Greene County was expected to finish fourth among six teams last Saturday at the Class 2A Sectional 8 wrestling tournament in Ida Grove. First year head coach Zach Beekman’s team did that, but did so much more. Instead of sending three wrestlers to the Feb. 9 District in Harlan, which the seeds indicated is what should have happened, nine of the 12 Rams that competed on Saturday either matched or exceeded their seed, and Greene County will be sending five to Harlan.

In terms on seeds, the biggest surprise was senior Bryce Hoyle at 195. Seeded fourth in a five person weight class, he pinned all three opponents and won a Sectional title for the first time. The other Sectional champion for Greene County was senior Clint Dennhardt at 182. Seeded first, he went 2-0 with two falls to win the second Sectional title of his career.

The Rams had three runners-up, who also advance to Harlan. Junior Joel Ward (160) was the fourth seed and entered the day two wins below the .500 mark. He won three of four matches including a thrilling 7-6 comeback win in the wrestleback for second place over an opponent that was 15 matches over .500 at the time. The district appearance will be the first for Ward. Junior Braden Gallagher at 106 was the second seed. He went 1-1 and finished in second place without having a wrestleback match. Senior Brock Wuebker was the top seed at 170. He lost 8-6 in the title bout, then came from behind to win by fall in the second place wrestleback match and advance to his second district tournament.

Junior Matt Naberhaus (285) was the lone third place finisher for the Rams. He went 2-2 and lost by fall in the wrestleback for second place to finish with a 13-21 record. Naberhaus, just a second year wrestler, earned the chance to qualify for the district with an upset fall in the consolation round over an opponent who was 20 matches above the .500 mark.

 

Action in Harlan on Saturday begins at noon.