The South Loup Bobcat grapplers headed north to Burwell last Friday, Jan. 9 to participate in the Burwell Wrestling Invitational. A total of 21 teams were present at the meet, and South Loup brought five wrestlers to compete.

Josiah Coleman wrestled at 120 pounds, and had some challenges in a tough bracket. After winning his first round with a fall at 5:42 against Bertrand’s Dylan Wendell, he then lost against Central Valley’s Dallas Wadsworth by fall. His next match was a win by medical forfeit, placing him in a back-and-forth contest against Holden Beel (Ainsworth). Coleman shot out to an early 6-0 lead before Beel battled back in period two, racking up points to win over Coleman by decision, 11-8. Unfortunately, the loss kept Coleman from the medal stand.

At 126 pounds, Ben Linden represented South Loup at Burwell, but couldn’t get any traction. After a first round bye, he dropped matches against John Cruz (EMF) and Mason Faltys (Clarkson-Leigh), both by tech fall.

Jacob King, at 157 pounds, lost his first round against Grady Drueke (Elgin Public/ Pope John) before collecting a win against Central Valley’s Ky Cargill by medical forfeit. His final match of the day was a fall delivered in 2:09 by Rhett Brown of Bertrand.

At 175 pounds, South Loup had two competitors: Paxton Bierman and Blake Robertson. Robertson chalked up two losses by fall on the day, ending his bouts early against Burwell and Arcadia/Loup City.

Bierman had his best day yet, garnering two quick wins to start the meet. He dropped Reed Ellermeier (North Central) by fall at 1:49, then Easton McMillin (Ainsworth) at 2:24. Joseph Ducker of Arcadia/Loup City delivered him his first loss, pinning Bierman halfway through the second period.

On the consolation side of the bracket, Bierman had a mixed bag of results, taking the win by major decision against Burwell’s Preston Krause to advance to the third-place match. There, he ran into some trouble against Clarkson-Leigh’s Hunter Gall, who beat him by tech fall to take the win. Bierman came home with some hardware for his efforts, securing the fourth-place medal.

Burwell ended up the overall winner of the day, racking up 187.5 points. Ravenna secured second with 120.5 and Loomis came in third with 118.5.

This week, South Loup will travel to Dunning for the MNAC meet hosted by Sandhills/ Thedford. Matches will get underway at 10 a.m.