There’s first time for everything, as the saying goes, and that came true for Milford wrestling Jan. 30.
For the first time, the Eagles brought home the Southern Nebraska Conference tournament title, edging defending champion David City by two points.
“Winning conference was a big goal of ours,” Coach Joe Schluckebier said. “I take a lot of pride in finishing atop our outstanding wrestling conference which featured four top 10 teams and 36 individually ranked wrestlers including three of the six returning state champs in Class C from last year.”
Eleven of Milford’s 13 wrestlers finished in the top four of their weights, including champions Eli Vondra and Hunter Oborny.
Coach Joe Schluckebier said the team put itself in good position with a 26-point lead and the chance for seven champions. The finals did not go as planned, the coach said, as the Eagles “had to hang on despite winning just 4 of 11 matches in the medal rounds.
“I felt like we left a lot of points on the table but were still able to pull off our first conference wrestling championship in school history and bring our total to six tournament wins on the year.”
The team title was in doubt most of the day, with Milford and David City trading the top spot.
Pins by Thomas Vance in his third-place match and Oborny in the championship match gave Milford its final total.
“It came down to David City’s No. 1 ranked heavyweight needing a pin in the final match of the day for them to win, and he was held to a regular decision,” Schluckebier said.
In addition to Vondra and Oborny in the finals, Milford had silver-medal performances from Konner Schluckebier, Jack Chapman, Carter Springer, Christopher Scdoris and Lorenzo Temple. Vance and Isaac Voboril placed third, and Conner Kohout and Trent Stauffer earned fourth.
The Eagles now head to subdistricts Friday, Feb. 5, at David City Aquinas. The top four in each weight class advance to the district tournament the following weekend.
