Thiele strikes gold

Six Bobcat wrestlers earned medals at Saturday's Wisner-Pilger Invitational.

Led by junior Colton Thiele, who won the 195-pound championship, the Bobcats tied for fourth, scoring 112 points.

Omaha Bryan earned the team title, with 179 points. Ralston placed second, with 160 points, while East Butler ended third, accumulating 118 points. Howells-Dodge tied with the Bobcats.

Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-team field were Clarkson-Leigh, Wakefield, Stanton, Wisner-Pilger and Lutheran High Northeast.

Thiele won three matches, all by fall, en route to the gold medal. He faced Lincoln Southeast's Alex Duey, Chris Vega of Ralston and Fernando Gonzalez, of OB.

Thiele, who has not wrestled for 11 months, said it felt good to get back on the mat.

"There are many people and quotes describing how it is on the mat but there is no way to explain it. You get this nervous feeling and then just a rush of adrenaline," he said.

Facing wrestlers from larger schools will not only benefit Thiele, but the entire Bobcat team.

"The top three schools were all Omaha schools and one of which was projected to win Class B," Thiele said. "I think we really benefited from this because even though we might not have won all of those high-class matches, there is nothing like wrestling someone who is at that level and talent. The Omaha schools have well-rounded wrestlers and it was exciting to compete and watch my TeamMates compete against them."

Thiele, who qualified for the 2020 state championship maintains high goals for the remainder of his junior season, including a potential return to the 2021 state meet.

"I think this is difficult being I have four matches and one forfeit in the closing half of the season. I have a good coach, a state runner-up brother at this weight class, who comes and helps me and TeamMates who push me every day. I think that my goals are obtainable and I can't wait to see how this season ends," Thiele said.

Daley Bearinger finished third in the 106-pound class. He finished 3-1 on the day, picking up a major decision over Wakefield's Samuel Chase and wins by fall over Tycin Lampman, WP and Wakefield's Samuel Chase.

Bearinger's lone loss came in the semifinal, when Mohamud Abdi, Omaha Bryan, earned a win by fall, in 1:10.

Alex Thiele finished third in the 126-pound class and finished with a 3-1 record. Thiele earned three wins by fall, over James Groteleushen, C-L; Deva Pushkaran, LSE and Blaine Orta, EB.

Thiele dropped a semifinal match, by fall, in 2:20, to Ralston's Jeremy McKee.

In the 182-pound division, Tyler Bellar finished third with a 3-1 record. Following a bye, Jackson Koehn, C-L, earned a win, by fall, in 2:58. Bellar bounced back with wins over Zach Heywood, Omaha South, by fall, in :43 and Jacob Hegemann, H-D, in 3:45.

Wyatt Chipps went 3-1, finishing third, in the 220-pound class. Chipps earned a win, by fall, in 1:30, over EB's Vincent Hageman. In the semifinal, Ben McDuffe, W-P, won, by fall, in 2:31. Chipps rebounded with two pins, over Giovani Salcedo, Wakefield, in 1:39 and Chandler Carrier, Scribner-Snyder, in 4:26.

Logan Mueller finished fourth in the 285-pound class. He split matches, with a 2-2 record.

Mueller earned a 9-1 major decision over Fabian Reid, OB, in the quarterfinal and lost, by fall, in 1:43, to David Hernandez, Ralston.

In the consolation semifinal, Omaha South's Patrick Kuehn won, by fall, in 2:22.

The loss set up a rematch with Reid, who earned a 7-4 decision.

Jesse Thiele, wrestling in the 120-class, finished 1-2 in the meet. He lost to Cohen Rice, LSE, by fall, in 5:03 and lost an 8-2 decision to Ross Bratetic, OB.

Thiele earned a consolation round win, by fall, in 2:04, over Isaac Baumert, C-L.

Rafe Grebin ended 2-2 in the 132-pound class. After losing by fall, in 1:01, to DeSota Koziol, Ralston, in the championship round one, Grebin earned a bye and in the second round, defeated Zora Villanueva, Bancroft-Rosalie-Lyons-Decatur, by fall, in 1:55. In the third consolation round, Reid Glasshoff, EB, earned a 4-1 decision.

Spencer Kester picked up two byes in the 145-pound division, but dropped matches to Wakefield's Jeremiah Chase, by fall, in 2:59, and Loren Pasco, LSE, by a margin of 12-8.

In the 160-pound class, Alex Arroyo finished 3-2. He earned a win, by fall, in 2:00, over Isaac Reich, Ralston. Carlos Jimenez-Fuentes, OB, earned a 14-13 decision in the quarterfinal. After a bye, Arroyo won, by fall, in :36, over Carol Victore, of OS. In the consolation semifinal, Johan Rojas, LHNE, won, by fall, in 4:00.