Wrestlers take five to Chadron, bring home three medals

    Head Coach Matt Vlasin is just hoping to see bodies back for this week’s wrestling match. With the injuries and sickness, numbers have fallen drastically.
    Only five Longhorn wrestlers were able to attend the Chadron meet held last Friday and Saturday. Coach Vlasin was pleased with the effort put forth by his squad which brought home a first, fourth and fifth place medal.
    In the team scoring it came down to district foe Valentine and Alliance for the title with Valentine winning by a six and a half point difference.
    Eli Hinojosa (28-0) finished off a three-peat by winning the 220 pound division for a third straight year, something seldom done in any weight class at this tournament.
    Hinojosa was the number one seed and showed why as he pinned his way to the finals.
    Coach Vlasin noted that Hinojosa wanted to get a full match in so in the finals he was working on technique instead of just trying for the pin, which resulted in a 10-5 victory.
    Caine Haarberg (20-11) brought home a fourth place finish at 182 pounds. In his quarterfinal match, Haarberg ran into Garrett Heil (25-4) from Hot Springs, knocking him into the consolation bracket with a 2-10 loss.
    Haarberg won three more matches to secure a place in the consolation finals against Lane McGinley (19-7) of Valentine.
    McGinley shot for a takedown midway into the second period and in an effort to turn it around, Haarberg got caught in a cradle and pinned. Coach Vlasin thought that if he sees McGinley again in districts the outcome could definitely be switched.
    Evan Fisher (20-11) rounded out the medals, bringing home a fifth place finish at 170 pounds. Fisher was a little unlucky in the draw to fill the bracket, getting positioned to wrestle defending state champion Donald Stephen (22-2) of Valentine in the quarterfinals. Fisher fell by pin to drop to the consolation bracket.
    After winning the next two matches, Fisher fell to Will Howell (27-2) of Morrill in a 6-14 decision.
    Fisher bounced back with a hard fought 9-8 decision over Wyatt Mader of Crawford to claim fifth place.
    Logan Mendenhall (9-14) wrestled well in the 138 pound weight class but fell one match short of getting to the medals.
    After getting a late start in the season, Levi Nance (2-8) is still playing catch up. Nance is improving each week but ran into some stiff competition, going 0-2 on the weekend in the 160 pound class.

To view more please log in or subscribe to the digital edition. https://etypeservices.com/Imperial%20RepublicanID359/