Roth, Williams take home third place medals

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The final day of the NSAA state wrestling championships was one to remember for a pair of Platteview seniors and their coaches.

After a disappointing loss in last night's championship semifinals, Isaac Roth bounced back with a strong finish to end his outstanding high school career with a pair of victories and a second straight third-place medal at 145 pounds.

Matt Williams closed out his career with an improbable third-place finish of his own. He won four straight matches after losing his second match in the championship quarterfinals on Thursday. During Williams' stunning run through the tournament, he faced four rated opponents and beat three, and one of them twice.

Roth's final day began with a workmanlike 9-1 win over sixth-ranked Cody Wendelin of Crete in the consolation semifinals. He scored on a pair of takedowns and an escape to lead 5-0 in the second period before Wendelin finally got on the board with an escape. But Roth added a takedown and two back points in the third to win easily.

Roth's 100th career win against Wendelin was certainly one to remember, but his 101st victory was even sweeter in the consolation finals against Boys Town junior Tre Richardson.

Roth scored early on a takedown in the one-minute first period before the third-ranked Richardson (38-11) scored a late escape. In the second period Roth (30-5) scored on an escape to go up 3-1. He then took Richardson down and quickly had the Cowboy on his back for the fall with 53 seconds left in the period.

Platteview coach Ted Glover was impressed by the way Roth responded to a deflating setback in the semifinals.

“He showed a lot of character and pride by rebounding after a loss that has caused a lot of wrestlers to quit,” Glover said. “He finished the tournament with two dominating wins.”

One week ago Williams was pinned by third-ranked 215-pounder Keith Stille of Ashland-Greenwood in the championship match at the B-1 district tournament. But seven days later Stille never got close to a fall as Williams controlled the re-match in the state consolation semifinals.

Williams scored a 4-0 win with an escape in the second period and three back points in the third to reach the consolation championship against the wrestler he opened the tournament against, Bennington senior Tom Keck.

The fourth-ranked Keck (34-11) was seeking to avenge his 6-2 opening loss to Williams, and the pair turned in an exciting battle to the finish.

Following a scoreless first period, and a 2-2 tie after the second, Keck went up 3-2 with an escape early in the third period. Williams was awarded two points for a takedown with 51 seconds to go as Keck fell out of bounds with Williams dragging his toes and hanging on to Keck's hips. Bennington coach Alan Porkorny protested to no avail.

Keck responded with a two-point reversal to go up 5-4, but he surrendered a late reversal to Williams who then rode Keck out for the hard-fought win.

Williams (29-8) was wrestling at his best when it mattered most this season, which didn’t come as a complete surprise to Ted Glover.

“The key to Matt’s success is the fact that he bought into the idea that he had to keep wrestling the whole match, and that if he did that he could wrestle with anyone.” Glover said. “Matt is a great competitor and has worked hard this season to become the best he could be, and I believe he did that.”

Platteview finished tied for 19th in Class B, just five points out of the top 15, and the fourth-best showing of all the Eastern Midlands Conference teams in the tournament.

Plattsmouth entered the tournament with 11 qualifiers and high hopes of knocking Omaha Skutt of its state champion perch. But the Blue Devils faltered early and didn't send a single wrestler to the semifinals. They did get several wrestlers deep into the tournament and scored enough points to finish fourth.

Gretna finished 11th and Blair 13th.