It is duals week for the Yuma High School boys wrestling team.
The Outlaws are at Wiggins for a dual today, January 23, and go to Akron on Friday for a dual, then have the weekend off with no tournaments.
“The guys continue to work hard and get better and that is all we can do,” coach Presley Papachek said. “We have four duals and one tournament before regionals so good to be off this weekend.”
The wrestlers went to Imperial, Nebraska, last Saturday for the Chase County Boys Invitational. They finished fifth in the 25-team field with 92.5 points. Sedgwick County/Fleming won the team title, while Chase County was second, Burlington third, McCook, NE, fourth and Sidney, NE, fifth.
Agui Montes de Oca reached the final at 120 pounds, finishing second. He won his first match by technical fall, then pulled out a pair of close decisions in the quarterfinals and semifinals, 5-4 and 5-3, but then was pinned in the first-place match.
Esteban Gonzalez placed third at 113 pounds. He won his first two matches by technical fall, then suffered a 9-3 decision in the semifinals. However, he came back with a pin in the consolation semifinals, then won by technical fall (20-2) over Holyoke’s Traysen Rosane in the third-place match.
Daden Beauprez went 3-2 while placing fourth at 165 pounds. He won his first two matches to reach the semifinals. He won his consolation semifinal, but then dropped the third-place match.
David Gaytan lost his first match at 126, but ended up going 3-2 on the day to place fifth at 126 pounds.
Bryan Montes went 2-2 at 190, Cooper Blach one win at 106, Ethan Nadow one at 138, Dallas Brunk one at 144, and James Brandner one at 175. Tyson Hansen wrestled at 190, and Thomas Deal competed in the 132 JV bracket, placing third.
“Chase County went really well had a handful of placers,” Papachek said. “We placed…four spots higher than last year and scored about 40 more points as a team.”
The Outlaws also went to Burlington last Friday for a dual, losing the team score 54-16. Papachek said Burlington is one of the top teams in the state, but the Outlaws were very competitive in a lot of the matches.