Cubs win Section 5A Title

For the second year in a row the Cubs won the Section 5A championship. The Cubs dominated B-B-E in the semi-finals with a 59-6 win with six pins and a forfeit. The guys winning by a fall include Mitchell McKee (106), Quinten Berres (113), Brady Mehr (126), Quentin Bryce (152), Jordan Joseph (160),and Austyn Schlueter (285), Alex Thurber picked up a forfeit at 220. Marcus Hamer (132) picked up the Cubs lone major decision on the night, and Tanner Mills (120), Caramon Hansen (145), and Travis Wills all won by a decision. Travis Wills had a huge upset against seventh-ranked Dillon Knutson to help his individual seeding next week in the Individual tournament.

In the finals, the Cubs faced rival Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City for the second year in the finals. The tension in the gym was high and the fans from Kimball were great. ACGC’s crowd went crazy when they won the flip as they thought it would help them in the dual. The noise from their crowd was quickly shut down as the Cubs’ fans showed their support for the Kimball Wrestling Team. By the end of the night there were a lot of voices lost, but still enough to celebrate the big win for the Cubs.

Mitchell McKee (106) started off for the Cubs with a huge pin over ninth-ranked Robert Rasmussen in 1:40. Quinten Berres (113) kept things rolling for the Cubs with a 7-2 decision win over fourth ranked Tyler Berghuis. Tanner Mills (120) gave the Cubs a

13-0 lead with a major decision over Derek Dengerud. Marcus Hamer (132) added three more points for the Cubs with a decision win 5-4 over fifth-ranked Logan Peterson. With the score tied at 16-16 and the ACGC crowd getting into the match, senior captain Quentin Bryce (152) silenced them with a fall in 3:42 over Lee Whitcomb, this also ended any team scoring from ACGC the rest of the night as the Cubs would win out on them. Jordan Joseph (160) won by a 4-1 decision over Matthew Whitcomb, Travis Schiefelbein (170) won by a major decision over Jordan Nelson 11-3. Travis Wills (182) kept a great night going as he defeated second-ranked James Nelson 3-1 in triple over-time. Austin Schiefelbein (195) locked the victory up for the Cubs with a

6-2 decision over Colin Kragenbring. Tim Konz (220) showed his power, picking up a fall in

2:14 over Jordan Fester. Alex Thurber capped off the night with an upset over fourth-ranked Lucas Damm.

The victory put the Cubs into the State tournament with a

32-0 overall record. The State tournament will seed the top four teams Tuesday. This week, the Cubs will travel to Howard Lake to the Middle School to see how many individuals we can send to the big show!

Section Champions:

1A-Zumbrota Mazeppa

2A-Jackson County Central

3A-Minneota

4A-Lake Crystal Welcome Memorial

5A-Kimball

6A-Barnesville

7A-Pierz

8A-Greenbush Badger Middle River

The guys have put together an exciting season, but have not met all of their goals yet. Please come and support them as they will wrestle the Team portion of State on Thursday, March 1, at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Friday and Saturday will be the Individual portion of the State Tournament and tickets for the State Tournament will be on sale at the school from 7:30-9 a.m. and

3-4 p.m. Feb. 23-28 at the high school office; daily pass is

$26 adults, $17 students; single session is $14 adults, $9 students.

NOTE: Section 5A Champ T-shirts will be for sale at the KAHS office (same hours as ticket sales).

A team send-off is scheduled for 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 29, at Wirth Gym. A “welcome home” will be celebrated at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 4, in the KAHS cafetorium.

Thursday, March 1: 9 a.m. Kimball wrestles Barnesville; 11 a.m. Team consolation semifinals (class A); 1 p.m. Team champion-

ship; 5 p.m., Team consolation final, and Team third place; 7 p.m., Team championship.

Friday, March 2: 11 a.m., Individual first round; 6 p.m., Individual championship quarterfinals.

Saturday, March 3: 11:15 a.m., Individual championship semi-

finals; 1:15 p.m., Individual consolation semifinals; 5 p.m., Indivi-

dual 3rd and 5th place; 7:30 p.m., Individual championship.

Go CUBS!

Watch for a special tribute to the 2011-12 KAHS Wrestling Team in next week’s Tri-County News.