Raiders edge Gering to close out regular season

The Raiders seventh dual win of the year, a 40-36 thriller over visiting Gering, might have seemed improbable at the start.

Sidney conceded 12 points to the Bulldogs right off the bat, forfeiting points in the 120 and 126 weight classes, retrieving a handful only when the visitors left 285 open. And they were down in team points 12-8 early on, despite wins by Zach Borges and Michael Muggli.

The turning point came when Ryan Nieto battled Gering's Quentin Timblin to a draw after three periods, sending the match into overtime locked at 1-1.

Timblin picked up the first point some three minutes in and held the narrow advantage until late in the third period, when Nieto won a difficult and prolonged battle for an escape to square things.

"It was nerve wracking," Nieto said of the three period stalemate. "We got into a lot of flurries."

With time running out in regulation, Nieto tried for a take down, but his opponent held fast.

For the first 30 seconds of OT, the wrestlers continued to check each other, trying to spot an opportunity. Nieto darted in with a low move, hoping to knock his opponent off balance, but Timblin rode with it. Then, as the clock ran down to the last few ticks, the Sidney wrestler finally manhandled Timblin onto the mat for a 3-1 win.

"Coach gave us a talk before the match that really pumped me up," Nieto said. "Dedication was the key."

The victory closed the team gap to a single point at 12-11. But it also sent a message to those Raiders waiting their turn.

"Wresting is a team sport," Sidney head coach John Ganser explained. "We got momentum going. We caught fire."

Indeed, the Raiders captured four of the next six remaining contested matches. Although Brody McKnight fell in the 160 encounter and Brandon Lulf lost after a straining, everything left on the mat tussle with Blake Rains at 182, the scoreboard tilted in Sidney's favor.

Brenton Christian's match proved the grit inspired by the earlier victories.

Sidney's 170-pounder slipped behind 2-0 to John Sayaloune, but a deft reversal of fortune evened things at 2-2. The Gering grappler was on a roll, however, and jumped out to a 6-2 lead as the second period wound down.

Undaunted, Christian gathered 3 points on a laser-quick shot then flirted with a pin, gaining the upper hand at 7-6 heading into the third. Before pinning Sayaloune at 5:17, he had stretched out a 10-6 advantage.

In the 195 pairing Sidney's Kane Taylor immobilized Josh Ybarra a split second before the horn sounded to end the first period-a pin at 1:59 and more points for the Raiders.

"No, I don't think I could've cut it closer," he said. "It was a good shot, but it took longer than I wanted."

Jake Heeren grabbed a 5-0 lead before claiming a win by injury default over Christian Pester in the 220 encounter. And Jack Fedderson overpowered Garret Allbaugh as the lineup shifted back to the lighter classes, picking up 5 team points with the technical fall. As a result, Sidney's forfeits in the final match made no difference in the outcome.

"We needed that," Ganser said. "It helps our attitude."

The evening began with a bye in favor of Gering and a loss by Isiah Votruba, who had battled powerful Baily Hort (16 wins by pin on the year) evenly through the first period. But Borges dominated Kelsey Hutson at 138, stretching a 16-5 advantage before winning by technical fall. And Muggli emerged on to 5-2 after an epic struggle with Damian Hort-one that Sidney's 145 standout controlled, but could never put away completely.

Last year Muggli faced Hort three times, winning two.

"I knew he was tough," Muggli pointed out.

Lighting the scoreboard proved difficult until the second period, when Muggli earned an escape then launched into the offensive, keeping his opponent off balance and in retreat until well into the third.

"Coach says to keep moving my feet, to use my quickness-I'm not the biggest at 145," he said. "It felt good."

The Raiders now prepare for district competition. The state tournament waits for those who emerge from the fray.

"We've been practicing tough," Muggli said. "I'm ready."