BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
When Garden City wrestling coach Carlos Prieto gambled moving Alan Chairez to face Great Bend's 195-pounder Keyven Schroeder in a showdown, the winner would boost their team to a dual victory Tuesday.
Schroeder came through with flying colors with a pin over Chairez (1:43) to secure a thrilling 39-38 Western Athletic Conference dual victory. The Panthers finished runner-up behind WAC champion Dodge City.
"Keyven came up big for a freshman wrestler. I knew he had to pin for us to get the win. He got the job done. They bumped up their 182-pounder, thinking they could get a win, or not get pinned by our 195 pounds," said Great Bend coach Nathan Broeckelman. "It didn't work out for them. It was the key match."
Five other Great Bend wrestlers had to earn pins for the one-point victory. Great Bend's No. 2 Kaden Spragis (106), No. 6 Avery Wolf (113), John Szot (120), Austin Moore (132) and Gage Reimer (170) all earned wins on pins to overcome 12 bonus points for the Buffaloes, which pleased Broeckelman.
It was high level wrestling for the multi 6A state champion Garden City and 5A Great Bend. Every mistake turned into a pinning combination by the high quality wrestlers.
"That was exciting," Broeckelman said. "We had no margin for error giving up three opens."
Garden City's No. 3 6A Erick Dominguez downed No. 3 5A Wyatt Weber 13-5 in the night's premier match at 138 pounds. Both wrestlers showed off their strength and flexibility before Dominguez eventually wore down Weber late in the match.
"That was a swing match, a good match," Broeckelman said.
Garden City's No. 1 Josh Janas (160), No. 2 Ryan Heiman (126) and No. 3 Sebastian Lopez (285) pinned their foes and No. Steven Sellers (145) and No. 6 Colin Kleysteuber (152) picked up forfeit wins.
PANTHER GIRLS 48, GARDEN CITY 24— No. 1 ranked 5A Breanna Ridgeway pinned No. 6 6A Belle Hernandez (2:58) in the night's matchup between state-ranked wrestlers. Ridgeway was too powerful for Hernandez, who battled into the second period.
Also earning pins for Great Bend were No. 1 Breckyn Elliott (101), Ashlyn Weber (115), No. 4 Lexi Deines (138), Sierra Ferguson (143) and Alyssa Hinderliter (191).
"We bumped girls around to make sure we had a full lineup tonight," Broeckelman said. "We didn't do that against Pratt and it cost us the match. That was a key for us winning the dual match."
GREAT BEND 39, GARDEN CITY 38
106—No. 2 Kaden Spragis, GB pinned Julius Medina GC, 0:53; 113—No. 6 Avery Wolf, GB pinned Angel Bustos Bravo, GC, 1:26 120—John Szot, GB def. Dakota Smith, GC, 9-4; 126—No. 2 Ryan Heiman, GC def. Robby Gutierrez, GB, 11-2; 132—Austin Moore, GB pinned Chris Brahmbhatt, GC, 2:39; 138—No. 3 Erick Dominguez, GC def. No. 3 Wyatt Weber GB, 13-5; 145—No. 5 Steven Sellers, GC, forfeit; 152—No. 6 Colin Kleysteuber, GC, forfeit; 160—No. 1 Josh Janas, GC pinned Matthew Johnson, GB, 0:51; 170—Gage Reimer, GB pinned Ben Dunlap, GC, 3:54; 182—Scott Heilman GB, forfeit; 195—Keyven Schroeder GB pinned Alan Chairez, GC, 1:43; 220—Isaiah Barrett, GC, forfeit 285—No. 3 Sebastian Lopez, GC pinned Blake Davis, GB, 0:58
GREAT BEND 48, GARDEN CITY 24
101—No. 1 Breckyn Elliott, GB pinned Naiema Salazar, GC, 2:22; 109—Anahi Cervantes, GC pinned Caitlyn White, GB, 4:53; 115—Ashlyn Weber, GB pinned Kamryn Foster, GC, 0:35; 120—No. 6 Daizy Gomez, GB, forfeit; 126—No. 1 Breanna Ridgeway, GB pinned No. 6 Belle Hernandez, GC, 2:58; 132—Anjelina Serrano, GC pinned Katie Kuhlman, GB, 3:41; 138—No. 4 Lexi Deines, GB pinned Bethanie Cruz, GC, 5:12; 143—Sierra Ferguson, GB pinned Karime Guzman, GC, 1:01; 155—Alondra Guzman, GC pinned Taylour Yoder, GB, 0:21; 170—Kallista Rhoades, GC pinned Adleigh Humberg, GB, 1:35; 191—Alyssa Hinderliter, GB pinned Lilly Moore, GC, 3:47; 235—Dakota Baldwin, GB, forfeit
GCJV 12, GBJV 10
113—Emanuel Prieto, GB pinned Ivan Rivas, GC, 0:58; 113—Prieto, GB def. Gael Terrazas, GC, 15-3; 120—Sam Perez, GC pinned Jonathan Lira, GB, 1:06; 160—Alonso Marquez, GC pinned Xavier Ehster, GB, 1:53
