~by Taylor Teays for The Scranton Journal
Greene County wrestling had a successful state tournament showing, with two of the three bringing home medals. The state tournament took place at Wells Fargo Arena Feb. 17-19.
Junior Kale Petersen, who has seen the state tournament before, was the second seed in the bracket although he was a Class 1A defending state champion. With an undefeated season, he worked his way to the top of the podium bringing home the gold medal in the 2A-120 weight class.
McKinley Robbins, also a junior, was also a state returner. with a state title in 2021 and runner-up in 2020. Robbins was the number one seed in the 2A-132 bracket, but suffered a hard fought 5-3 decision loss in the finals. Robbins finished in second place for the tournament.
Gavin Scheuermann went to state as a 152-lb sophomore. Scheuermann was seeded at eighth, but after an early loss, Scheuermann finished without a place but gained valuable experience.
“We qualified three for the state tournament, had two in the finals, one state champ, one runner-up, and a tenth place team finish,” explained coach Zach Beekman. “I would say that’s pretty good.
“Saturday night is full of highs and lows and it is heartbreaking when you have a guy not standing at the top,” continued Beekman. “The difficult part is keeping everything in perspective. One loss does not define a state tournament performance or someone’s season.
“The coaching staff, team, and community are proud of the wrestling program and Kale, McKinley, and Gavin represented us well,” concluded Beekman.
2A-120 – Kale Petersen won by fall over Kole Johnson, CRES 1:18; won by tech fall over Amare Chavez, STC 16-1; won by decision over Lane Scorpil, CJCT 10-3; won by decision over Camron Phetxoumphone, WECI 8-5, first place
2A-132 – McKinley Robbins won by fall over Caden Kerr, NFV, 4:52; won by decision over Aiden Flora, ADM 7-5; won by decision over Caleb Olson, UNIO 4-2; lost by decision to Blaine Frazier, NDB 5-3, second place
2A-152 – Gavin Scheuermann lost by decision to Cole Butikofer, CRES, 4-2; won by major decision over Brian South, ATLA 15-2; lost by major decision to Isaiah Fenton, NDB 12-3.
