Bison matmen fourth at Cozad Invite

COZAD -- McCook opened the 2009-10 high school wrestling season with a fourth-place finish at the Cozad Invitational last Saturday.

The Bison scored 136.5 points, just a half-point behind Hastings Adams Central and five points behind runner-up Aurora. Gretna scored 182.5 points to win the team championship.

The Bison claimed nine individual medals, led by senior Nate Morgan's gold medal at 119 pounds.

"Nate came out blazing from the start with two quick pins over his opponents," McCook head coach Nick Umscheid said. "In the finals he wrestled a very smart match and looked to be in control the entire way in winning the championship."

Coach Umscheid said Skyler Kalinski looked very solid on the day with his second-place finish at 145 pounds.

"Skyler was able to knock off a returning state qualifier on his way to the finals," Umscheid said. "In the finals he was matched up against a returning state champ. Skyler lost the match but was not initimidated by his opponent at all. He was right in the opponent's face from the beginning and gave it his best effort. This experience will help him later on in the season."

Three Bison earned third-place finishes, including Clayton Korus at 103 pounds, Rusty Sullivant at 135 and Keldon Osterman at 140. Korus, a freshman, was competing in his first high school tournament.

"This should boost his confidence by letting him know that he can compete at this level and be successful," Coach Umscheid said of Korus. "He had a very tough first-round match but bounced back with a couple of pins and finished the day off strong and looking very dominant."

The McCook coach said Osterman and Sullivant are crucial to the success of the Bison this season.

"It's guys like them that we need to consistently score big team points on a weekly basis," Umscheid said. "Both of them looked very good on Saturday and hopefully can carry on with that success."

Jesus Gauna placed fourth at 112 pounds for the Bison. Jake Fahrenbruch finished fifth at 125, and Coach Umscheid said Jake just missed a top-four finish with a one-point loss in the consolation semifinals. Jeff Phelps (160) and Ross Stewart (275) also earned sixth-place medals for McCook.

Umscheid said his team's finish at the season-opening Cozad meet was by far the best showing by his Bison in many years.

"To be only five points out of second place with the competition that was at this tournament is a good sign of where we want to be right now," he said. "Many of our wrestlers wrestled better than what was expected of them by the placing of their seedings in the tournament. Many of our younger wrestlers showed what they were capable of and gained some valuable team points along the way.

"We need to have another solid week of practice and take our wrestling to the next level. The competition is going to get even tougher the deeper into the season we go, and we need to make sure that we are improving every week."

The Bison hit the mats again next Saturday at the Holdrege Invitational.

COZAD INVITATIONAL

Saturday at Cozad

Team standings -- Gretna 182.5, Aurora 141.5, Hastings Adams Central 137, McCook 136.5, Cozad 109.5, Gothenburg 97, Medicine Valley 84, Sidney 74, Minden 73.5, Hastings St. Cecilia 71, Lexington 61, Alliance 56, Seward 53, Wahoo 52, Ogallala 49.

McCook Individual Results

103 -- Clayton Korus, 2-1, 3rd place.

112 -- Jesus Gauna, 2-2, 4th place.

119 -- Nate Morgan, 3-0, 1st place.

125 -- Jake Fahrenbruch, 2-2, 5th place

130 -- Kyle Groshong, 1-2.

135 -- Rusty Sullivent, 4-1, 3rd place.

140 -- Keldon Osterman, 3-1, 3rd place.

145 -- Skyler Kalinski, 2-1, 2nd place.

160 -- Jeff Phelps, 2-3, 6th place.

189 -- Kirby Kauffman, 0-2.

275 -- Ross Stewart, 2-3, 6th place.