Bulldogs
finish seventh
By Jim Headley
editor@geringcitizen.com
MITCHELL - One of the worst things that could have happened did.
In a freak accident, Gering’s 285-pound heavyweight wrestler Tom Heimboch suffered a broken leg while wrestling in the Mitchell Wrestling Tournament on Saturday.
The injury to Heimboch kind of took the wind out of the normally talented Gering Bulldog wrestling team and they ended up finishing the tournament in seventh place, behind teams they have demolished all season like Scottsbluff, Kimball, Torrington, Wyo. and Ogallala.
Gering had four wrestlers place in the tournament.
Gering’s Phillip Martinez captured the title at 145 pounds while Francisco Garcia was second at 130 and Joey Munoz was second at 189. Hayden Martinez was fourth at 215.
“There were quite a few distractions throughout the day,” said Gering’s coach Jimmie Rhodes. “With Tom Heimboch getting hurt, it kind of took the mo-jo out of some of our guys.”
Rhodes said along with breaking his leg, Heimboch also dislocated a bone in his ankle.
“He was one of the young men that we were going to be counting on to make some real noise at districts. It was just a freak deal. It wasn’t like anyone was trying to be overly aggressive or something like that. He just got his foot caught and it snapped,” Rhodes said.
“You go through the season and really start counting on some guys. They bump into some really good competition. We really need to refocus now and get ready for districts.”
Gering will attend district tournament action in Cozad on Feb. 12 and 13.
The Bulldogs will wrestle Torrington, Wyo. Thursday and Sidney on Friday.
Mitchell Invitational Wrestling Tournament
Team Scoring
Mitchell 180, Chadron 129, Scottsbluff 126, Kimball 117.5, Torrington 114.5, Ogallala 103, Gering 102, Sidney 83, Southeast 65, Bridgeport 44, Bayard 42.5, Banner County 40, Hemingford 31, Burns 18, Crawford 8, Morrill 7