KIMBALL – Kimball High wrestling coach Tom Perlinski termed it a “Great weekend of wrestling” for his Longhorns squad as they qualified six wrestlers for this weekend’s State Tournament and crowned two champions at the C-4 District tournament. The District tourney was a two day affair staged at Gordon this past weekend, and Kimball got the most out of their limited numbers.

Coach Perlinski was enthusiastic with his praise of the Kimball effort.

“We had several great efforts by our wrestlers during the tournament, but the consolation semi finals round, (heartbreak round) was very special with all four of our wrestlers in this round getting wins to qualify them for the state tournament, and none of the matches were easy victories with Ryan (Gregory) and Matthew (Merryfield) both having to fight off their backs to come back and win, and Jordan (Stahla) and Michael (Robinson) wrestling quality opponents and doing what they had to do to win. It is a round I will not soon forget” he said.

Perlinski also said to finish in 6th place as a team and score 110 points with only 9 wrestlers was a great tribute to all nine.

Shawn Nagel and Trendon Hinton both won district championships and both head into the state tournament with undefeated records. Starting first with Nagel, who is a defending state champion from his sophomore season of last year, and a runner-up finish as a freshman. He has a current win streak of 75 dating back to last year’s undefeated season of 37 wins and this year’s 38 straight without a loss. He won his district title with a 15-0 technical fall over Blanco of Mitchell after an 8-0 decision of McIntosh of Sargent/Burwell in the semi finals and a :28 second pin of Keating of Kearney Catholic in the quarter finals. Shawn, a junior, fills the 112 pound weight class for Kimball.

Trendon Hinton, also a junior, wrestles at 130 pounds, and like Nagel, is undefeated on the season at 42-0. He is already a two-time state qualifier and is looking for his first state medal this year. Trendon won his district championship, the same way as Nagel, without allowing a single point scored by his opponents. He started out with a :30 second pin of Bukink of Kearney/Catholic, won 5-0 in a technical fall over Robinson of Ainsworth in the quarter finals, pinned Mendez of Bayard in the semi finals, and won 6-0 over Fenske of Sargent/Burwell in the finals.

While Kimball advanced six wrestlers into the semi final round, only Nagel and Hinton won out to put them in the championship round. The other four state qualifiers were then facing elimination with one more loss as they dropped into what has become known as the Heartbreak Round. To their credit, all four battled their way through and made it into the consolation finals thus guaranteeing themselves a top four finish and a trip to Omaha.

Senior Jordan Stahla, a returning state qualifier from a year ago, is a two time state qualifier and wrestles at 125 for the Longhorns. He won his consolation finals match to finish 3rd at District. He started out with a 16-10 decision of Vojta of Loomis/Bertrand, lost by pin in the semi finals to Rogers of Kearney Catholic, won 6-4 in the Heartbreak Round over Smolik of Sargent/Burwell, and then pinned Pfortmiller of Mitchell to earn his 3rd place medal. Jordan takes a record of 28-11 into the state tournament.

Michael Robinson, a junior, wrestling at 140, finished 3rd at the District Tourney. He takes a 32-9 record to Omaha in his first state tournament qualification. Michael started out with a :42 second pin over Harimon of Bayard, followed by a 2:15 pin of Swett of Ainsworth, before falling by pin to Matson of Kearney Catholic who was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. He won an 8-1 decision over Fanning of Wauneta/Palisade in the Heartbreak Round, and in the consolation finals won a close 2-1 decision from Mauler of Sargent/Burwell.

Senior Ryan Gregory qualified for his first state tournament with a 4th place finish at 145 pounds. He had a fast start at Districts with pins over Eichthaler of Bridgeport in 2:44 and Lueth of Chase County in 5:08. In the semi finals he lost 2-7 to Pacheco of Kearney Catholic, but came back in the Heartbreak round to win 10-5 over Morten of Loomis/Bertrand. He lost 3-6 to Hollenbeck of Ainsworth in the consolation finals. Ryan’s record is 34-7 going into the state tourney.

Matthew Merryfield, a junior who fills the 215 pound weight class for Kimball, may have been the surprise of the district for coach Perlinski. The big guy finished 4th and is 16-12 heading into the state tourney. He started with a pin of Oberg of Wauneta/ Palisade in 5:00, lost in the semi finals to Motten of Loomis/Bertrand by pin in :30 seconds, but came back to pin Aldez-Armenda of Ainsworth in the Heartbreak round. Matt did not wrestle in the consolation finals because of an ankle sprain suffered in his win in the Heart break round.

Freshman Trevor Brower at 119 pounds was 1-2 at District losing his quarter final match to Sandoz of Valentine by pin in 1:27, won his wrestle back match over Painter of Ainsworth by pin in :51 seconds, and was eliminated by pin in 4:09 by Conseco of Mitchell. Eli Grubbs at 135 lost his first round match 5-14 to Richardson of Gordon/Rushville, pinned Andrew Conseco of Mitchell in :55 seconds, and lost 6-14 to Williams of Sargent/Burwell. Dustin Calkins at 152 lost twice by pin in 1:39 to Ochoa of Bayard, and in 1:17 to Moon of Sargent/Burwell.

A Look At State

The Kimball State Qualifying team will leave Kimball Wednesday morning following a Pep Rally and Tunnel Walk. Class C is in the late session this year with weigh-ins at 3 p.m. Thursday and first round wrestling to begin at 4:30. Friday weigh-ins are at 11 a.m. and wrestling begins at 12:30. Saturday brings an early start with weigh-ins at 7 a.m. and wrestling at 8:30. A reminder to fans that all championship matches of all four classes will be televised on the Nebraska Educational Channel. Check your listings for start time.

Shawn Nagel’s first match at state is with Andy Doerr of Creighton/Verdigre, a junior with a record of 26-14. Interesting to note that along the way he will most probably match up with a young man named Jordan Fowlkes of Newman Grove, who is also a returning state champion from a year ago after an undefeated season and is also undefeated this season at 29-0. They will not meet in the championship as they are both Tn the same half of the bracket.

Coach Perlinski said “I am sure Shawn will be up to the challenge”.

Trendon Hinton has 3 undefeated wrestlers in his 130 pound weight bracket. His first round match is against Jordan of Malcolm, a senior with a 25-12 record.

Jordan Stahla a at 125 will face Olson of Tekamah/Herman, a senior at 28-9. Michael Robinson will face Broekemier of Central City in his first state match, facing a senior with a 27-4 record.

Ryan Gregory will meet Starostka of Grand Island Central Catholic, a freshman at 24-5.

Matt Merryfield’s first state match is with Harper of Arlington, a senior with a 19-3 record.

Also of note Ryan Gregory reached the career 100 win list with his first round win at the District Tournament and will find his name listed with the few others who have attained such honor at Kimball High. Shawn Nagel is sitting with 99 career wins going into the state tournament.