Thiele, Kester earn medals at Central Valley Invite

Summerland wrestlers finished 19th in Friday's Central Valley Invitational. The Bobcats scored 42 points, powered by top performances by Alex Thiele and Ethan Kester.

Neligh-Oakdale claimed the team title with 160 points. Perennial powerhouse, Anselmo-Merna, took home the runner-up trophy with 142.5.

Thiele finished fourth in the 120-pound division. After pinning Ky Cargill, CV, in 1:51, Thiele won by fall, in 3:26, over Bo Brenna, South Loup. Thiele met Elgin Public/Pope John's Carter Beckman in the semifinal and lost, by fall, in 1:30. Thiele pinned Carson Whitesel, NO, in the consolation semifinal before losing 8-3, to Cole Spahr, Tri County, in the third-place match.

Kester opened competition in the 126-pound class with two pins, over Cambridge's Charlie Houser, in 1:45 and Parker Schutz, Hi-Line, in 3:45. Mullen's Eli Paxton pinned Kester, in 1:26, in the semifinal. He defeated Bryce Kolc, Yutan, who withdrew from the consolation semifinal, due to injury, at the 4:28 mark. Gage Friesen, High Plains Community won the third-place match, 3-2.

Jesse Thiele finished 2-2 in the 132-pound class. He opened with a 7-1 win over Jaxon Wood, Yutan and defeated Dawson Mason, SL, 3-1. In the semifinal match, Jerrett Wells, AM, won, 3-1 and Trevor Carraher of Riverside, won, 4-0, in the consolation semifinal.

Connor Thomson dropped a 9-4 decision to Prestin Horwart, Southern Valley, in the 132-pound class. In the consolation round, Thomson was eliminated when Kole Eickmeier pinned him in 1:19.

Shayne Jenkins placed first in the 138B weight class. He pinned four contestants: Noah Rand, Hi-Line, in 2:55; Jack Barlow, EPPJ, in 1:44; Gage Starr, Wood River, in :38 and Ty Kennicutt, Overton, in 1:39.

Logan Kester competed in the 145-pound division. In the quarterfinal Tyce Porter, AM, won a 12-0 major decision. Parker Walahoski, Overton, edged Kester, 11-10, in a consolation match.

AJ Hobbs competed in the 160-pound class and finished 1-2. In the first round, he lost, by fall, in 5:24, to Caden Coufal, AM. Hobbs pinned Emanuel Guido-Sanchez, in 2:27 before losing, by fall, in 1:57, to Jack Hopkins, Tri County.

Matt Umphress finished first in the 160B division, picking up three wins by pin, including Nate Redwine, Hi-Line, :42; Dawson Lemburg, Palmer 4:23 and Nate Grilli, SV, 3:31.

Kendrick Schroeder finished 2-2 in the 170-pound division. He pinned Connor Johnson, Grand Island Central Catholic, in 2:51, before losing by fall, in 2:29, to Aiden Kuester, NO. In the second consolation round, Schroeder won a 6-4 decision over Elijah Niemeier, Hi-Line. Jeff Arensberg pinned Schroeder, in 1:20, in the third consolation round.