Boone Central wrestling mentor Dale Bonge was pleased with his charges last week, saying the team gave its best performances of the 2008-09 season in the Aurora Quad and High Plains Invitational.
The Cardinals placed second in the quadrangular at Aurora with three BC wrestlers claiming first place in their respective weight classes. Boone Central had one individual champion, one runner-up and seven overall medalists in the tough High Plains meet this past weekend.
Showing no rust from the holiday break, the Boone Central wrestling team placed second in the Aurora Quad Tuesday, Jan. 6, with its best effort of the season.
“This was the most competitively we had wrestled all year,” commented Boone Central Coach Dale Bonge. “Despite being open in five weight classes, we still managed to squeek out a team runner-up finish. It was a good way to start after the long holiday layoff.
“Whether they won or lost, the varsity and JV guys showed improvement over our last outings in both technique and tenacity.”
Three Cardinals – Kevin Krohn, Kaleb Carey and Dustin Martin – went 2-0 in the meet to win their weight classes. Jacob Meyer, Drew Bonge and Jerad McLean were runners-up with 1-1 efforts and Tyler Iverson and Keir Dane Harner placed third while also going 1-1.
Aurora won the quad with a team score of 180. Boone Central was second with 103.5, followed by Cozad (100.5) and Omaha South (40).
The High Plains Invitational at Clarks is annually one of the area’s largest and toughest wrestling tournaments.
The Boone Central Cardinals continued a trend of improvement in the two-day meet with a performance that included one weight class champion, one runner-up and seven medalists overall.
Senior Keir Dane Harner scored a gold medal victory at 189 pounds and senior Dustin Martin placed second in the 171-pound division. Seniors Tyler Iverson, Kevin Krohn and Jacob Anson, junior Jerad McLean and freshman Jacob Meyer also won medals in the event.
Boone Central placed seventh in the 16-team field with 114 points. Mid-State Conference rival Madison won the team title with a 218.5 score.
“We picked up right where we left off from our best showing of the season in Tuesday’s Aurora quad and improved even on that as a team,” praised Cardinal Coach Dale Bonge. “Not that everyone did everything better every time, but as a group, we continued to show improvement in technique, conditioning and mat savvy.
“All ten of our wrestlers contributed to the team score. Nine survived to the second day of competition and seven placed.
“We ended up in the top half of the team standings in seventh place,” Bonge noted. “Teams we finished in front of included two rated in the state’s top ten and another that had beaten us in a previous competition.
“We had four wrestlers not seeded in the top six of their weight classes, including three who were not seeded at all, earn medals, which is a testament to their improvement, tenacity and the difficulty of our schedule.”
Certainly the highlight of the meet was Harner’s 189-pound championship. The Card senior, seeded fifth, won three close, exciting matches to earn the gold.
“Keir Dane was the biggest surprise champion of the tournament – all the other champs were seeded in the top three,” said Bonge. “It was no easy task, as Keir Dane had to get through the #5 rated wrestler in Class D and #3 in Class C just to get to the finals.
“He did so with a one-point win and an overtime win, then capped his day with another one-point win in the championship.”
Complete Details in Print Edition of Albion News.
