Kester, Thiele brothers medal at West Holt Invite

Friday the 13th wasn’t unlucky for three Bobcat wrestlers who landed in medal contention at the West Holt Invite.

Ethan Kester finished second in the 126-pound division. He pinned Colter Wright, Burwell, in 3:11 in the quarterfinal and won a 7-2 decision over Garrett Wedemeyer, Ravenna in the semifinal. Will Sprenger, of Valentine, pinned Kester, in 1:25, in the championship match.

Alex Thiele brought home bronze in the 120-pound division. He lost a 13-4 major decision to Alex Borboya, West Point-Beemer, in the semifinal and pinned Ravenna’s Clay Adams, in 1:57 in the consolation semifinal. In the third-place match, Thiele won a 14-4 major decision over Joseph Barnell, Creighton.

In the 132-pound class, Jesse Thiele finished fourth. He opened with a win, by fall, in 1:34 over Trace Buechle, Valentine. Grady Ramussen, Ravenna, won a 9-0 major decision in the quarterfinal. Thiele moved to the consolation bracket where he earned three wins by fall, including beating Tripp Meier, WPB, in :26; Connor Thomson, Summerland, in 3:40 and Sam Titus, Ainsworth, in 1:54. In the third-place match, Thiele faced Rasmussen again and lost due to a medical forfeit.

Other Bobcat wrestlers competing included:

Caden Mendoza in the 120-pound class. He lost a quarterfinal match, by fall, in 2:35, to Tristen Krueger, North Central and a consolation match to Clay Adams, Ravenna. Adams pinned Mendoza in 1:56.

Thomson opened with a loss by fall, in :50, to Jordan Mosel, Plainview. In a consolation match, Thomson won a 6-0 decision over Atwood Albrecht, NC, before being eliminated by Thiele.

Logan Kester lost a quarterfinal match in the 138-pound class by tech fall, 20-1, to Jamison Evert, WPB. Kester picked up two wins in the consolation bracket, including pinning Shayne Jenkins, Summerland, in 1:18 and Kade Wiiest, NC, in :48. In the consolation semifinal, Kester lost by fall, in 1:20, to Gavin Sandoz, Valentine.

Jenkins started the tournament with a loss by fall, in 1:05, to Kyler Mosel, Plainview. He was eliminated in a match against Kester.

AJ Hobbs lost a quarterfinal match in the 160-pound division when Jhett Eklund, Burke/Gregory, pinned him in 1:47. Hobbs worked his way through the consolation bracket, picking up a win by fall, in :39, over Carver Rahn, Todd County and a 13-2 major decision over Burwell’s Trentin Brown. In the consolation semifinal, Mason Janak, BG, defeated Hobbs, 15-10.

Matt Umphress competed in the 160-pound division and lost a quarterfinal match to Janak, BG, 16-11. In the second consolation round, Umphress pinned Angel Parra, WPB, in :45 and pinned Plainview’s Caden Ickler, in 2:56. In the consolation semifinal, Umphress lost, due to a medical forfeit, to Isaac Pistulka, West Holt.

Kendrick Schroeder finished 1-2 in the 170-pound division. After a 5-2 opening-match loss to Wyatt Doerr, Plainview, Schroeder pinned Chase Gewecke, NC, in 3:55. Samuel King pinned Schroeder, in 3:40, in the consolation semifinal.

The Bobcats finished ninth in the 12-team field, scoring 63 points.

Plainview won the team title, accumulating 150 points. They edged runner-up Valentine, by two points. Ravenna, Burke/Gregory and West Point-Beemer rounded out the top five.