The Harvard/Giltner Boys Wrestlers traveled to the High Plains Invitational in Columbus Jan 10-11, earning 13 team points overall.
Leading the H/G wrestlers were Kyle Knueven and Pedro Perez, who earned six and five points, respectively.
Knueven’s day in the 165-pound class started with two losses, the first against Alex Braniff of Tekamah-Herman in 1:40, and then against Conner Neuhalfen of Battle Creek, who won over Knueven in 3:30.
Then, the H/G wrestler buckled down to win his next three matches.
In round three, Knueven pinned Kalvin Thies of Elkhorn Valley in 1:29; won in a 26-22 decision over Isiah Onnen of Kearney Catholic; and rounded out the trio of wins over Aden Feezell of Cross County/Osceola, pinning him in 3:45.
In the consolation rounds, Knueven fell to Nathan Werner of Elkhorn Valley in 2:01, and then was pinned in 1:53 by Cesar Valencia of Bellevue West.
Knueven finished his day in a 15th-place rematch with Feezell, pinning him again, this time in 1:57.
Wrestling in the 106-pound class, Perez also started with two losses, coming from Cayden Engel of Lincoln East who won by tech fall in 1:28, and then lost by tech fall to Andy Mateo of Schuyler in 3:03.
Perez’s first win of the day came from a 1:52 pin of Karston Dotson-Monroe of Cross County/Osceola. He then won against Gabe Schulz of Archbishop Bergan, pinning him in 1:32.
In his final two rounds of the day, Perez took on Carter Lawrence of Kearney Catholic, who pinned Perez in 52 seconds.
Perez was then pitted against Payton Woodring of Gering for the 11th-place spot, but fell in 1:28 to Woodring, placing him 12th overall.
Also earning team points was Alexander Perera-Knuovsky (175), who placed 16th overall and earned two team points.
Perera-Knuovsky fell in 58 seconds to Brooks Loosvelt of York in his first round, and then to Colton Jarecki of Columbus, who pinned Perera- Knuovsky in 2:41.
His first win was a 1:52 pin over Derek Georges of Cross County/Osceola, with his second win coming as a bye.
Perera-Knuovsky had four more losses, coming from Parker Dishman of Centennial, who won by fall over the H/G wrestler in 2:17; Paxton Burke of Cross County/Osceola won by tech fall over Perera-Knuovsky in 2:11; Jackson Gerdes of Sandy Creek earned a 1:52 win; and Luke Blasey of Bellevue West pinned Perera-Knuovsky in 31 seconds.
Wrestling but not earning team points were Bextyn Kobza in the 138-pound class and Bladyen Porter in the 157-pound ring.
Kobza went 2-4 on the day by way of byes, dropping to Alex Jacinto of Columbus in 50 seconds; Colt Eimermann of York in 1:31; Cash Watson of Broken Bow who won by tech fall in 1:58; and John Martinez of Schuyler in 3:20.
Porter also received two bye wins and dropped to Ryan Hawkins of West Holt in 1:06; Jesse Gae of Bellevue West in 45 seconds; Josh Mace of Archbishop Bergan who won by tech fall in 1:29; and Carter Renteria of Columbus in 55 seconds.
BOYS TEAM SCORES- Lincoln East 265.5, Columbus 281.5, York 210, Battle Creek 193, Syracuse 126.5, Pierce 125, David City 120.5, Bellevue West 105, Tekamah-Herman 105, Gering 103, Broken Bow 95, Kearney Catholic 90.5, Valentine 85, Elkhorn Valley 73, Boone Central 72, Wahoo 58.5, Schuyler 57, High Plains Community 51.5, West Holt 43, Sandy Creek 42, Archbishop Bergan 40.5, Lincoln Northeast 40, Cross County/Osceola 30.5, Centennial 23, Lincoln Lutheran 16, Harvard/Giltner 13, Oakland-Craig 13.
