CCS Boys qualify four at C-4 District Wrestling

By Alan Carman
The Imperial Republican
    The boys wrestling team will be taking four athletes to Omaha for the State Wrestling Tournament, which starts Thursday, Feb. 20. The CCS boys will compete in the afternoon session on Thursday and Friday, which starts at 3:00 pm C.T. on Thursday and 12:30 pm C.T. on Friday.
    All four qualifiers came home with runner-up finishes.   The four boys heading to Omaha are: Luis Co, (40-3), wrestling at 144 pounds, Westyn Mendenhall, (39-8), at 157 pounds, Scott Hoover, (40-8), at 165 and Zach Tarin, (44-2), at heavyweight.
    At 144 pounds, Luis Co faced undefeated Colton Kelley, (52-0), of Kearney Catholic, in the finals on his home mat and lost a close decision, 2-4. Co will wrestle Favio Rivero, (27-6), from Scotus Central Catholic in the first round in Omaha.
    Westyn Mendenhall fell in the finals of the 157 pounders, to Valentine’s Parker Chavez, (34-8), 1:12 into the second period by pin. Mendenhall will face Kanin Heath, (38-16), of Minden in the first round of State.
    Scott Hoover made the finals at 165 pounds. Clayton Elliott of Valentine, (23-9), won the match by decision 5-11. First round match for Hoover in Omaha will be Zane Cullers (44-5), of Chadron.
    In the final match of the day, Zach Tarin faced Tycen Breckner, (48-0), from Doniphan Trumbull. In a heartbreaker, Breckner secured the decision win, 0-1. Tarin will face Hunter Holle, (40-15), of Syracuse in his first round in Omaha.
    Two wrestlers lost in the Heartbreak round. This is the consolation semifinals. If you win the match you punch your ticket to state, but if you lose, your season is over.
    Jaqueb Hoover and Destry Russell both felt the heartbreak side of this match. Hoover, (34-21), wrestling at 132, wrestled Christopher Flores, (33-27), of Gothenburg  in the cons. semifinals, coming up a point short, losing the match with a 4-5 decision in favor of Flores.
    In the 150 pound division, Destry Russell, (25-17), faced Trevor Burdick, (23-17), of Valentine. Burdick secured a pin with 0:22 seconds left in the second period to end Russell’s season.
    Other wrestlers participating at districts were: Dylan Miscles at 106, Luke Kuenning 113, Damon Spady 126, Connor Einspahr 138, and Parker Terryberry at 175.
    As a team, the Longhorns finished in fifth place.
Team scores
    1. St. Paul 151.5, 2. Valentine 149, 3. Wilbur-Clatonia 119.5, 4. Doniphan-Trumbull 113.5, 5. Chase County 107.5, 6. Mitchell 92.5, 7. Gothenburg 80, 8. Kearney Catholic 77.5, 9. Amherst 75.5, 10. Gordon-Rushville 75, 11. Gibbon 73.5, 12. Alma 51, 12. Ord 51, 14. Bridgeport 41, 15. Hershey 38, 15. Ogallala 28.
Individual results
    103 Dylan Miscles (28-18): Bye, was pinned by Carter Lawrence (KC) 0:48, lost by decision to Josh Russell (AL) 1-8.
    113 Luke Kuenning (8-29): was pinned by Bryson Shriver (AL) 0:40, bye, lost by tech-fall to Mason Frank (KC) 0-18.
    126 Damon Spady (15-19): pinned Grant Rogers (KC) 4:26, was pinned by Lukas Altwine (Gib) 0:56, won by major decision over Tate Debus (Mit) 11-0, was pinned by Breckon Johnson (Al) 1:18.
    132 Jaqueb Hoover (34-21): pinnede Tai Le (Og) 4:29, lost by tech-fall to Jehki Williams (Val) 4-19, bye, pinned Trevor Schroeder (Am) 3:47, lost by decision to Christopher Flores (Got) 4-5.
    138 Connor Einspahr (21-24): won by tech-fall over Michael Dunse (Al) 17-0, was pinned by Ethan Elliott (Her) 1:00, pinned Caleb Wick (Am) 2:51, lost by decision to Uzziah Voss (Mit) 1-4.
    144 Luis Co (40-3): Bye, pinned Josh Hazzard (Mit) 1:23, won by decision over Kyler Vincent (G-R) 11-6, lost by decision to Colton Kelley (KC) 2-4 for second place.
    150 Destry Russell (25-17): won by tech-fall over Kale DaMoude (Her) 19-3, lost by tech-fall to Zayden Delgado (D-T) 0-15, pinned Casey Wahlgren (Got) 3:51, won by tech-fall over Sterling Rector (KC) 17-1, was pinned by Trevor Burdick (Val) 2:38.
    157 Westyn Mendenhall (39-8): pinned Chance Moudry (Ord) 0:56, pinned Jaxon Earll (Got) 3:29, won by decision over Jaydn Thomsen (SP) 6-5, was pinned by Parker Chavez (Val) 3:12 for second place.
    165 Scott Hoover (40-8): pinned Landon Kennicutt (Her) 1:21, pinned Gavin Knajdl (Am) 4:32, won in sudden victory-1 over Dawson Becker (SP) 7-4, lost by decision to Clayton Elliot (Val) 5-11 for second place.
    175 Parker Terryberry (16-24): Bye, was pinned by Alex Meinecke (SP) 1:52, bye, was pinned by Juan Rodriguez (Gib) 2:10.
    285 Zach Tarin (44-2): pinned Wyatt Klingelhoefer (Am) 1:18, pinned Wyatt Blomekamp (Mit) 5:20, won in sudden victory-1 over Lain Tausan (G-R) 4-1, lost by decision to Tycen Breckner (D-T) 0-1 for second place.