Elge Takes Fourth at State Wrestling

Nebraska Christian freshman Jaydon Elge placed fourth at State Wrestling in Omaha on February 20-22 at the Century Link Center.

In his opening round match, Elge led 2-0 at the 1:30 mark of the first period and he dramatically overwhelmed his opponent with a single leg takedown and then turned him for the pin.  Later the same day Elge pinned a Hays Springs wrestler about a minute into the second period while leading 11-0, thus punching his ticket into the second round.

Jaydon Elge

Jaydon Elge

“That match was kind of fuzzy,” said the freshman standout. “What I do remember is I got a good turn with five seconds left in the first period. I didn’t get the pin because time ran out—but I did get three points for the near-fall.”

On Friday Elge wrestled at 5:00 against Logan Dibbern from Amherst, a three-time medalist who would finish second in the 138-lbs. weight class. Dibbern won 6-2 using a reversal in the third period of a tight match and proceeded to get two near-falls and two penalty points. Nonetheless, Elge wrestled hard to the wire.

“I was disappointed. It was tough, but our assistant Coach Chris Schweitzer got me back into it for Saturday.  In the consolation semi-finals, I beat a kid from Perkins County to get into the third-place match,” commented Elge.

The semi-final match was a chance for Elge to redeem himself on the mat; he immediately got a first-period takedown, but his opponent made an escape and the score was 2-1. Then it was tied 2-2 after a penalty point was awarded. Elge allowed an escape to fall behind 3-2. In the pivotal third period Elge chose neutral and got another takedown, which gave him a 4-3 lead early in the third. The freshman then turned his opponent with 15 seconds left to get a near-fall and go up 7-3. The resulting win was a good tonic after losing the day before, and it set up a showdown for third place in the consolation finals.

“The last match was tough. I wrestled Kaleb Bolton from High Plains three times through the season, and his strategy was to slow me down,” said Elge. “In the first period I gave up a takedown and got a quick escape to fall behind 2-1.”

Following this,  Bolton  chose to start on the bottom, and Elge rode him the entire period. The score remained 2-1.  In the third, Elge again chose to start neutral and wrestled hard the whole third period.  He had a chance to make a move with 30 seconds left when he threw a lateral drop but slipped out of bounds, which meant no points were awarded. During this move Elge dislocated his thumb, but he wrestled on. The last 25 seconds progressed quickly, with the freshman phenom attempting another throw, but he slipped and gave up a takedown to account for the 4-1 final score.

Although the result wasn’t all that Elge envisioned, he learned some valuable lessons for next year. “It was a big disappointment, but it just makes me want to work harder for next season.  I will possibly face Dibbern again, but Bolton is gone,” concluded Elge. “The one thing I remember most is this felt just like a regular meet.  A lot of people get nervous, but I had parents and family all across the country praying for me to stay calm and wrestle my best there. I feel like that prayer was answered.”

Categorized in:Athletics High School

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