SWC Champs!
VALENTINE - Battling and fighting to the very end, it’s what’s in the DNA of the Broken Bow wrestling team. That perseverance came in handy, as the Indians took home the Southwest Conference Championship for the third time in four years, edging out Ogallala 173 to 170 at Valentine High School on Jan. 23.
“Going in I figured it would be a battle between us and Ogallala,” Broken Bow head coach Ed Schaaf said. “You could see over the years that they’ve had some good kids coming up that are wrestlers and ready to compete at a young age. It really kind of shows the grit of our kids to win the Southwest Conference. We were on a three day stretch of wrestling against some tough competition and they just battled
because that’s what they do!”
Picking up individual conference golds were Lathan Duda at 195 pounds and Sawyer Bumgarner at 285 pounds.
Duda earned a bye in the quarterfinal of his bracket and then pinned Chris Ruano of Cozad in 1:47. He followed that up by pinning Bo Edmond of Ogallala in 0:57.
Also receiving a bye in the quarterfinals was Bumgarner. In his semifinal match, he won by a major decision 11-0 over Ethan Libich of Gothenburg.
In the finals, he drew Reid Steinbeck of McCook who is 23-5 on the season. He earned a 9-2 decision victory for his first Southwest Conference individual gold.
Six different Indians picked up runner-up finishes on the day. They were Chauncey Watson, Cyrus Wells, Connor Wells, Max
Denson, Kaden Powers, and Keifer Anderson.
After receiving a bye in the quarterfinals, Watson defeated Nate Haggart of Cozad with a 2-1 decision. He was paired up with Jorge Carizales of Ogallala in the title bout and was pinned in 1:08.
Finding himself in a very tough bracket at 126 pounds was Cyrus Wells. He defeated Cole Stokey of Ogallala in the semifinals with a 5-2 decision but then lost to a two-time state champion in Chris Williams of Valentine by pin in 5:55.
At 145, Connor Wells pinned himself to the championship match. In the quarterfinals, he pinned Kaleab Zorkowski in 1:03 and then pinned Jasper Birkestrand in 3:38.
In the finals, he put up a very
good fight against Gage Stokey of Ogallala who is currently 35-3. In the end, the Broken Bow sophomore came up just short losing by a 4-3 decision.
Joining Watson in the finals as a freshman was Denson. He earned a pin in 1:28 over Jobidiah Brinkhorst of Ogallala in the quarterfinal and pinned Riley Baker of Gothenburg in 5:58 in the semifinal.
His opponent in the final at 170 pounds was Tagg Buechle of Valentine. He lost by a final decision of 6-2.
Senior Kaden Powers earned two quick pins over Jonah Shimmin of Gothenburg and Landon Holecheck of Ogallala on his way to the championship match at 182 pounds.
The roles were reversed in the finals as he got pinned by Kaleb Pohl of Cozad in a 1:56.
After recently picking up the 100th win of his career, Anderson continued his dominant stretch by pinning a quality opponent in Jacob Olson of Gothenburg in 1:10.
Against Alec Langan of McCook in the title match, Anderson struggled to find a way to score. This resulted in him losing the match by a 9-2 decision.
Three other wrestlers picked up medals on the day for Broken Bow. They were Wilson Cucul Tzin finishing third at 113 pounds, Amarion McFarland finishing third at 120 pounds, and Schylar Campbell finished fourth at 132 pounds.
According to Schaaf, the team is very happy to take home another conference crown, but they are looking at it as just another step to their ultimate goal which is getting as many kids as they can to the Class B State Tournament and performing to the best of their abilities.
“A conference championship is a great feat but it is one step along our way to preparing for the state tournament,” Schaaf said. “We will utilize what we learned this weekend to get better and move forward to sub-districts, districts, and the state tournament.”
For complete results of the Broken Bow wrestling team at Midwest Duals and at the Southwest Conference Meet check out the sports tab at custercountychief.com.