BRANDON -- The Mitchell High School wrestling team got several big wins from first-time varsity competitors, as well as veteran varsity wrestlers, en route to a 54-19 Eastern South Dakota Conference win over Brandon Valley Friday night in Brandon.
The Kernels went down by nine points right away after Lakin Neugebauer was pinned and Skyler Neugebauer lost a 4-2 decision, but Jusco Lopez, in his first varsity action for MHS this season, won a 16-0 technical fall against Mason Bender for five quick points for the Kernels.
"We put Jusco on the mat for the first time as a seventh grader, and he went out and got physical," Mitchell coach Travis Carpenter said. "The match probably took 25 or 30 minutes because of blood timeouts and everything else, but he composed himself. To get a tech fall he had to wrestle through the whole thing."
Nick Kumer pinned his opponent at 125 to give the Kernels an 11-9 lead. The pin was the first of seven on the night for the Kernels.
After Jason Greenway pinned Jeremy Gardner in 56 seconds at 130 pounds for MHS, Steven Skinner, who is filling in for Justin Greenway, recorded his first win of the season for Mitchell. He pinned Nate Monger in 4:31 at 135 pounds.
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"He's filling in for Justin Greenway, and he's doing a great job," Carpenter said. "I can't say enough about his effort."
Brent Havlik, Jordan Reiner, Kyle Larson and Wes McPherson all recorded pins for Mitchell, which is 10-3 in dual meets on the year, Ryan Buck won a major decision and Austin Havlik beat his opponent by a 9-5 decision to give the Kernels their final margin of victory.
"It was great to see," Carpenter said of his team's seven pins. "The normal guys did what we asked them to do, and I'm happy with how they wrestled."
Mitchell will see its next action Friday when it travels to Pierre for another ESD dual before heading right back home to Mitchell for the Jerry Opbroek Invitational, which is Jan. 17. Carpenter said he's pleased with where his team is at as the state tournament draws closer, but Friday's match against Pierre will go a long way in deciding seeding points for the regional meet.
"As of right now, for what we've done so far I'm pleased, but starting next week when we go to Pierre, we're really going to find out where we're at," he said. "Starting right now, we're trying to start setting up for region seeding. Pierre's in our region, and we see them Friday, so that's a big match."
Mitchell 54, Brandon Valley 19
103: Morgan Engbrecht (BV) maj. dec. Lakin Neugebauer, 11-1; 112: Noah Halma (BV) dec. Skyler Neubebauer, 4-2; 119: Jusco Lopez (M) tech. fall Mason Bender, 16-0; 125: Nick Kumer (M) pinned Ryan Angerhofer, 1:27; 130: Jason Greenway (M) pinned Jeremy Gardner, :56; 135: Steven Skinner (M) pinned Nate Monger, 4:31; 140: Ryan Buck (M) maj. dec. James Burkman, 12-0; 145: Brent Havlik (M) pinned Danny Larson, 3:59; 152: Austin Havlik (M) dec. Christian Ode, 9-5; 160: Casey Uecker (BV) pinned Logan Smith, 2:46; 171: Jordan Reiner (M) pinned Garret Bratland, 1:08; 189: Sam Seydel (BV) pinned Cole Johnson, 1:24; 215: Kyle Larson (M) pinned Victor Frazer, 1:26; HWT: Wes McPherson (M) pinned Mike Vigants, 3:15.
