Senior Tyson Martin led Boone Central’s three competitors by placing fifth in the 2008 Nebraska State Wrestling Championships Feb. 14-16 at the Omaha Qwest Center.
Martin posted a 4-2 record to medal at 152 pounds in Class B. Martin’s younger brother – junior Dustin Martin – went 1-2 in the 160-pound weight class and junior Kevin Krohn competed at 119 pounds.
“For the most part, the state meet was good news, bad news,” said Cardinal Coach Dale Bonge. “The good news was that we won the matches we were favored to win. Bad news was we lost those we were favored to lose.
“Our three wrestlers all represented our school and community well with their efforts and behavior over the weekend.”
Boone Central’s opening round of tough draws began with Krohn dropping a 15-0 tech fall to Mukoma Issa of Lexington. Tyson Martin blanked Garrett Leonard of Valentine 6-0 and Dustin Martin was pinned by eventual champion Derek Vogel of Omaha Skutt Catholic in 2:13.
Tyson Martin then faced unbeaten Mark Fiala of Seward in the quarterfinals. Martin kept the match close early and just missed several scoring opportunities before losing a 13-4 decision.
Krohn was eliminated with a hard-fought 6-2 loss to Jerod Ketter of Auburn. Bonge noted that “Kevin really improved this year and his state experience left him hungry to improve even more next year.”
Dustin Martin topped Fairbury’s Steven Boettcher-Davis 15-6 in the first consolation round despite a midmatch scare that saw him on his back following a mistake.Tyson Martin regrouped and scored a 6-0 win over tough Kadderious McCoy of Boys Town, setting up a match with a familiar foe.
“This is known as the heartbreak round because the winner places, the loser does not,” Bonge explained. “Tyson faced a familair opponent in Noah Dorcey of York and was not to be denied, defeating him for the third time this year in a tough 6-2 match and assuring himself a spot on the podium.”
Dustin Martin’s tourney ended with a loss by pin (3:26) to eventual 5th place finisher Christopher Meredith of Nebraska City in the second round of consolation wrestling.
“Dustin was again facing a strong opponent in the defending state runner-up,” noted Bonge. “Dustin’s two losses were to the champion and a former runner-up – good efforts.
“Dustin will be back next year – they will not.”
Tyson Martin had another rematch in the consolation semi-finals Saturday, this time with district champion Jerry Lobeda of Aurora.
“A rematch of the district final and, unfortunately, it went the same way,” Bonge commented. “After a scoreless first period, Tyson got legged, turned and pinned (2:05).”
Martin received a forfeit from Cardenas of Skutt in his final match to win 5th place.
“Tyson has had an outstanding career,” Bonge praised. “His leadership and skills will be missed.
“As a team we finished 29th of 48 in Class B. This year’s team was not the most talented we’ve ever had, but was a very hard-working group that was a pleasure to coach.”
