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OMAHA –Two young men headed to the state wrestling finals representing a Randolph Cardinals program that wanted to see a solid season end on an ideal high.
One of the two young men came away without a medal, but plenty of lessons learned heading into a senior year set for 2025. The other returned home with his name in the record books.
Current senior Aiden Gubbels captured sixth place in the 285-pound weight class, while junior Gavin Wortman dropped two matches at 165 but feels good about his future going forward.
“Gavin wrestled well but was unable to make it to Friday night and push through to the Saturday medal rounds,” Randolph head coach Mark Lech said. “Aiden won his first match at state, but then lost his second match. He then had to win two big matches including one on Friday night to allow him to qualify for the medal rounds on Sunday. Both boys represented the school and community well down in Omaha.”
Wortman was disappointed that he couldn’t get past his first two opponents, but he sees this opportunity as giving birth to a potentially bigger one.
“It kind of felt like a dream when you first get there because when you’re down there you usually are there watching,” Wortman said. “Being on the mats, it was so cool. I wasn’t nervous by the first match. One thing I learned was you don’t want to finish fourth at districts (because of getting a lower seed). That does not put you in a good spot. I wrestled against the second seed right away and according to my coaches, that was the best defensive match I had all year.”
Wortman is already planning on putting in more work for the future and he may jump up to 215 for the next campaign.
“I can do it, absolutely,” Wortman said adding he will get to work in the weight room.
He was also pleased for Gubbels. “It was exciting since from me being in junior high and him starting as a freshman, we didn’t win a lot of matches,” Wortman said. “Then he went through injuries his sophomore and junior year and not many expecting him to make it to state and place sixth? That’s really cool.”
Lech said that he appreciated the efforts of the seniors and their leadership for the younger kids. Gubbels, Joe Miller, Bryson Eledge and Eva Bermel leave the boys and girls in a better place.
“Even though we will miss our seniors, the future is bright for the wrestling program as we should grow as a team with a strong incoming class and better numbers in both the boys and girls teams,” Lech said. “It was a lot of hours of hard work and long days, but it was all worth it when you look back to all that was accomplished this year. The coaches and athletes will savor the season for a while and then start preparing for next year.”
