Westyn Mendenhall went 1-1 on Thursday, dropping him into the second round of consolations. After a win Friday afternoon, Mendenhall found himself in the heartbreak round Friday evening against Daren Vodicka of David City.
    With less than 10 seconds left in the final period, Mendenhall trailed by two points. Determined not to be denied a medal, Mendenhall scored five points in the last six seconds of the match and won a 10-7 decision.
    Saturday morning, Mendenhall lost his first match but came back and won the next to secure a fifth place medal.
    Scott Hoover made his first trip to the State Tournament, representing CCS at 165 pounds. Hoover had a tough draw in the first round with Zane Cullers, (46-5) of Chadron. Hoover was on the wrong end of a 4-11 decision in his first match.
    Friday afternoon in the first round of consolations, Hoover won by Major decision to advance to the second round. The tournament came to an end when Clayton Elliott of Valentine won via tech-fall over Hoover, ending his time on the mats in Omaha.
Top 15 team scores
    1. Battle Creek 119.5, 2. Minden 118.5, 3. Cedar Catholic 108, 4. Crofton/Bloomfield 73, 5. St. Paul 68.5, 6. David City 64.5, 7. Wilbur-Clatonia 63, 8. Pierce 55.5, 8. Syracuse 55.5, 10. Elkhorn Valley 51, 11. Chase County 49, 12. Broken Bow 47, 13. O’Neill 45.5, 14. Valentine 43.5, 15. Doniphan-Trumbull 42.5.
Individual results
    144 Luis Co (44-4): won by decision over Favio Rivero (30-9) Scotus Central Catholic, 10-4, won by decision over Isaac Eckert (24-10) Elkhorn Valley, 4-2, lost by decision to Easton Hochstein (51-0) Cedar Catholic, 2-7, won by decision over Favio Rivero (30-9) Scotus Central Catholic, 4-1, won by decision over Daron Dozler (45-9) Boone Central, 4-1 for third place.
    157 Westyn Mendenhall (43-10): pinned Kanin Heath (40-18) Minden, 3:51, was pinned by James Kansteiner (44-2) Conestoga, 5:06, pinned Jayden Reed (32-10) Stanton, 2:51, won by decision over Daren Vodicka (40-13) David City, 10-7, was pinned by Parker Chavez (38-9) Valentine, 1:57, pinned Bryan Isom (34-11) Tri County Northeast, 4:02 for fifth place.
    165 Scott Hoover (41-10): lost by decision to Zane Cullers (46-7) Chadron, 4-11, won by major decision over Ben Fiesner (20-23) Arlington, 12-0, lost by tech-fall to Clayton Elliott (25-11) Valentine, 7-22.
    285 Zach Tarin (47-3): won by decision over Hunter Holle (41-17) Syracuse, 7-1, won by ultimate tie breaker over Evan Lukemeier (46-2) Minden, 3-2, won by sudden victory over Mason Planer (37-10) Battle Creek, 4-1, lost by decision to Jared Doxey (46-3) Winnebago, 1-2 for second place.