It was a different field of teams, but a very familiar result for the Scott Community High School wrestling team on Saturday.
The Beavers claimed yet another Scott City Classic title - their 13th in the past 15 seasons.
SCHS (219) easily outdistanced Hoxie (171) and Ulysses (114.5) in the team standings in addition to claiming four individual champions.
“Everybody wrestles well at home, which is what you’d expect,” says head coach Jon Lippelmann. “We don’t get the opportunity to wrestle at home very often,so it was great to put both mats down and let the boys get after it.”
It was also an opportunity for the Beavers to once again enter the conversation as a contender for the Class 3-2-1A title after slipping from the No. 2 spot to the No. 4 spot in recent rankings.
Hoxie is still the No. 1 ranked team in the state and that won’t change even after the Indians finished second to SCHS.
“They’re still a very good team,” says Lippelmann, who noted that one of their top wrestlers wasn’t able to compete over the weekend.
Nonetheless, the head coach “liked what I saw from the time we stepped on the scales” until heavyweight Luke Hayes’ fourth and final pin of the day that earned him a gold medal. This was the first time this season that the Beavers had a wrestler in every weight class, providing Lippelmann a glimpse of the team he hopes to have available for regional.
“This is what we were hoping for back in October when we were talking about the potential of this team,” he says. “But the kids have to buy into it and want to be part of something bigger than themselves. We’re a lot closer to having a team that could be pretty special by the end of the season.”
One of those missing pieces had been Michael McEachern in the 220-pound division. This was his first competition of the season at the lower weight class after starting the year as a heavyweight.
“I liked what I saw from Michael on his feet. I think he showed that he’s got the ability to contribute to this team’s success in a big way,” says Lippelmann.
McEachern rolled through his round-robin bracket with three falls - two within the first 51 seconds - before a much anticipated match with Hoxie’s Kane Washington, ranked No. 6 in Class 3-2-1A. McEachern (10-2) dropped a 14-6 major decision.
“We saw some things that Michael needs to work on. Those are areas where we expect to see improvement between now and regional,” Lippelmann says.
Turner Wins Gold
After starting the year at 170-pounds, and dropping briefly to 160, Manny Turner once again found his home again at 170 where he was able to claim a gold medal.
Turner (18-4) had an outstanding day in round-robin action with four first period falls - the longest match lasting just 1:09.
“We tried Manny at 160 and he didn’t seem to be gaining any ground. It’s a pretty tough weight class, especially in our regional, so it seemed that 170 is where he can have the most success the rest of the year,” says the head coach. “I think Manny showed he’s going to be pretty tough at this weight.”
Clay Mulligan (132) was voted the tournament’s “Most Outstanding Wrestler” after a second period fall over Christian Orozco (Holly, Colo.) and an 11-0 major decision against Hoxie’s Drew Jones who is ranked No. 6 in state. The win kept intact Mulligan’s record of never losing a match at home during his high school career.
“Losing last week (at Norton) didn’t set too well with Clay. But that may have also been a good thing. It got the monkey off his back so he doesn’t have to worry anymore about protecting a perfect record. He can just go out and do his thing,” Lippelmann says.
Alex Kough (120) is one of two Scott City grapplers still carrying around that unbeaten monkey after winning his second tournament title of the season. Kough (16-0) was never seriously threatened, winning all three of his round-robin matches by falls.
“Alex is still chasing the dream of an undefeated season. He’s one of those great wrestlers who came up a little short at last year’s state tournament and he’s bringing an attitude with him to the mat,” says Lippelmann. “That’s why he doesn’t look all smiley out there. But that’s okay. He’s pretty determined. He knows what he wants and he’s working hard to achieve his goal of a state championship.”
Also keeping his undefeated record intact without breaking a sweat was Hayes (14-0) who was amazingly consistent in his four falls which came in 39, 22, 39 and 38 seconds.
“He was a man amongst boys today,” noted Lippelmann. “If you’re going to grow that big, we expect big things out of you. He gobbled his opponents right up. It wasn’t his hardest weekend, but he finished everyone off the way we expect.”
Capturing silver medals for SCHS were Bryce Fairleigh (106) and James Jurgens (113),
Finishing in third place were Kolton Paul (145) and Lane Hayes (195) Fourth place medalists were Jesse Anchondo (126) and Bryce Johnson (182).
One of the bigger concerns for Lippelmann is the future of 152-pounder Warren Kropp who’s shoulder injury forced him to default in the semi-finals after getting a first period fall over Leoti’s Tanner Hassell. Kropp (8-2) is a returning state qualifier and a wrestler the Beavers were counting on to have a big season. The sophomore is still planning to compete at the Lexington tournament this weekend.
“Right now, I’m worried about my 152-pounder,” says Lippelmann. “I have no answer and no medical people seem to have an answer. It’s frustrating that we’re at the same point with him that we were six weeks ago. We’ve done everything we can to help his shoulder and it doesn’t seem to have done much good which is frustrating for all of us.”
Even with that setback, the Beavers are looking forward to the prospect of competing well in upcoming tournaments at Lexington (Jan. 21) and the rugged Garden City tournament (Jan. 27-28). They have consistently been among the top teams competing in the Nebraska tournament year after year. This is one of the top tournaments in the state, featuring traditional powerhouse Kearney, along with teams from Omaha and Lincoln.