PHILLIPSBURG — Seniors Keegan Urbanek and Micah Galvan won their respective weight brackets as the Ellsworth boys wrestling team competed in the Boys’ Panther Classic Feb. 7. The Bearcats placed five wrestlers in the top four, earning a fourth place team finish in the 16-team field.

Placing fourth or higher in their respective brackets were Galvan and Urbanek and sophomores Bo Kyler, Walter Hulse and Rett Bohl.

Urbanek, wrestling in the 190-lb. weight bracket, not only won his bracket, but also achieved his 100th career win.

Going 3-0 on the day, defeating Cash Roth of Phillipsburg 11-0, Draden Hert of Hoxie 3-0 and Jonathan Rigler of Hays 5-4.

Galvan, who won the 215-lb. bracket, went 4-0 on the day, defeating Bryce Zelenka of Minneapolis 6-1, Jesse Detmer of Phillipsburg 12-4, Grant Middleton of Osborne 5-3 and Jaxson Chartier of Hays 8-5.

Kyler brought home a second-place finish in the 175-lb. bracket by going 3-1 in the tournament.

Following a first round bye, he defeated Dierks Fromholtz of St. Francis 15-0 and Austin Andersen of Chase County 8-7 before losing to Archer Amrein of Hays 3-0.

Bohl and Hulse both placed fourth in their respective brackets, with Bohl going 3-2 in the 132-lb. bracket, while Hulse went 2-2 at 126 lbs.

Bohl started with a first round bye followed by a win over Chason Sauers of Minneapolis 3-0, a loss to Derek Clydesdale of Norton 14-3, a win over Kelton Lacock of Rossville 10-9, then a loss to Aaron Samuelson of Oakley 7-2. Hulse opened the tournament with a 15-2 win over Byron French of Phillipsburg followed by a loss to Weston Green of Norton 5-2. He then won his next match over Camden Luck of Hays 8-2 before falling to Henry Tice of Beloit 11-3.

Wrestlers representing Ellsworth but not placing were seniors Jackson Minear (144-lbs., 2-2) and Hadley West (157lbs., 2-2), junior Ismael De La Cruz (113, lbs., 3-2) and freshmen Carson Tyrell (106 lbs., 1-2) and Octavio Rodriguez (120 lbs., 0-2).

“It’s nice getting to 100 wins, but now I am really looking forward to regionals and state and competing,” Urbanek said.

The team travels to Southeast of Saline Feb.

21 to compete in the KSHSAA Class 3A-1A Regional Tournament starting at 10 a.m.

Qualifiers will then compete at the State Championship Tournament Feb. 27-28 at Fort Hays State University.

“It’s nice getting to 100 wins, but now I am really looking forward to regionals and state and competing.”

Keegan Urbanek Senior Wrestler