It was another week filled with lots of mat time for the South Loup Bobcat wrestlers as they traveled to Sumner on Friday for the SEM Invite and up to Dunning on Saturday for the Knights Invite.

As they head into the final four weeks of the season, the Bobcats are continuing to bring home medals and hone their skills as they prepare for district and state competition.

On Friday at SEM, Josiah Coleman (16-8) finished in fourth place at 106 pounds with a fall to Gavin Patterson of Wilcox-Hildreth in 1:47 in the semi finals; then going on to pin Korbin Druery of Anselmo-Merna in 1:49 in the consolation semis; then getting pinned by Cooper Ritz of Kearney JV Gold in 3:44.

Zane Ellison (9-12) faced the 2022 state D106 fifth place finisher, Tristan Olson of Anselmo-Merna in the quarterfinal round at 113 pounds, but was pinned by Olson in 1:40; and then was pinned by Austin Hinkle of Elgin Pope John in 3:53.

Freshman Paxton Bierman (14-12) also wrestled at 113 pounds. In the quarterfinal, he was pinned by Canon Holley of Central Valley in 2:35; then went on to stick Hinkle in 1:19 in the third round of consolations. Bierman faced Tyson Freeman of Loomis/Bertrand in the consolation semifinals and was pinned in 1:53.

At 120 pounds, Bo Brennan (18-10) had an easy pin over Ky Cargill of Central Valley in 0:56 in the first round; then was pinned by Ty Davis of North Platte JV in 2:45 in the quarterfinals. In the second round of consolations, Brennan pinned Isaac Shields of Amherst in 1:50; but was eliminated from medal contention by Carter Horner of Loomis/ Bertrand in 2:22 in the third round of consolations.

Dawson Mason (19-7) brought home second place honors at 132 pounds for his wins over Jack Barlow of Elgin Pope John in 3:10; a pin in the quarterfinals over Quade White of North Platte JV in 3:02; and a win over Jarrett Wells of Anselmo-Merna in the semifinals in 2:25. In the championship round, Mason was pinned by Graiden Ritner of Wilcox-Hildreth in 0:54. Ritner was a qualifier for last year’s state tournament at D120.

At 138 pounds, CJ Quandt (17-11) also brought home second place honors with wins over Izayah Plunk of North Platte JV in 5:05; a quarterfinal win over Mauricio O’Campo of Kearney JV in 0:56; and a semifinal pin of Owen Heessell of Maxwell in 3:20. In the championship round, Quandt was pinned by Ian Hughes of Amherst in 1:49.

Dylan Handley (4-15) at 145 pounds was pinned by Jairo Lazos of Central Valley in 0:52; grabbed a second period win over Dylan Dinslage of Kearney JV in 2:14; and was stuck by Trey Goodenow of Kearney JV in 0:55.

At 160 pounds, sophomore Jamie Tickle (3-7) took Nick Bilancini to three periods, but lost 6-0; and was pinned by Cade Harris of Kearney JV in 1:53.

And finally, at 182 pounds, Kyle Bloomer (2-14) was pinned by Mason Johnson of Wilcox-Hildreth in 1:19; and was stuck early by Kendall Kleen of Kearney JV in 0:28.

The team tied for 8th place with 66 points on the day. Saturday was a day full of tough matches at the Knights Invite in Dunning. There were 20 teams and 166 grapplers in attendance.

At 106 pounds, Coleman was pinned by Scotty Anderson of Sutherland in 2:53 in the quarterfinals; then pinned Dylan Brownwell of Sutherland in 0:59. In the third round of consolations, Coleman pinned TJ Horkey of Twin Loup in 1:00; but was pinned by Micah Gerlach of Cambridge in 2:17 in the consolation semifinals.

Bierman saw a repeat of Friday at 113 pounds, when he lost 13-6 to Canon Holley of Central Valley for the second time this week in the quarterfinal round. Bierman went on to pin Alex Hawkins of Hemingford in 0:47; and took Kaden Evans of Ainsworth through three periods to win 2-1 in the third round of consolations. Rolling on into the consolation semifinals, Bierman pinned Zachary Wiebelhaus of North Central in 4:29; and finally, wrestled Holley for a third time in the third place match. At the end of three periods, Holley came out on top with a major decision, 14-3.

Brennan also saw many familiar opponents at 120 pounds, starting with a pin over Cargill of Central Valley in 1:08; then a fall to Carter Beckman of Elgin Pope John in the quarterfinals in 2:48. He went on to pin Talan Wood of Central Valley in a quick 37 seconds, but lost to Owen Hartman of Ansley Litchfield in 2:04.

Mason again brought home a second place finish at 132 pounds with a quick pin of Malakai Walker of Sandhills Valley in 0:26; and a first-period pin of Isaac Hemenway of Elgin Pope John in 1:05 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Mason pinned Hunter Koetter of Medicine Valley in 2:38; but in a reversal of Friday’s matches, Wells of Anselmo Merna pinned Mason in 5:11.

At 138 pounds, Quandt pinned Kade Wiiest of North Central in 0:27; but in the quarterfinals was stuck by Carter Hanes of Cambridge in 4:30. In the first round of consolations, Quandt pinned Dax Connick of North Platte St. Pat’s in 1:31; but his day ended when he was stuck by Bo Pokorny of Central Valley in 0:50.

Handley wrestled in the 145-pound JV bracket and improved his record with wins over Chase Kaczor of North Central in 1:36 and Nick Krondak of North Platte St. Pat’s in 1:19. He lost to Daniel Taylor of Hyannis with a pin at 4:47.

At 160 pounds, Tickle added a win to his record by pinning Killian Rooney of Sandhills Valley in 2:06. He was pinned by Hayden Anderson of Sutherland in 2:38; and by James Kessler of Mullen in 2:46.

Bloomer at 182 pounds was pinned by Gabe Huntley of Cambridge in 0:13; and by Gage Deeds of North Platte St. Pat’s in 0:44.

The Bobcat wrestlers were back in action at Overton on Tuesday, but results were not available by press time. They will hold their home meet in Callaway on Friday with wrestling starting at 11 a.m.