A total of nine individual medalists, including four individual championship runs, helped guide the Sutton wrestling team to the 2025 Giltner/Harvard team title on Saturday, Dec. 6.
Sutton outscored second-place Red Cloud/Blue Hill 155-139.5 in the final standings, while Republic County, KS finished third with 117.5 team points.
Korey Poppe and Landon Scheidemann, along with Connor Hinrichs all went unbeaten and tallied 14 team points each. Aaron Sanchez went 4-1 and also scored 14 points to guide Sutton to the team title as individual champions in Harvard.
CHAMPIONS
In the 132-pound class, Poppe pinned his way to the gold medal, opening with a 27-second pin over William Rasser of Red Cloud/Blue Hill, then claiming a 4:47 pinfall win over Levi Rutten of Riverside.
In round three, Poppe pinned Isaac Kiehl of Hastings St. Cecilia in 1:05 before claiming a 1:10 pinfall win over Ryder Zimmerman of Red Cloud/Blue Hill.
In the title bout with Riverside’s Hunter Rutten, Poppe claimed a 3:18 pinfall win to start his season unbeaten.
Scheidemann’s day opened with a 29-second -infall win, followed by a tough 18-15 win over Owen Spray of Sandy Creek.
In round three, the Mustang senior pinned Kylan Wonder of Kenesaw in just 56 seconds, while in round four, Scheidemann gained a 4:28 technical fall win over Om Patel of Republic County.
In the championship match-up, Scheidemann made quick work of Grady Zeckser of St. Cecilia, pinning Zeckser in 1:03 for the gold medal.
Like Poppe, Hinrichs pinned his way to the 150-pound title, opening with a 2:47 pin over Matthew Collette of Republic County, then a 1:11 technical pinfall win over Jonathan Carpender of St. Cecilia.
In the next two rounds, Hinrichs pinned Hunter Renner of Riverside in 1:01, before gaining a three-minute pin over Micaiah Wheeler of Nebraska Christian.
In the finals, Hinrichs claimed gold with a 2:20 pinfall win over Kash Henke of Republic County.
Sanchez, despite a tough opening round 3-0 loss to Sandy Creek’s Josh Spray, battled back to claim four straight wins to capture the 215-pound title.
Sanchez pinned Cal Siep of Nebraska Christian in 3:06, then pinned Superior’s David Hodges in 5:15, before claiming a 3:44 pinfall win over Miles Kohmetcher to reach the championship finals against Spray and turned the tide to capture gold with a 5:50 pinfall win over Spray.
ADDITIONAL MEDALISTS
Billy Meyer and Griffin Bergen placed second in their respective weight classes.
In the 126-pound class, Meyer was 3-2 on the day, opening with a 1:56 pinfall win over Manny Motto of Republic County before teammate Jose Aranda gained a 23-15 major decision win over Meyer.
Meyer then bounced back with a 54-second pin over Giltner/Harvard’s Kyron VanHerwyn and a 26-second pinfall win over Darius Suarez.
In the final match of the day, Meyer fell to Superior’s Xavier Pierce, 3-0.
Bergen claimed three wins in four matches in the 190-pound weight class. He opened with a 1:31 pinfall win over Canon Corman of Superior, then pinned Ethan Torres of Republic County in just 46-seconds.
In the semifinal round, Bergen gained a 1:58 pin over Nick Kendall of Suiperior, before falling in 1:49 to Superior’s Kyler Boyles.
Junior Kade Jones won four of five matches in Harvard to place third in the 285-pound weight class.
Jones opened with a 38-second pin over Sandy Creek’s Luke Soucie, then pinned Riverside’s Brody Schmeits in 1:57.
Round three earned Jones a 46-second pin over Kenesaw’s Hunter McComb, while in round four, Jones suffered his lone loss, falling in 3:46 to Hunter McLeod of Red Cloud/ Blue Hill.
In the final match of the day, the Sutton junior gained a forfeit win over teammate Aydin Banta.
Javin Jordan, wrestling in the 157-pound class won one of four matches and placed fourth overall. His lone win came over Superior’s Carl Lupin in the first round, pinning Lupin in 1:52.
Jordan dropped matches to Gage Rasser of Red Cloud/Blue Hill, to Talon Weidner of St. Cecilia, and to Kolby Strnad of Republic County.
Junior Brody Schelkopf came away with a fourth place finish in the 175-pound weight class, winning two of four matches.
Schelkopf opened with a 30-second pin over Jacob Balfour of Red Cloud/Blue Hill, then pinned Lawrence-Nelson’s Grayhm Beck with a 2:24 pin.
In the final two matches, Carson Beavers of Republic County earned a five-minute technical fall win over Schelkopf before Kyler Nelson of Republic County pinned Schelkopf in 3:45.
TEAM SCORES- Sutton 155, Red Cloud/Blue Hill 139.5, Republic Co., KS 117.5, Superior 117, Nebraska Christian 98, Sandy Creek 81, Hastings St. Cecilia 62, Riverside 60.5, Meridian 58.5, Kenesaw 53, Lawrence-Nelson 28.5, Giltner/ Harvard 25.
Korey Poppe was one of four gold medalists at the Giltner/Harvard Invite this past Saturday, winning the 132-pound weight class with five wins on the day. Here Poppe looks to turn Red Cloud/Blue Hill wrestler William Rasser on his back. He did so in short order pinning Rasser in 27 seconds. TORY DUNCAN | CLAY COUNTY NEWS
Junior Brody Schelkopf works towards a pinfall win over Lawrence-Nelson’s Grayhm Beck, a match that Schelkopf won in 2:24, placing Schelkopf fourth overall in the 175-pound weight class. TORY DUNCAN | CLAY COUNTY NEWS
