Hanley gets elusive 100th win Senior John Hanley and junior Derek Orbeck both earned a berth into the State Wrestling Tournament held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul Feb. 28-March 3. John took home second place honors at the 171-pound weight class. In his first match, he pinned his opponent in the third period. In the semi-finals, John won by a score of 8-4, advancing him to the finals. This semi-final win was also a memorable one, as it was John’s 100th career varsity win. Derek also took home second place in the 130-pound weight class. In the first round, Derek pinned his opponent in the first period. The second round proved to be a very exciting one as Derek (a #3 seed) beat the #2-seeded wrestler (the two wrestlers have met three times before this, and Derek won one of those), Derek got him down early and recorded the first period pin. This put Derek into the finals, and even though he lost by a score of 15-7, it was against the defending state champ from Trinity. Four other Cub wrestlers placed in the sections. Seventh-grader Travis Schiefelbein placed sixth, picking up two wins – both by a pin. At 160, sophomore Luke Schiefelbein took home a fourth-place medal and picked up two wins. At 215, junior Mitch Fischer placed sixth, after coming from behind to pin his first opponent. After, in the semi-finals, Mitch rolled his ankle and had to default the rest of the way. Heavyweight Anthony Laabs stepped up to the challenge and went up two weight classes to take home fifth place. Anthony pinned his final opponent in the third period. Two wrestlers will represent Kimball in the State Tournament. The Class A first round will start on Thursday, March 1, at 2 p.m. in the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Come out and support our Cubs. A special thanks goes out to all the people who made the Section 5A individual tournament a success.
