Bobcats finish fourth, send six wrestlers to medal stand

Logan Kester struck gold for the first time this season as the Bobcat junior won the 150-pound division at Saturday's Wakefield Invite.

Other medalists for the Bobcats included Austin Mendoza, Ethan Kester, Jesse Thiele, Matthew Umphress and AJ Hobbs.

Logan Kester opened with a bye and in the semifinal, won 18-2, tech fall-1.5, over Eddie Lugo, West Point-Beemer. Kester defeated Ty Zach, Wayne, 7-4, to win the gold.

Ethan Kester brought home a silver medal in the 138-pound division. Kester worked his way through the bracket by pinning Elijah Harrington, WP-B, in 2:00; pinning Landon Kjolhede, WP-B, in :49, and defeating Eli Daily, Millard South, 9-2. In the first-place match, Kester dropped a 6-4 decision to Dagoberto Gastelum, Madison.

Thiele finished second in the 144-pound class. He opened with a win by fall, in 1:05, over Logan Lee, Millard South, and earned a 2-1 decision over Alex Frank, Wayne. In the match for first, Walker Ott, Wisner-Pilger, defeated Thiele, 6-3.

Umphress finished second in the 157-pound class. In a first-round match, Umphress pinned Ethan Nottingham, Millard South, in 2:37 and pinned AJ Pierson, Millard South, in 5:52 in the semifinal. Ayden Dolezal, Bancroft-Rosalie, defeated Umphress, 8-5, in the first-place match.

In the 165-pound division, Hobbs collected wins by fall against Evan Hittle, WP-B, in 1:24, and Ruben Vega, Wakefield, in 2:43. He was set to face Keegan Poppe, W-P, in the championship match, but lost by medial forfeit.

Mendoza finished third in the 132-pound class. He opened with a win by fall, in 3:03, over Harry BigFire, Winnebago, and won a 15-1 major decision over Millard South's Landon Schneider. In the semifinal, Oliver Johnson, Oakland-Craig, pinned Mendoza in 3:42. In the consolation semifinal, Mendoza pinned Bryson Eledge, Randolph, in 2:41 and took 4:41 to pin Manny Figueroa, WP-B, in the third-place match.

Also competing for the Bobcats were:

•Ayden Bazelman, 113-pound division. The freshman wrestler lost an opening round match by fall, in :34, to Logan Johnson, Millard South. Bazelman faced Dereck Collazo, Scribner-Snyder, in a consolation round match and lost by fall, in 2:23.

• Tucker Dougherty, 120-pound division. Dougherty faced Wayne's Garrett Schultz in an opening round match and lost by fall in :52. In a consolation match, Dougherty lost by fall to Cole Jensen, Randolph, in 1:40.

• Connor Thomson, 138-pound division. Thomson made quick work of Om Concordia's Sebastian Cacho-Aviles. The Bobcat junior won by fall in :42. In the quarterfinal match, Daily, Millard South, defeated Thomson, 14-8. Thomson rebounded with a quick pin, in :42, over Tripp Meier, WP-B and took 2:28 to pin Kjolhede, WP-B. In the consolation semifinal, Thomson lost by fall, in 4:16, to Ben Loftis, Oakland-Craig.

• Jason Shaver, 190-pound division. Shaver lost a first round match by fall, in 2:58, to Gage Jensen, Randolph. Following a bye, he lost an 8-1 decision to Jacob Buda, Millard South.

The Bobcats finished fourth in the 16-team field, scoring 120.5 points. Wisner-Pilger won the meet with 139, followed by Wayne, 129.5 and Millard South JV.