Yuma High School’s wrestling team will close out the regular season by hosting its own big tournament.
YHS will be the site for the Big “O” Memorial Duals Tournament, Saturday. The event is named in honor of the late Terry Oestman, who was deeply involved with Yuma wrestling through the decades, and was affectionately called “Big O” by some within the program. He passed away late last year.
Joining Yuma will be Burlington, Chatfield, Dolores Huerta, Douglas County, Highland, Lutheran, Peyton, Resurrection Christian, and Sedgwick County/Fleming.
The teams will be split into two four-team pools. Each team will wrestle the other in their pool, then the teams will cross-bracket with the first-place team from each pool squaring off and so forth. The action at YHS begins at 10 a.m.
The Indians gave a great battle against No. 2 Wray in the annual Yuma County Showdown on the Mat, last Thursday night in The Pit. Wray won by a final score of 48-19.
However, a large crowd witnessed a rivalry dual more competitive than the final score indicated. Yuma yielded 24 points on six forfeits. Of the 10 matches decided on the mat, Wray held a slight 6-4 margin, and most were fairly close decisions.
There were three matches in which the Yuma grappler held the lead before eventually losing by decision.
“They went out and competed hard and weren’t scared,” head coach Kyle Newton said. “Now they know they can beat them, but now we have to work on the endurance.”
Kallen Blach got Yuma’s first win, a 5-0 decision over Chad Tracy at 170 pounds. That made the score 6-3 for Wray, which opened with a 7-4 decision by Koy Smith over Yahir Trejo and a 7-0 decision by Tavery Chappell over Zeke Martinez.
Wray went ahead 9-3 as Caeden Bauer got a 6-3 decision over Kevin Hermosillo. Yuma’s Payton Wells pinned Grady Linman at 195 to tie the score at 9-9.
However, Yuma forfeited at 220, Wray’s Tel Wade pinned Jose Ruiz at 285, and Yuma forfeited again at 106 and 113 as Wray built a 33-9 lead.
Yuma cut into the deficit as Adrian Carranza pinned Andrew Buoy at 120, and John Smith got a 10-0 major decision over Chase Buoy at 126, making it 33-19.
Yuma forfeited again at 132, Trey Stegman lost a 6-3 decision to Tayden Chappell at 138, and Tayte Smith was pinned by Samuel Meisner at 145 to end the dual.
The Indians turned around the next day and competed in the McCook Duals in Nebraska, finishing the day with a 3-2 record. They started out with blowout losses to North Platte, which ended up winning the tournament, and Amherst. They rallied to win their last three duals over Gothenburg, Alliance and McCook.
“We wrestled some really tough teams to start out,” Newton said, “then after that everyone wrestled well and we won.”
North Platte beat the Tribe 52-13.
Yuma’s wins came courtesy of Smith with an 8-0 major decision at 126, Stegman a 7-5 decision at 138 and Bryan Coyl getting a forfeit win at 170.
Amherst beat Yuma 57-18.
Hermosillo got a 53-second pin at 182. Carranza won by fall in 1:55 at 120, and Smith got a forfeit win at 126.
The Indians started rolling after that.
First they earned a 53-28 win over Gothenberg.
Carranza won by fall again at 120. Smith got a first-period pin at 126, and Stegman got a technical fall (16-1) at 138. Martinez won by fall at 160, and Wells got a 36-second pin at 220. Getting forfeit wins were Blach at 170, Coyl at 182, Hermosillo at 195 and Ruiz at 285. Yuma lost just two matches on the mat, at 145 (T. Smith) and 152 (Tyler Allen). Yuma forfeited at 106, 113, and 132.
Yuma next rolled 54-24 over Alliance. The Indians trailed 18-0 after the first three matches, including two forfeits, but then J.Smith won by fall at 126, Stegman won by fall at 138, T. Smith by fall at 145, Allen by fall at 152, and Martinez by fall at 160. Getting forfeit wins were Blach at 170, Hermosillo at 182, Wells at 195, and Ruiz at 285.
The Tribe closed out the day with a 42-31 win over McCook.
Carranza got another win by fall at 120, J. Smith a 23-second pin at 126, Stegman a win by fall at 138, T. Smith a pin at 145, Allen a pin at 152, and Hermosillo at 53-second pin at 182. Ruiz got a forfeit win at 285. Yuma gave up three forfeits, and lost three matches on the mat.
