Sidney-Bridgeport Invite:
Sidney finished 32.5 points ahead of second place team Sterling, CO on the strength of champions Trey Arellano (120), Kaden Vowers (126), and Derek Robb (160). Finishing as runner-ups for the Red Raiders were Paul Houser (106), Jacob Peckham (113) and KC Higer (132). Gering had 1 runner-up with Enrique Saenz (152), and 3 others finished in third place including Austin Duncan (285), Draven Steele (145), and Jr Aguilar (106). Ogallala had 2 wrestlers place in the top 4 with Brandon Bush (145) finishing 2nd and Dylon Zink (138) finishing 4th.
Flatwater Fracas:
For the 2nd year in a row, Gretna took home the Flatwater Fracas team title. On day 1, the Dragons outscored their 4 opponents 243-46. They scored 51 points or more in each dual and had 9 wrestlers go undefeated on the day. After getting warmed up on day 1, the Dragons spewed a continuous line of fire to win 3 tough duals over Manhattan (ranked 2nd in 6A Kansas), Columbus and Kearney by a combined score of 114-99. In the razor thin dual with Manhattan, the Dragons recorded 6 total pins including 3 pins in the last 4 contested bouts. Against Columbus, Van Schmidt (113), Trevor Fauver (120) and Tyler Cunningham (126) and Lance Jarrett (160) recorded falls. In a back and forth dual in the finals versus class A title contender Kearney, Cody Everhart (152) and Lance Jarrett (160) put exclamation points on the team win with pins over ranked opponents. Bennington went 3-1 on the first day only losing a 39-34 dual to Beatrice. The Badgers finished 4th overall only losing to Kearney and Manhattan on day 2. Jake Cluxton (138) finished with a 7-0 record on the weekend while Josh Pokorny (145) and Logan MacDonald (152) both finished 6-1 only losing tight matches to Manhattan’s top ranked wrestlers. Grand Island Northwest finished 10th losing 45-33 to class C state title contender Battle Creek in the final dual on day 2. The Vikings were led by freshman Grady Griess (170) who won all 7 matches including a fall over 170A #3 ranked Kasten Grape of Columbus. Grayson Fries (113) and Dalton Quandt (145/152) both posted 6-1 records on the weekend.
Notable Matches:
106- unranked Andy Rojas won 13-6 over 106C #3 Koby Brandenburg
106- unranked Andy Rojas won 9-2 over 106A #4 Gabe Durden
106- #6 Bryce Brown won 11-3 over 106C #1 Caydon McCracken
106- #6 Bryce Brown won 15-0 over #3 Tanner York
113- #1 Van Schmidt won by fall in 3:12 over 106A #2 Carter Kucera
113- #3 Tanner York won 7-5 over #4 Jackson Nielsen
120- unranked Celvin Lopez won 11-8 over 120A #4 Reid Dasher
132- #3 Connor Laux won 6-0 over #4 Devin DeLancey
132- #3 Connor Laux won by fall in 1:04 over 132A #6 Kolton Sliva
138- #1 Jake Cluxton won 13-7 over 138C #4 Preston Bussey
138- #4 Riley Berg won by fall in 2:24 over 145B #5 Austin Probasco
145- #3 Josh Pokorny won 10-9 over 145A #5 Teontae Wilson
152- #2 Logan MacDonald won 5-2 over 152A #6 Jud Kuchera
152- unranked Cody Everhart won by fall in 4:24 over 152A #6 Jud Kuchera
160- #3 Lance Jarrett won by fall in 3:38 over 160A #2 Trey Grube
170 – unranked Grady Griess won by fall in 1:12 over 170A #3 Kasten Grape
182 – #4 Cannon Ahrens won 6-2 over over 170A #3 Kasten Grape
220 – unranked Jesus Maganda won 3-2 over 220A #3 Matthew Montgomery
Undefeated Records:
106-Andy Rojas of Lexington went 7-0
113/120-Van Schmidt of Gretna went 7-0
120/126-Walker Moore of Blair went 7-0
126/132-Tyler Cunningham of Gretna went 7-0
132-Connor Laux of Hastings went 7-0
138-Jake Cluxton of Bennington went 7-0
138/145-Riley Berg of West Point-Beemer went 7-0
152-Tomas Margritz of Lexington went 7-0
160-Jacob Pinkerton of Beatrice went 7-0
170/182-Damen Pape of Hastings went 7-0
170-Grady Griess of Northwest went 7-0
182-Jason Stevens of Beatrice went 7-0
182-Cannon Ahrens of Gretna went 7-0
220-Jesus Maganda of Schuyler went 7-0
Pat Weede Memorial (Gilette, WY):
Scottsbluff won all 6 duals with their closest win coming by criteria (most matches won) in the first round of the tournament. The tournament included teams from Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wyoming. Mario Ybarra (132), Salem Harsh (182), and Genaro Gurrola (285) won all of their matches and received outstanding wrestler awards at their respective weight classes along with Devon’Tae Gutierrez, who won a 3-way tie for 1st at 126. Gutierrez (126), Rob Price (138), Ben Rodriguez (145), Sabastian Harsh (160/170), and Garrett Nelson (220) only lost 1 match on the day.
Kansas City Stampede:
Skutt Catholic finished 8th out of 40 teams at the Kansas City Stampede with Korbin Meink dominating the field at 126. Meink won every match by major decision except for the finals. Billy Higgins (160) finished 2nd, only losing in the finals to the 13th ranked wrestler in the nation. Trent Hixson (285) finished 6th and finishing 8th were Nic Stoltenberg (120) and Alex Van Dyke (152).
Platteview Invitational:
Aurora finished 51 points behind tournament champions Omaha Central led by Carter Thompson who won the 132 title over 132C #2 Monte Mumm. Kaleb Trumble (113), Kolby Wessels (120), Levi SaBell (145) all finished as runner-ups and 4 other Huskies placed in the top 4. Tournament host Platteview won two individual titles as Garrett Johnson (113) recorded 3 falls and Ethan Warren (285) won his semifinal match in sudden victory and recorded a fall in the finals. Joshua Trumble (170) finished 2nd and Gage Jeffers (160) and Nick De Monte (106) finished in 3rd place.
Kearney Catholic Dual Invitational:
Holdrege finished 1st place in the silver pool by winning 3 of 4 duals, only losing to runner-up Kearney Catholic. Top ranked Prestin Melroy (170) went 4-0 with 4 falls while teammates Bronson Titus (220) and Hunter Brenn (285) went 4-0 both recording 2 falls and receiving 2 forfeits. The Dusters had 6 wrestlers post 3-1 records at the 106, 113, 138, 145, 182, and 195 weight classes.