Sidney sending four wrestlers to states

CHADRON – This time around district runner-up Michael Muggli will have more than a few coaches to talk to on the long ride to Omaha – including district champion Derek Robb.

As the Sidney Red Raiders finished third at the NSAA Class B-4 District Championships at Chadron State College over the weekend, Muggli – Sidney's lone state qualifier last season – will now have the company of three freshmen who also qualified.

The NSAA Wrestling Championships open on Thursday at Century Link Center in Omaha.

Robb, who upped his season record to 41-0, earned the right to be called a district champion after breezing through three matches at 138 pounds. Another freshman, Kaden Vowers (34-8), battled through the talent rich 106-pound class to claim third for his ticket to Omaha. Shortly after Vowers earned his way, Colton Peckham (26-14) took a seat on the bus by taking third at 113 pounds.

In the team competition, the Scottsbluff Bearcats finished the meet as district champions by far out-pacing runner up Holdrege 168-128. Sidney's third-place total was 116, while Lexington (115.5) and Broken Bow (114.5) rounded out the top five.

Besides the four state qualifiers, Sidney had two near misses.

In the consolation semifinals – which are better known as the heartbreak round – Jack Feddersen (126) and Dominic Beyer (285) had their hearts broken after being pinned while leading late in their matches.

"In any district final you're going to have ups an downs and that's what we had today," said Raiders' head coach John Ganser. "We had a couple of leads and gave up the fall. That's wrestling."

On his way to becoming a district champion, Robb didn't allow any of his three matches go beyond a minute and 43 seconds. On Friday, he defeated Xavier Goings of Chadron by fall in 1:30. In his second match, Robb dropped Cameron Griffs of Cozad in 48 seconds. Robb had his longest outing in the championship match against Salem Harsh (36-11) of Scottsbluff.

"I haven't wrestled (Harsh) for a couple of years so I just wanted to come out and be aggressive," Robb said. "I'm really excited about going to state. Now that I've made it I just want to go as far as I can."

Robb's first opponent at state will be Levi Heilig (15-12) of Boys Town. Heilig was the fourth-place finisher in Class B-1.

As for Muggli, he is making his fourth straight trip to state after finishing as the district runner-up at 145. Last season, Muggli was stopped agonizingly close to a medal when he lost in triple overtime in the medal match. He will take on Cole Gray (26-16) of Plattsmouth in his first match at state.

Muggli began the championship with three pins before going up against a season-long nemesis in Walker Johnson of Alliance. Muggli had lost two close matches by decision to Walker earlier this year, but struggled in the championship match. He was pinned by Johnson at 3:55.

"You know when I first went to state I wasn't even sure that I wanted to go through another week of cutting (weight)," Muggli said. "But then when I went I was so excited to be there. I'm really looking forward to it this year."

As the veteran of the group, Muggli hopes his younger teammates realize they can still accomplish more.

"I just want them to stay calm because they're going to be really excited," Muggli said. "But I want them to get to the point where they're ready to compete and win matches and not just happy to be there. They're all really good wrestlers and worked hard for this and I'm proud of them."

While Vowers has had an extraordinary season after winning several invitational titles, it was well known before districts how deep the 106-pound weight class was. Nevertheless, Vowers reached the heartbreak round with an opportunity to reach the podium. Standing in his way, however, was a wrestler he had never beaten before – George Hernandez of Scottsbluff.

Though he battled hard, Vowers fell behind 3-1 in the early going but kept on fighting. His determination began to pay off when he took a 4-3 lead midway through the match and finally he pinned Hernandez at 4:27 to clinch a trip to state. His first challenge at state will be Jacob Kubicka (31-14) of Adams Central.

"I wrestled (Hernandez) a couple of times in (Sidney Wrestling Federation) and lost," Vowers said. "I figured this might be my last match of the year so I went in thinking I had nothing to lose. When I was down 3-1, I just stuck with it. I'm just so happy now that I've made it to state. I'm pretty excited."

Vowers put an exclamation point on his districts by beating Jorgen Johnson of Alliance who had come into the match with a record of 32-8. Vowers won the match 5-0.

Though a freshman, Peckham has been wrestling for six years and also learned his skills in the Sidney Wrestling Federation. He faced Geraldo Caldera of Lexington in his heartbreak match and had little trouble, pinning him in 3:16.

Like Vowers before him, Peckham didn't seem satisfied with just a state berth. He took down Gothenburg's Trevor Holley in the third-place match by fall at 2:18. He will face Riley Berg (19-1) of West Point-Beemer in round one at state.

"I thought I had a good chance of making state coming in," Peckham said. "I hadn't wrestled (Caldera) before so I just went in there and wrestled. Now that I've actually made it I'm really excited. I'm really looking forward to next week."

Among the others to make the heartbreak round were Zach Borges at 152. Like 106 and 160, the 152-pound class was considered one of the deepest. Borges was stopped in the consolation semi's by Austin French of Broken Bow by major decision, 13-2. Brandon Lulf (195) was pinned by Colter Edgren of Holdrege in his heartbreak round. Cody Hofrock at 220 was another near-miss. He lost a close decision (5-2) to Jacob Baldwin of Alliance.

"One of the things I noticed about this team is how much they all cared for each other," Ganser said. "These guys were always there to pick each other up. This team was a real pleasure for me to coach."