November 25, 2003

Two Sign with Wrestling

First Recruits of the Year

            Kearney, NE – Nebraska-Kearney head wrestling coach Marc Bauer announced today that Keenan McCurdy (Lincoln East) and Paul Sutton (Wahoo) have signed national letters of intent to wrestle for the Lopers. They are the team’s first recruits of the year.

            “Keenan and Paul exemplify the quality of young men that we want and have in our program. Aside form their great character and outstanding values, the are both excellent students and accomplished wrestlers that will give our upper middle weights a real boost,” Bauer said.

            McCurdy, who will compete at 171 lbs. this year, is a two-time state placer. He won the Class A state title last year at 160 lbs. after placing fifth as a sophomore. Under the direction of Martin McCurdy, Keenan’s father, the Spartans have won the past two Class A state titles.

            “This was a tough decision for Keenan. He has had a lot of opportunities to work with Coach Denney at UNO and Coach Manning at UNL. It’s obvious why we all wanted him to be a part of our programs,” Bauer said. “He’s an outstanding, hard working young man with the kind of character and integrity we want to represent our team.”

            McCurdy’s older sister, Brett, is a sophomore on the Loper volleyball team while two former East standouts, Jake Froscheiser and Jeff Rutledge, currently wrestle for UNK.

            Sutton will compete at 160 lbs. this year and, like McCurdy, is a two-time state placer. For the Warriors, Sutton has a career mark of 95-11 and has had third and fourth place finishes at the Class B state tournament

            “Paul wanted to get his decision behind him so he could focus solely on his final prep season. He reminds us a lot of Jeff Sylvester, our All-American at 197 lbs., in that he hasn’t wrestled a lot of freestyle or Greco-Roman in the summer time,” Bauer said. “So, his name isn’t out there like a lot of other wrestles but Paul went undefeated at the Disney Duals and lost only once at the Maine Exchange.”

            The 10^th-ranked Lopers are off until December 6^th when they’ll complete in the FHSU Open in Kansas.