Titans send three to state mats
Thayer Central will send three wrestlers to the 2011 NSAA State Wrestling tournament at the Omaha Qwest Center this week including senior Kale Hintz, junior Trevor Hartley and freshman Jacob Kniep.
The three Titans carried Thayer Central to a sixth-place finish during the D-1 district meet Feb. 11-12 at Cross County. Seventeen teams competed.
At 171, fourth-year competitor Kale Hintz collected a championship after pinning Heath Shannon of Franklin in 4:07. Hintz heads to the state meet on a 34-9 record and is scheduled to meet Shane Smith of Sutherland (21-14) in the first round Thursday morning.
Trevor Hartley earned a silver medal during the competition after falling to Scott Schmalken of Malcom in the D-1 189-pound championship bout. The junior was pinned in 3:07 to take the runner-up finish. Hartley heads back to the state meet for his third year on a 32-10 record and is scheduled to face Maxwell senior Nathan Gamble (33-11).
First-year wrestler Jacob Kniep, at 135, finished third in the district tournament after defeating Grant Dawson of Cross County by decision, 17-9, in the consolation match. Kniep carries a 21-22 record as he makes his first trip to the state tournament. He is scheduled to face Sandhills-Thedford senior Nate McFadden (15-7).
“I was very proud of the hard work the kids put in this year,” said Titan coach Brett Larson. They wrestled hard and practiced with good intensity the whole year. What a great bunch of kids to coach and be around for four months.”
Eleven wrestlers participated in the district meet.
I thought that we wrestled well as a team the entire meet,” the coach said. “We worked hard all year and it showed this week end. I am excited to get to this time of the year where it all culminates at the state tournament in Omaha this weekend.”
State competition begins Thursday, Feb. 25 with class D wrestling at 9:30 a.m. Quarterfinals follow.
On Friday, first round consolations will be held at 9:30 a.m., with second round consolations following right away. Semi-finals and third round consolations begin at 5 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 26, marks the consolation semi-finals at 9:30 a.m., with third- and fifth-place matches right afterward. Finals begin at 2:30 p.m., and will be televised on NTV.
