Casey ends his wrestling career at State

OMAHA — A terrific high school wrestling career came to a close Friday at the State meet.

Two members of the Blaze boys team – Kolby Casey and Ajay Gubbels – made the trip to go for some glory in their last weekend in a Quad County Northeast uniform.

Casey finished 2-2 in the 220-pound bracket, winning his first match, and just missed a medal round appearance. He was defeated by the eventual champion in the quarterfinal.

“Kolby was able to win in the wrestle backs and advance to Friday night with a chance to make it to the medal round,” Blaze head coach Mark Lech said. “Unfortunately, Kolby lost and ended his chances at state.”

Gubbels (182 pounds) was eliminated on the first day. “Although neither boy medaled, they both represented the schools and community well at state and all season,” Lech said. “I would like to extend my appreciation not only to these two for being leaders, but also to our other senior, Carter Olson. These three boys wrestled for four years and were a great bunch to coach.”

Casey was pleased with his team’s growth during the course of the season and felt they improved in multiple areas.

“The rest of team improved during the course of the season – they got quicker and stronger for sure,” Casey said. “They are just better wrestlers now.”

Casey had designs to medal when the season began but still finds solace on a strong final campaign.

“I got my 100th pin this year and ended up with about 140-something wins so I didn’t have a bad year at all, but it would have been better to come home with a necklace,” Casey said. “Honestly, I don’t know what I would have done different. Maybe I would have taken things slower and thought out my moves more. There was just some really good competition.”

Casey will head to Lincoln to attend school and is done with the “high school thing” of wrestling.

“I don’t regret a second of (his career) and it allowed me to grow,” Casey said. “The best thing is the team and coaches. It’s a great support group. You make a lot of friends during wrestling.”