Bulldog Sports Recap

Basketball and wrestling lead off the winter sports season at Kearney High School. Here is a KPGZ Bulldog Sports recap:

Boys Varsity Basketball

The Varsity Boys Basketball team opened up their season on the road vs. St. Pius on Tuesday, November 23. The Bulldogs started off hot and took a quick 8-2 lead. Pius battled back and took a 21-17 lead into halftime as Kearney struggled to score in the 2nd quarter. 

After a competitive 3rd quarter the Bulldogs found themselves up 2 with 3:00 minutes to go in the game. Kearney struggled to score once again and Pius had a few buckets late in the game to regain a 3 point lead with 15 seconds left. The Bulldogs had a shot to tie the game at the buzzer but they couldn't find the bottom of the net and Kearney dropped their first game 44-41. 

Ashton Holloway led all scorers with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Braxton Page added 10 points and had 7 rebounds.

Boys JV Basketball

On Tuesday, November 23, the JV Boys Basketball team also traveled to St. Pius for their first game of the season. The Bulldogs got off to a quick start going up 10-5 after the first quarter and 22-11 at halftime. In the second half the momentum switched in the favor of the Warriors and Kearney came up short falling 31-38. This brings the season record to 0-1.

The leading scorer in the game for the Bulldogs was Tanner Brock with 7 points and Dan Nelson followed with 6 points.

JV Wrestling

On Saturday, November 27, JV wrestlers attended the Oak Park Invitational. Out of 11 Bulldog wrestlers in attendance, 10 came home with a medal. Congrats to the following individual place winners:

Peyton Lee, 2nd

Brennan Green, 2nd

Austyn Scott, 1st

Blaine Turpin, 1st

JP Filger, 1st

Kelton Costa, 1st

Vann Grimes, 3rd

Braddock Dillon, 1st

Rhys Neale, 3rd

Tyler Jarrett, 1st

Girls Wrestling

The Kearney girls wrestling team took to the mats Wednesday, December 1, for the first competition of the season against the Liberty Blue Jays. The Bulldogs emerged victorious as a squad 51-12. Freshman, Bailey Martin, lost a thriller to returning state qualifier in an action packed back-and-forth match that had multiple lead changes and near falls. Laney Cecil won a hard-fought decision at the 115 lb. weight class. The Girls will be back in action at home on December 7 with Winnetonka and Ruskin.

Boys Wrestling

The Bulldog boys wrestling team started off the dual season with the tough task of taking on the #10 nationally ranked Liberty Blue Jays. The Bulldogs fought hard at both the JV and Varsity levels, but ultimately came up short in both duals. Seniors Eli Ashcroft and Zach Olson both picked up quality decision wins for the Varsity. In JV matches Liberty won 40 – 30 over Kearney, for the Varsity, Liberty beat Kearney 64 – 12.

KPGZ Sports - Brian Watts contributed to this story