Five will represent the Milford Eagles at the state wrestling tournament starting Thursday, Feb. 15, in Omaha.
The Eagles wrestled in the C2 district at Boone Central.
“There were highs and lows. I’m happy for the five who made it,” Coach Joe Schluckebier said.
MHS was without junior Hunter Dickinson, who is battling an injury, and Hunter Oborny, who missed all season recovering from knee surgery.
“It didn’t go exactly as planned, but five is a good number,” Schluckebier said. “I’m proud of the effort.”
Sean Stanton was the team’s lone champion, winning the 144-pound bracket with three pins and a tech fall.
“He’s wrestling well right now,” Schluckebier said. “His only loss in Class C is to the No. 1 wrestler.”
Kellen Lovitt earned third for Milford. The 106-pounder was 3-1 with a pin for the day. He defeated Sean Schultz of Raymond Central 9-0 in the medal match.
Quinn Zegers (113), Conner Kohout (138) and Garrett Schoen (285) finished fourth to earn spots at state. Zegers was 2-2 with a pin and lost to Rylan Rasmussen of St. Paul 2-0 in the medal match.
Kohout was 2-2, as well, and lost to Ben Loftis of Oakland-Craig 3-1 in the medal match. Schoen was 3-2 with a dramatic overtime pin of Norfolk Catholic’s Sam Johnson in the consolation semifinals to advance.
Cooper Rea and Jonny Kohout came up one match short of state. At 120, Kohout was 3-2 and wrestled some of his best matches of the season, Schluckebier said.
Rea was one of a handful of returning state qualifiers in the 132-pound bracket. He finished the day 3-2 with three pins and lost to Carson Wood of Boone Central 8-7 in the consolation semifinal.
“He came up on the wrong end of things,” Schluckebier said. “That will be part of his story.”
The Eagles will wrestle in the morning session at state Thursday, Feb. 15. Matches start at 9:30 a.m.
Lovitt (27-10) will wrestle Yovanni Jimenez of Mitchell (32-11). Zegers (30-9) will wrestle Gavin Cheek of Mitchell (41-1). Kohout (39-4) will face Dagberto Gastelum of Madison (31-4). Stanton (40-4) will meet Oliver Schluns of O’Neill (31-16). Schoen (35-11) will battle Wyatt Anderson of Amherst (35-6).
