Rivera and Gall Qualify for State Wrestling
The Patriot Wrestling season came to an end for a few, and was prolonged for others on February 9th and 10th. The wrestling team traveled to Battle Creek for the Class C District 3 Tournament.
The tough district featured the likes of Fillmore Central, David City, Falls City, Logan View, Tekamah-Herman, Doniphan-Trumbull, Madison, Wood River, West Point-Beemer, North Bend Central, Lincoln Lutheran, Lutheran High Northeast, Winnebago, Grand Island Central Catholic, and the host Battle Creek.
. A long tournament full of fun and exciting matches, led to Senior 285-pounder Andrew Rivera and Sophomore 215-pounder Levi Gall qualifying for state.
Andrew Rivera started out the day going 2-0, beating a Wood River wrestler and the #2 seeded Battle Creek heavyweight. After falling to the district runner-up in the semifinal, Andrew wrestled back, beating the North Bend wrestler 1-0 in the heartbreak round to punch his ticket to state for the second year in a row. In the 3rd-4th place match, he beat the Battle Creek wrestler for the second time of the tournament, placing 3rd.
Levi Gall was looking to continue his incredible season after falling in the heartbreak round at districts the previous year as a freshman. Levi also started out the tournament 2-0, pinning both the Wood River and Falls City 215-pounders. After falling in the semifinals to the eventual district champion, Levi beat the Wood River kid for the second time of the day, making it to state for the first time in his young career. The Falls-City wrestler got the better of him at the end of the day, allowing Levi to finish 4th.
Freshman Wyatt Langhorst battled all season as a first-year wrestler. Showing improvement, he came into districts looking to work what he learned throughout the year. Wyatt battled hard against tough competitors, including the district runner-up, and wasn’t upset with the outcome. He is already ready for next season.
Senior Morgan Bunner came into districts looking to make it to state for the third time. Morgan lost to the eventual district champion in his first match before wrestling back to the heartbreak round, taking down the GICC and Wood River wrestlers. A tough heartbreak round match ended Morgan’s senior year.
Head Coach Tyler Reeves said, “It was a long tough day of wrestling. Going in we knew we weren’t the biggest team, but our guys knew how to compete and we showed that with two qualifiers this year. Andrew and Levi wrestled hard all day to qualify for state. Morgan unfortunately lost in the heartbreak round, missing state by a single match.”
Senior Andrew Rivera said, “A lot of us knew miracles needed to happen, but we all just had to go in and wrestle to try and earn another week of wrestling.”
State Wrestling
The NSAA State Wrestling Tournament is always full of tough competition, but Andrew Rivera and Levi Gall were up to the challenge.
Levi wrestled the 39-8 Boone Central 215-pounder in the first round. After falling behind early, Levi pulled a stunning move to pin the kid and complete an upset. Levi would lose the eventual 3rd place wrestler in the second round. But Levi wrestled back to the heartbreak round before losing to the Logan View wrestler.
Andrew made it to state for the second time in his career. Andrew wrestled the 27-21 heavyweight from Crofton-Bloomfield. Unfortunately, Andrew was unable to pull out the win, before he also lost in his next match to the 36-13 Milford wrestler, ending his successful high school career.
The top three teams at state by team scores were: Battle Creek with 127, Broken Bow with 98, and O’Neill with 86.5.
Even though the Patriots didn’t end the season with any state medalists, it was a successful year of wrestling.
Patriot Wrestler Season Records
126 - Morgan Bunner - 32-12
175 - Wyatt Langhorst - 5-22
215 - Levi Gall - 33-7
285 - Andrew Rivera - 12-6
285 - Brett Wemhoff - 1-20