Three Sidney wrestlers take gold at Bridgeport tourney

The Sidney High School wrestling team wrapped up a big weekend of wins at Ogallala and Bridgeport as the Red Raiders defeated Ogallala and Sutherland on Friday in a pair of duals – and took second place at the Sidney-Bridgeport Invitational tournament in Bridgeport on Saturday.

Sidney 60, Ogallala 16

Sidney 58, Sutherland 12

The Raiders began the weekend of wrestling by defeating Ogallala, 60-16, and Sutherland, 58-12, in a day filled with dual matches.

When it came to beating Ogallala, four Sidney wrestlers came out on top as Jack Feddersen (132) beat Tyler Kruetzer on fall at 1:30, Bret Jaggers (145) took a win against Trevor Edwards on a fall at 4:37, Patraic Hayes (182) made short work of Logan Hansmeier in a 51-second trip to the mat, and Colton Peckham (120) beat Christian Gilchriest on a fall in 1:08.

At 170, Sidney’s Nathan Cuello fell to Gerald Kenkel in 5:17, while Kade Price (195) was defeated on fall at 5:18 by James Ryan. At 285, Ogallala’s Grant Packard also won against Seth McMillan on a fall at 3:22.

Sidney wrestlers Kaden Vowers (113), Trey Arellano (106), Cody Hofrock (220), Isaiah Votuba (160), Derek Robb (152) and Devon Schilz (126) all took wins by forfeit.

The results were similar against Sutherland as Peckham defeated William White in a 16-2 major decision, Schilz won by fall at 3:03 against Jacob Lantis, Feddersen took a 15-8 decision over Jonathan Foster, Hays took a close 9-7 decision against Preston Blake, Kade Price blasted a 34-second pin on Jarod Nicholson, and Arellano won the 125 by fall over Ryan Patrick.

Hofrock fell to Robert Muench in 2:28 and Cuello took a fall in 4:48 from Landen Fear. Vowers, McMillen, Votuba, Robb and Jaggers all won via forfeit.

Bridgeport-Sidney tournament

After taking the wins on Friday, it was off to Bridgeport for tournament action – and a second place finish overall for the Raiders with 160 points. Three Sidney wrestlers also took first place in the tournament.

Alliance won the tournament with 187.5 points.

Sidney head coach John Ganser said it was the best weekend of wrestling he has seen so far from his team this year.

“I think our kids put out the best performance this season and I think we got better,” Ganser said. “We were very pleased with how we wrestled on Friday and Saturday, for the most part, was a good day for us as well. There is always a match here and there where we will make mistakes, but as team effort it was good for us.”

The quest for gold medals came true for Arellano, Vowers and Robb as they each took the top spot in their weight classes, while Peckham and Hofrock each earned second-place finishes. Jaggers ended the tournament with a fourth-place showing and Schilz, Feddersen and Hays each took sixth place.

For Robb, a 2015 state champion from Sidney, his win came on an 10-2 major decision over Danny Vallejo of Alliance. Vowers took his victory after a 13-3 major decision over Josh Baray of Sterling and Arellano beat Hemingford’s Cooper Weber on a fall at 3:45.

The Raiders will now get a well-deserved break from mats over the holidays. The next meet for Sidney will be Jan. 7 at the Western Trails Tournament in Kimball.