Wrestlers finish second in strong performance at Howells-Dodge meet

The Bobcat boys' wrestling squad scored 146 points and tied the host team for second place at Saturday's Howells-Dodge wrestling invite.

Guardian Angels Central Catholic won the team title with 158 points.

Colton Thiele and Logan Mueller earned gold medals in the 195- and 285-pound divisions, respectively.

Six other wrestlers - Alex Thiele, Jesse Thiele, Keaton Thiele, Alex Arroyo, Wyatt Chipps and Connor Thomson - brought home hardware.

Mueller moved quickly through his bracket, picking up four pins, including wins over Keaton Valdez, Millard South JV, in :32; Dillan Maple, Clarkson/Leigh, in :19; Chantz Amex, Lutheran High Northeast, in 1:31 and Cooper Vance, C/L, in 1:25.

After a first-round bye, Thiele's path to gold featured wins by pin over Jesse Droescher, Oakland-Craig, in 1:53 and Wakefield's Juan Martin, in 1:12. In the first-place match, Thiele earned a 10-2 major decision over James Rolf, Guardian Angels.

Following the meet, Thiele said his take on the season is to concentrate on one match at a time.

"I feel like sometimes state returns can start thinking too far down the road and make too many mistakes by doing so."

He admitted staying focused throughout the day was a challenge on Saturday.

"The meet started at 9 a.m. and I didn't have a match until about 12:30 p.m."

The senior has qualified for the state meet twice.

This season, he has set multiple goals, including reach 100 wins, beat the career mark established by his brother, Clay, and finish in the top three at state.

Thiele said he will use Saturday's medal to motive himself and his team "to try to get first at every meet."

Alex Thiele earned the silver medal in the 126-division. Following a bye, Thiele pinned teammate Connor Thompson, in :58 and won a second match, by fall, against Ben Loftis of Oakland-Craig. In the final, Elgin Public/Pope John's Carter Beckman won by a 4-3 decision.

In the 138-pound class, Jesse Thiele finished fifth, after starting competition with a win by pin, in 1:50, over Jack Barlow, EPPJ. Thiele advanced to a quarterfinal match against Guardian Angels' Dominic Johnson and won, by fall, in 3:52. Caleb Chase, of Wakefield, downed Thiele, by sudden victory, 4-2, in the semifinal. In the consolation bracket, Thiele lost, by fall, to Stanton's Jayden Reed, in a minute. Thiele lost a 12-8 decision to Will Porter, MSJV, in the fifth-place match.

Wyatt Chipps placed fourth in the 220-pound division, after opening with an :11 pin over EPPJ's David Durre and following it up with a :57 pin over Walker Lundahl, of Wakefield. Chipps dropped the semifinal match to Dax Doernemann, GACC, in 2:25.

In the consolation bracket, Chipps pinned GACC's Carsten Knobbe, in 1:00, before falling to Matt Logue, Ponca, in 2:01.

Freshman Keaton Thiele started the invite with a two pins in the 152-pound class, including wins over Anton Wurdinger, Stanton, in 1:18 and Keegan Poppe, Wisner-Pilger, in 3:15. In the semifinal, Ethan Baumert, GACC, pinned Thiele in :49, setting up a consolation match against Channer Marsden, Cross County Osceola. Mardsen earned a 4-2 decision. Thiele won the fifth-place match over Jacob Koehn, C/L.

Alex Arroyo started with an 8-1 win against Cale Schwer, GA, in the 182-pound class. Arroyo advanced to a match against Stanton's Becker Pohlman and won, by fall, in 3:23. Arroyo dropped the semifinal match, 14-5, to Jackson Koehn, C-L. He lost the first conslation match, to Schwer, 6-2 and rebounded with a second win over Pohlman, in 2:12.

After Thomson's loss to Alex Thiele in the opening round, he pinned Tavious PInkelman, Hartington, Cedar Catholic, in 2:04 and lost, by fall, in 4:32, to Gage Stutzman, H-D. In the fifth-place match, Thomson finished sixth.

Other wrestlers for Summerland included:

• Willis Mast finished 1-2 in the 126-class, with a win over Wakefield's Jeremiah Reimers and losses to Walker Ott, W-P and Dylan Shinstock, GACC.

• Logan Kester dropped an opening match, at 132, to Isaac Baumert, C-L; earned a consolation win, by fall, in 3:23, over Eli Daily, MSJV and lost, by fall, in 2:51, to Tony DeWitt, CC/O.

• Matt Umphress finished 2-2 in the 160-pound class, with a win over Garret Noel, Tekamah-Herman, by fall, in 2:59; a technical fall loss, in 1:42 (17-5), to Cal Janke, Archbishop Bergan; a consolation win, by fall, in 2:53, to Esai Ortiz, MSJV and lost to Sam Taylor, Ponca, by technical fall, in 5:00 20-3.

• AJ Hobbs finished 0-2 in the 170-pound class, with a 7-6 loss to Zain Ericksen, AB and by pin to Lawrence Werth, St. Mary's.