Coach Doug Hart's new Arlington High School wrestling teams made their official home debuts Tuesday.
Under a spotlight in an otherwise dark gym, the Eagles won a 36-30 girls dual with the Elkhorn Antlers before the boys lost to their visitors, 45-30.
Kelise Krivohlavek clinched the AHS girls' win with a pin at 125 pounds. She took Tansi Praveen to the mat and stopped her in 70 seconds to break a 30-30 tie.
First, though, Callee Shearer, Carly Segebart, Honora Andreasen, Brooklyn Ruskamp and Rylie Kyllo won contested matchups for the Eagles. Diana Flores claimed six team points by forfeit, too.
While Shearer, Segebart and Ruskamp earned pins, Andreasen and Kyllo secured three points apiece by gutting out victories. Andreasen, a 100-pounder, wrestled through overtime to get her hand raised, while Kyllo secured a 5-4 decision through three periods. The latter Eagle scored the go-ahead points with a two-point reversal during the final 60 seconds.
“I actually didn't look at the clock,” she said. “I just hit my reversal, and I just really listened to my coaches well.”
After a restart with 28 seconds left, Kyllo rode out her opponent for the full-match victory.
“It was a struggle, but conditioning really pays off,” the 110-pounder said.
She'd already ran before the dual to cut weight, too, so it really was a full day of exercise for the Eagle.
“It's all worth it in the end, though,” Kyllo said.
The win gave AHS a 30-18 advantage against Elkhorn, but the Antlers battled back with a pin and forfeit points to tie it. Krivohlavek came through with a pin in the end, though.
“I thought we did really good,” Kyllo said, noting the work of the higher weight class wrestlers who gave Arlington an early lead. “We really showed out.”
The Elkhorn boys, meanwhile, claimed two pins, a tech fall, a forfeit and a major decision to earn a 27-0 lead during the next dual.
“It just added fire to me,” Eagles senior Kolton Gilmore said. “Built me up to turn things around for us.”
The 165-pounder won his match against Elkhorn's Weston Welch by pin in 3:35. He controlled the Antlers' legs and stacked him up with his his shoulders on the mat.
“His head was down. Bad position,” Gilmore said, explaining how his practice work with teammate Stokely Lewis helped him finish the match off. “We get into weird positions and we just know what to do from those situations.”
The victory cut AHS' deficit to 27-6 and set up Gilmore's practice partner.
“To have Stokely start doing what he was doing made it even better,” he said.
What Lewis did was win his 175-pound match, 5-4. The Eagle led 2-1 after one period and was tied with Sam Leinen going into the third before he won it. He scored three points during the first 45 seconds of the final period and held off his foe from there.
“I knew I had a couple stalling calls (to work with), but I wasn't relying on those,” Lewis said. “I was just doing what I know.”
Arlington's Tate Johannes pinned Nickolas Winters in 1:27 next before Jake Flesner won an 11-7 decision at 120 pounds. Haydn Hegemann and Trey Hill claimed forfeit points, too, but the Eagles ultimately fell short by 15.
After the duals, though, Lewis said the Eagles are building chemistry and continuing to progress on the mat early this season. The AHS girls next compete 2 p.m. today in Wahoo before the boys compete during the Kearney Catholic Invitational on Saturday.
