Sidney wrestlers fifth at Mitchell

MITCHELL — Sophomore Michael Muggli earned a first-place medal at 132 pounds Saturday, and Sidney High School’s wrestling team finished fifth in the 16-team Mitchell Invitational.

Gering (115 points) won the team title, with Lingle-Ft. Laramie (101), Gothenburg (98.5), Mitchell (94.5) and SHS (92) rounding out the top five.

Sidney had six individuals reach the semifinals, but Muggli was the lone champion for Sidney.

After receiving a first-round bye, Muggli reeled off three wins, quick-pinning Gothenburg’s Jayden Miller; then slipped past Gering’s Damien Holt in a hard-fought 4-3 bout.

In the championship round, , Muggli (24-6) rolled up a tidy 13-3 decision against Lingle-Ft. Laramie’s Lane Hageman.

Only one other Red Raider wrestler reached the title bout, that being Nathaniel Votruba at 138.

Votruba won by major decision against Brody Lay of Lingle-Ft. Laramie — a 30-bout winner — 11-1 in the semifinals, before being pinned by Bridgeport’s Brandon Nichols in the title bout.

Two Raiders finished third, those being Tanner Wernsman (152 pounds) and Scott Kelsey (220).

Wernsman had to wrestle back to earn third place. He did so by beating Trenton Applegate of Bayard, 6-5, using the ultimate tie-breaker.

Kelsey also had to go through the consolation bracket to get to the third-place bout, and won by pin against Southeast’s Colten Stees.

Ryan Wooley (160) and Kane Taylor (170) both finished in fourth place, and Lukias Higer (145) and Tucker Wintholz (heavyweight) did not place, but both won bouts and scored team points for SHS.

In the junior varsity division, Sidney’s Brody McKnight took home first place at 145 pounds and Cody Hofrock was second at 170.

John Ganser’s teams will travel to Gering Friday to compete in a dual match.