O'Neill Sends Eight To State Wrestling Tournament

david fox rolls his opponent over in district action held last Saturday in Norfolk. Fox was the 152 lb. District Champion. Photo courtesy Jody Fox.

With their second trip to the Norfolk Catholic High School in a weeks time the O'Neill Eagle grapplers ushered in the start of the post season with their participation in the C-2 District Wrestling Tournament held in the Norfolk Catholic Activities Center.  The young Eagle squad competed against wrestlers from 15 other schools in and around Northeast Nebraska for a chance to punch their ticket to the newly renamed Century Link Center in Omaha and the 2012 NSAA State Wrestling Championships.  Only the top four wrestlers in each weight class earn this opportunity.  The Eagles sent a full and healthy line-up into action on Friday and Saturday. These wrestlers who finished in third a week previously to champion Madison and runner-up Battle Creek at the Mid-States Conference tournament got off to a very quick start and never looked back.  The Eagles placed four wrestlers into the championship finals and brought another four through to the consolation finals for a total of eight state qualifiers.  They scored 171.5 team points to finish in second behind Madison's 206 points and ahead of third place Battle Creek's 118.5 points and fourth place West Point-Beemer's 118 points. David Fox who went in as fourth seed had a break out performance wrestling his way through a very tough bracket to district championship honors at 152 lbs.  David avenged a loss from the previous week when he scored a 13-3 victory over Trae Deader of Madison in the finals. Freshman classmate Blake Walters, who came in as the number two seed  joined him at the top of the medal stand, after defeating Colby Wolff of Stanton in his final match of the tournament at 120 lbs.  Jon Marvin and Joe Gillham took home runner-up honors in the 106 lbs. weight class and 113 lbs. weight class respectively; while Spencer Knopp placed third at 182 lbs.  O'Neill had three individuals placing fourth:  Cory Rowse, at 132 lbs; Morgan Sterns, at 195 lbs; and Thomas Schipporeit, at 220 lbs. 

"Our kids really responded well to what we went through last week.  We spent a lot of time talking about how if we wanted to be a good team we needed everyone to contribute.  We couldn't just expect a handful of guys to be our point scorers and expect to have a chance at a district plaque.  I'm really proud of the fact that all of our wrestlers contributed in this result.  I know I've got some guys with some heavy hearts after falling a little short individually but they were huge in pushing us past West Point and Battle Creek.  Our boys won a lot of matches that on paper they weren't suppose to win; they showed a lot of heart.  Overall, I'd say it was a good day to be an Eagle," commented coach Bryan Corkle. 

The Eagles will be in action on Thursday morning at the Century Link Center in Omaha starting at 9:30 a.m.  The tournament concludes with the finals, which begin on Saturday starting at 2 p.m. and air on NET.