Eagles second at David City Invite

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Another strong showing for the Milford wrestlers means another plaque for the trophy case.

The Eagles competed at the David City Invitational Jan. 22 in the smaller-schools division. David City divided its tournament into two to meet the 8-team maximum Covid requirements.

“We knew we could give David City a run for the tournament title, but we were without the services of No. 3 ranked Carter Springer at 152pounds due to a recent injury,  so we had to be flawless,” Coach Joe Schluckebier said.

The two teams were back and forth all day, he said, but in the end David City was just a little stronger, winning by 22.5 points.

“We had a couple matches where we under-performed as individuals, and you just can’t have those if you want to beat the returning state champs,” Schluckebier said.

The Eagles did bring home three gold medals, thanks to Konner Schluckebier at 126 pounds, Eli Vondra at 132 and Hunter Oborny at 195.

Schluckebier was 5-0 with five pins and had just one match go longer than the first period.

Vondra was 4-0 but needed overtime to beat Ryan Payne of Centennial in the final.

“Eli had an impressive day beating the No. 4 and No. 8 ranked kids and avenging one of his two season losses by beating (Josh) Spatz from David City,” Coach Schluckebier said.

Oborny was 5-0 on the day with five pins and just one match longer than one period.

“That says a lot about how good Hunter Oborny is when the freshman 195-pounder can walk into the David City Invite and not be challenged all day,” Coach Schluckebier said.

Another highlight for the Eagles was Jack Chapman winning his 100th career match.

“Always impressive when a junior does it,” the coach said.

The Eagles are next in action Saturday, Jan. 30 at the Southern Nebraska Conference tournament in Wilber.

The coach was looking forward to battling David City again, this time with Springer in the lineup.