Mitchell High School did not leave many extra points on the mat in a season-opening dual win over Chamberlain Friday.
The Kernels picked up six points in eight of their nine wins, including six wins by fall, none of which lasted longer than two periods in a 51-24 win over the Cubs.
Spencer Eldeen, Kaileb Hubbard, Brock Sparks, Tucker Vilhauer, Tate Elwein and Wyatt Winter all picked up pins as Mitchell won six of the last seven matches against Chamberlain.
“I was really happy with how we looked,” MHS head coach Andy Everson said. “We went out and got aggressive. We went into Chamberlain and took one from them last year, so I knew they were going to be amped up. I told the guys we had to get after it right away, be aggressive and they rose to the challenge.”
The Cubs scored back-to-back wins on a forfeit at 138 pounds and a pin by Trey Neilan at 145 pounds to tie the match, 18-18. But Tucker Vilhauer came back to pin Garret Ristau in 2 minutes, 27 seconds in the ensuing 152-pound match to start a run of five consecutive wins.
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Tyson Degen captured a forfeit win at 160 pounds, while Tate Elwein took down C.J. Yost in 1 minute, 21 seconds at 170 pounds. Another forfeit win by Seth Foote at 182 put the Kernels in control heading into the 195-pound match.
Mitchell’s Joe Van Overschelde and Chamberlain’s Noah Hutmacher dueled to a 2-2 stalemate for most of the first two periods, but Van Overschelde scored a reversal to take the lead in the third period and then sealed the win with two more back points in a 6-2 decision.
“Something I’ve been preaching since last year is finishing matches and going for bonus points,” Everson said. “If we’re going to be on the podium in the state tournament, that’s something we’re going to have to constantly be doing. … It was really nice to see the kids doing that. They weren’t trying to just win a match and hold on. They were trying to win matches by major decision and fall.”
Chamberlain’s Gunner Ristau ended the run with a pin of Kendell Fick in 3 minutes, 28 seconds and Mitchell’s Wyatt Winter ended the dual with a pin on Canyon Burkard in 2:45 at 285 pounds.
Eldeen earned a pin over Mikyle Weston at 106, while Hubbard had a pin against Chase Hopkins at 120 and Brock Sparks pinned Quinn Long in 3:20 at 132.
Dominic Santiago scored a 5-4 decision over Brandon Sparks at 126 and Devyn Anderson earned a 7-1 decision over Cruz Alhizer at 113 for the Cubs.
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The Kernels return to action in the Watertown Dual Tournament at 10 a.m. Saturday. Chamberlain competes in the O’Neil (Neb.) Tournament on Saturday.
Mitchell 51, Chamberlain 24
Friday in Mitchell
106: Spencer Eldeen (M) over Mikyle Weston (C) (Fall 1:41) 113: Devyn Anderson (C) over Cruz Alhizer (M) (Dec 7-1) 120: Kaileb Hubbard (M) over Chase Hopkins (C) (Fall 2:46) 126: Dominic Santiago (C) over Brandon Sparks (M) (Dec 5-4) 132: Brock Sparks (M) over Quinn Long (C) (Fall 3:20) 138: Gabe Skustad (C) over (M) (For.) 145: Trey Neilan (C) over Riley McGinnis (M) (Fall 1:37) 152: Tucker Vilhauer (M) over Garret Ristau (C) (Fall 2:27) 160: Tyson Degen (M) won by forfeit 170: Tate Elwein (M) over CJ Yost (C) (Fall 1:21) 182: Seth Foote (M) won by forfeit 195: Joe Van Overschelde (M) over Noah Hutmacher (C) (Dec 6-2) 220: Gunner Ristau (C) over Kendall Fick (M) (Fall 3:28) 285: Wyatt Winter (M) over Canyon Burkard (C) (Fall 2:45)
