The season got off to a great start for the Milford wrestlers. The Eagles beat Louisville 66-12 in a dual Dec. 3.
The evening was supposed to be a triangular with Lincoln Lutheran, but because Lancaster County pushed back the start of youth sports to Dec. 7, the Warriors could not compete.
Milford won all eight contested matches by pin.
“So it went pretty quick,” Coach Joe Schluckebier said. “The guys didn’t leave me with much to critique from our opening act.”
MHS headed to Friend for a modified tournament Dec. 5 and brought home the team title for the second straight year.
Milford had 11 wrestlers in the field and was back and forth with Fillmore Central, which had 14 wrestlers, and Yutan.
Ten Eagles placed in the top three, including four champions, and that pushed Milford over the top.
Konner Schluckebier at 126 pounds had a fight on his hands against Alex Schademan of Fillmore Central in the finals and got the win by pin in 2:24.
“Konner realizes he’s going to get everyone’s best shot, being a returning state champion and the finals match was a good example with Schademan coming out strong, but Konner turned it up a notch and got the pin in the second period to secure the championship,” the coach said.
Eli Vondra wrestled Centennial’s Ryan Payne in the132-pound final and got a second-period pin to win the match. Vondra was also voted the meet’s outstanding wrestler.
“I don’t remember the last time Milford has had the outstanding wrestler award, if ever,” Coach Schluckebier said.
“His first match was against the kid ranked No. 1 in class D, but Eli got a good warm-up in with Konner and went out there and took care of business winning 8-1 which set up a match in the finals with Ryan Payne from Centennial who is ranked along with Eli in class C. After a scoreless first period, Eli got a two-point reversal and ended up pinning Payne in the second period.
“Those two matches over ranked opponents are what earned him outstanding wrestler in a field that featured returning state champs at 126 and 145lb weight classes.”
Carter Springer won gold at 160 pounds, pinning all four of his opponents.
Christopher Scdoris also won gold at 170 pounds.
“Christopher has fought injuries in years past, but having him at full strength is a big boost for our team,” Coach Schluckebier said. “He won’t be a secret for long if he keeps wrestling this well.”
Jack Chapman and Thomas Vance finished second, and Conner Kohout, Trent Stauffer, Hunter Oborny and Lorenzo Temple each placed third. Kasen Petsch won sixth.
“Kohout, Oborny and Petsch are freshmen in the lineup and they got some great experience right out of the gate,” Coach Schluckebier said. “They have all wrestled since kindergarten so they know the sport very well, but it’s always different taking that leap to high school and everything that goes into it. Kohout and Oborny lost to very quality opponents and they will close the gap very quickly as they settle into their freshman season.”
The Eagles are scheduled to wrestle in the county triangular Thursday, Dec. 10, in Seward, with matches starting at 6 p.m. On Saturday, Dec. 12, Milford is to wrestle at the Crete Invitational starting at 9 a.m.
