Although the Boone Central/Newman Grove Cardinals were unable to challenge for the Mid-State Conference team wrestling title Saturday at Norfolk Catholic High School, they fell in right behind the powerful duo of Battle Creek and O’Neill for a solid third-place league tournament finish.
Bolstered by 285-pound champion Isaac Sullivan and weight class runners-up Trey Schafer (152) and Jacob Krings (220), BC/NG scored 126 points – 15.5 in front of the Wayne Blue Devils. Battle Creek claimed the team championship with 223 points, with O’Neill (190) taking second place.
Coach Dale Bonge said, as usual, the tournament included good and not-so-good moments for the Cardinals.
“Going into the meet, Battle Creek was the odds-on favorite, followed by O’Neill and us. While third is a respectable finish, we let a few matches get away and, as a result, made the distance between us the the top teams a bit larger,” Bonge noted. “Losing Andy (King) and Joel (Meyer) for medical reasons early in the meet did not help, either.
“On the bright side, we turned the tables in a few matches, where we were losing, to score pins. On the down side, that also happened to us a few times.”
Boone Central/Newman Grove finished the conference tournament with seven medalists. Joining Sullivan, Schafer and Krings on the medal stand were Steven Arreguin (3rd, 132), Levi Krueger (3rd, 170), Nolan Wondercheck (4th, 126) and Tyson Haddix (4th, 106).
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