Austin Meyer used a Granby roll to secure his reversal against Maxwell’s Kayden Stubbs in sudden death to give him a 4-2 win and a district championship. The championship match went to sudden death after two overtime periods with the score still tied 2-2.
Senior Brandon Knoles returned from an upset in semifinals to take third and earn back-to-back trips to state. seconds in his semifinal match. Like Meyer, he needed just 19 seconds for his first round pin.
Freshman Mason Toner won a hard-fought battle in his 120-lb. semifinal match against Hitchcock County’s Kaleb Christofferson in what Coach Collins said was Toner’s best match of the year.
Junior Colton Pouk will take a 22-7 record into state this week, adding two wins at districts. Here, he sets up Wauneta-Palisade’s Hunter Minor for the pin at the 1:16 mark.
Three will join district champ Meyer at state
Junior Austin Meyer pulled off an uncommon move for a heavyweight wrestler to win the D4 district championship at 285 Saturday in Sutherland.
Meyer will be joined this week at the state wrestling by three of his teammates—Mason Toner, Colton Pouk and Brandon Knoles.
In Meyer’s championship match against Kayden Stubbs of Maxwell, the score was still tied 2-2 after three periods.
After two extra one-minute periods, the score remained at 2-2 in a classic standoff, with neither wrestler giving up an inch.
That sent the match to the ultimate tie breaker—sudden death.
Meyer won the first point of the match, which earned him the right to pick whether to go up or down in sudden death.
Meyer chose to go down where a reversal or escape would win the match.
Meyer pulled off a “Granby roll” move, to pull off a reversal to win the district title 4-2.
Coach Tanner Collins said a Granby roll isn’t a move typically seen in a heavyweight match. He explained the move is “basically a forward somersault, and you hit it as hard and fast as you can and kind of hope for the best.”
The best happened for Meyer, escaping the grasp of Stubbs and winning his first district title.
All four of Collins’ wrestlers who qualified for the district meet made it to state.
He said all four peaked at the right time of the season. The biggest peaker undoubtedly was 120-lb. freshman Mason Toner.
With just a five-person bracket, Toner drew a bye in the first round.
That put him in the semifinal match where he upended Hitchcock County’s Kaleb Christofferson in a hard-fought match,taking a 11-8 decision.
Collins said it was by far Toners best match of the season.
He went down in the championship match Sutherland’s Cauy Morgan, who goes into state with a 37-5 record.
Collins said Toner’s had some close matches that he came up short on, so he was really glad for him.
Junior Colton Pouk takes a 22-7 record into Omaha this week, taking second at 138.
After a pin in the first round and taking a major decision in the semifinals, he meet up again with Sutherland’s Samuel Foster. He is one of the top-rated wrestlers in Class D at 138. Pouk has also been rated much of this season.
Pouk gave up a pin to Foster, who moved to 47-1 with the win.
The day wasn’t without an upset, though.
Brandon Knoles had his sights set on a district title his senior year, coming in at 27-3.
He needed just 19 seconds to pin Kyler Gaston of Hitchcock County to advance to the semis.
There he met St. Pat’s Landon Nichols, an opponent he defeated several times already this season.
In the second period, Knoles got caught off-guard by Nichiols and found himself unable to escape, giving up a pin.
After recovering from the disappointment, Knoles dispatched Wauneta-Palisade’s Cole Hamilton in the heartbreak round to assure him a trip to Omaha.
In the 3rd place match, Knoles won a 3-1 decision over Hyannis’ Gavin Anderson.
The Plainsmen’s success earned them a tie for sixth in the team scoring.
D4 district results
120 Mason Toner (9-23) 2nd Place—Quarterfinal: Toner received a bye; Semifinal: Toner won by decision over Kaleb Christofferson (Hitchcock County) 26-10 (Dec 11-8); 1st Place Match: Cauy Morgan (Sutherland) 37-5 won by fall over Toner (Fall 3:18).
138 Colton Pouk (22-7) 2nd Place—Quarterfinal: Pouk won by fall over Hunter Miner (Wauneta-Palisade) 20-14 (Fall 1:16); Semifinal: Pouk won by major decision over Daniel Kohel (Morrill) 19-16 (MD 13-0); 1st Place Match: Samuel Foster (Sutherland) 47-1 won by fall over Pouk (Fall 5:14)
220 Brandon Knoles (29-4) 3rd place— Quarterfinal: Knoles won by fall over Kyler Gaston (Hitchcock County) 7-14 (Fall 0:19) Semifinal: Landon Nichols (North Platte St. Patrick`s) 19-18 won by fall over Knoles (Fall 3:19); Cons. Semi: Knoles won by fall over Cole Hamilton (Wauneta-Palisade) 18-26 (Fall 1:14); 3rd Place Match: Knoles won by decision over Gavin Anderson (Hyannis) 16-9 (Dec 3-1).
285 Austin Meyer (32-8) 1st place—Quarterfinal: Meyer won by fall over Michael Rotherham (Bayard) 14-23 (Fall 0:14); Semifinal: Meyer won by fall over Reegan French (Morrill) 13-14 (Fall 0:49); 1st Place Match: Meyer won in the ultimate tie breaker over Kayden Stubbs (Maxwell) 34-7 (UTB 4-2).
Team scores—1, Maxwell, 121.0; 2, Mullen, 120.0; 3, Sutherland, 106.0; 4, Garden County, 83.0; 5, Bayard, 82.0; 6, Perkins County, 67.0; 6, Hitchcock County, 67.0; 8, North Platte St. Patrick`s, 40.0; 9, Morrill, 39.0; 10, Medicine Valley, 33.0; 11, Hyannis, 24.0; 11, Kimball, 24.0; 13, Crawford, 20.0; 14, Minatare, 19.0; 15, Wauneta-Palisade, 18.0; 16, Hemingford, 17.0; 17, Leyton, 10.0; 18, Hay Springs, 6.0; 19, Paxton, 4.0; 20, Banner County, 3.0; 21, Dundy County-Stratton, 0.0; 21, Sioux County, 0.0