Walters Brings Home Silver For The Eagles

Blake Walters prepares to roll Steve Bader of Centennial in the first round of the state tournament. Photo courtesy Jodi Fox.

The O'Neill varsity wrestling mats are now silent and the eight wrestlers have returned, and one with a silver medal.

The O'Neill wrestlers gave it their all at the state competition, and freshman Blake Walters came away with a second place.

On Thursday Jon Marvin opened up for the Eagles taking on Mitchell Palmer of Loomis Bertrand. Marvin pinned Palmer in 2:42, next for Marvin was Doyle Trout of Centennial. Marvin fell to Doyle in decision 16-2. Next opponent was Dakota York of Creighton/Verdigre who Jon beat 8-4. The final match for Jon Marvin was  Damon Rodriguez of Kearney Catholic who took Marvin in decision 4-2 ending Marvin's competition.

At the 113 lb. class, Joseph Gillham took down Dex Jensen of Fort Calhaun with a pin in 4:35. Gillham got taken in the next match being pinned in 4:43 against Bart Miller of Valentine. Gillham then moved down the bracket to face Justin Miller of Sergent/Burwell, who ended Gillham's season on a 3-1 decision.

At the 120 lb. class, Blake Walters took on Steven Bader of Centennial and came out 9-0 in major decision, then placing him against Mitch Kliegl of Conestoga. Walter won that match 3-2 in decision. In the quarter finals ,Walters faced Evan Gideon  of Sargent/Burwell beating him Dec 8-2 moving Blake to parade of champions and the finals on Saturday afternoon. In the championship match, Blake faced Adam Koenig of Kearney Catholic losing in major decision 11-2.

In the 132 lb division, Cory Rowse of O'Neill took out Aksel Wiseman of Hershey squeaking by 10-9. In his second match Rowse fell to Frank Manning of Conestoga barely losing 7-6 in decision. Rowse then moved down the bracket to face Isaac Bergquist of Southern Valley winning over him 9-8 in decision. Rowse faced Dylan Field of Norfolk Catholic for his final match losing in decision 7-4.

David Fox the 152 lb class, representative for O'Neill downed Michael Virka of North Bend Central in major decision 14-16. Fox then faced Bryce Wiedeman  of  Mitchell and lost getting pinned 1:01. Fox then moved down to face Dennis George of Bishop Neman in the second consolation winning 5-3 and then facing Tanner Clark of Ainsworth. Clark defeated Fox with a pin in 4:14.

Spencer Knopp was the O'Neill challenger at 182 lbs and his first match was against Jeremiah Starostka of Grand Island Central Catholic losing 10-3. Knopp then went down the bracket and faced Nick Maschman of Wilber/Clatonia. Knopp won this match in decision 5-0. Knopp's final match was against Cory Assarson of Valentine who pinned him in 2:45.

In the 195 lbs class, Morgan Sterns of O'Neill drew Trent Osnes of Valentine. Osnes pinned Sterns in 3:20 in the first match sending Sterns to face Jackson Suminski of Hastings St. Ceclia, who pinned Sterns in 31 seconds.

Thomas Schipporeit, O'Neill's last wrestler came in at the 220 lb weight class and faced Chase Ehlers of South Central Nebraska Unified District losing by pin in 2:19. Schipporeit's second opponent was Pat Cleary of Liousville losing being pinned in 4:20.

Lady Cardinals Win Class D-1 Subdistrict Titles

Brooke Bauer wrestles with Brooke Reiman for the ball in subdistrict action last Thursday in Neligh.

With big wins over Niobrara Valley Conference teams in subdistrict action, against CWC and West Boyd. St. Mary's will face Randolph on Friday, Feb. 24 for a chance to play in Lincoln. This literally will be a big red game as both schools sport the color red and are Lady Cardinals. 

St. Mary's played CWC in first round action last week and came out on top 41-28. This was the third meeting for these two basketball teams and every one of them was well played by both. Leading SMH in rebounds were Jessi Pongratz and Brooke Bauer with six each. Brooke also popped in 15 points while Megan Schneider knocked in eight points to lead the team in scoring. Bridget Schneider handed out eight assists and stole the ball six times. Both teams struggled from the charity stripe and both teams had a total of 25 rebounds each. 

In a rematch with West Boyd Lady Spartans, SMH was able to get the win by a score of 61-42. West Boyd defeated SMH just nine days ago in Spencer.  This was an unbelievable game as both teams played to keep their seasons going. St. Mary's Lady Cardinals put together their best game ever, as they recorded win number 20 in one season. The entire team stepped up and made this happen. With a great fan base cheering them on to victory in the Dl-6 subdistrict. 

Brooke Bauer was on fire as she torched the nets for 23 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Mackenzie Wecker led in assists with six and Jessi Simons recorded three steals. Justine Blumenstock and Jessi Pongratz had a big night rebounding and scoring with six each. Three Lady Cards dished out four assists each, Megan Schneider, Bridget Schneider and Jessi Simons. Emily Everitt knocked down five points and played a very good defensive game. This was a total team effort as every player for SMH had a hand in the win. 

Randolph Lady Cardinals defeated state rated Osmond in the D 1-5 subdistric game. 

"With a very highflying game anticipated in Battle Creeks Gym on Friday night and a chance for the big dance in Lincoln, you might want to get there early and grab a good seat. Feathers will fly and the nets will snap. Boards will ring and the ball will bounce as both teams play to see who will wear the Dl-3 district crown," said assistant coach Terry Viterna.

St. Mary's Cardinals Finish 16-0 On Regular Season

Connor Connot dribbles into a Elgin/Elgin Pope John player in last Friday nights season finale at home.

The St. Mary's boys varsity finished the 2011-2012 regular season Friday night with a 65-43 victory over the Elgin Public/Pope John Wolf Pack. 

On Friday, the Cardinals jumped to a 16-5 first quarter lead and never allowed the game to get any closer than nine points. Senior, Tait Sibbel, led the St. Mary's offense with 21 points while sophomore Adam Moon and junior Ty Eiler contributed 14 and 12 tallies respectively. Senior Tom Chvala led the rebounding with 12 boards while Adam Moon added seven caroms. Eiler led the ball handling with eight assists and Moon handed out six. On the defense, Eiler led with five steals while Sibbel added four steals and four blocked shots. The only downer in a very rugged game was the Cardinals 51% free throw shooting (22-43).

The St. Mary's junior varsity finished the season on Friday with a 16-0 record. Also along the way the freshmen/sophomores were 1-1, the C Team 1-1 and the freshmen 1-6.