by Dru Kastler

High Plains Invite:
Valentine showed everyone why they are the team to beat and class C and one of the best top to bottom teams in the state. They currently have 11 ranked wrestlers and send out quality wrestlers at all 14 weights. They outdistanced 2nd place Wahoo by over 100 points. Top C schools David City, Battle Creek and Kearney Catholic filled the 3rd – 5th team places. The quality of the competition was fantastic as 12 of the 14 weights had two or more ranked wrestlers. For class C alone, there were 26 ranked wrestlers that competed which resulted in plenty of standout matches that we may see again at the state tournament.

At 113, freshman Gage Krolikowski from Valentine showed why he is the #1 ranked wrestler by dominating the 113lb field. #1 ranked Melvin Hernandez also had a great showing in arguably the toughest weight that featured the top 4 wrestlers in class C. With Jeff Heinz from Fort Calhoun moving down from 145, class C 138 will be the marquee weight in the state this year with four state finalists. We saw a #1 ranked wrestler go down as #4 ranked Jake Prochaska from Centennial continued his unbeaten season, knocking off #1 Donald Stephen from Valentine in the semifinals.

Notable Results:
106 – #1 Caydon McCracken (BC) over #6 Jarrett Battershaw (Valentine) major 16-3
106 – #1 Caydon McCracken (BC) over #4 Layne Shiers (Kearney Catholic) by fall
106 – #1 Caydon McCracken (BC) over #2D Logan Russell (High Plains) 3-2
113 – #1 Gage Krolikowski (Val) over #5 Brandon Schram (TH) by fall (twice)
113 – #1 Gage Krolikowski over #2 at 106 Seth Styskal (DC) by major dec (twice)
113 – #2 at 106 Seth Styskal (DC) over #5 Brandon Schram (Tekamah-Herm) by fall
120 – #4 Brody Benson (Valentine) over UR Owen Lade (Battle Creek) 10-9
120 – #3 Noah Styskal (David City) over #4 Brody Benson (Valentine) 9-4
126 – #1 Jordan Kelber (Valentine) over #3 Justin White (David City) 8-5
126 – #3 Justin White (David City) over D#5 Dylan Swenson (Oakland-C) by TF 15-0
126 – #5 Damien Kersten (Battle Crk) over D#5 Dylan Swenson (Oakland-Cr) by fall
126 – UR Zach Rogers (Kearney Cath) over D#5 Dylan Swenson (Oakland Craig) 6-5
126 – #5 Damien Kersten (Battle Creek) over Zach Rogers (Kearney Catholic) 7-2
126 – #1 Jordan Kelber (Valentine) over #5 Damien Kersten (BC) by major 14-3
126 – #3 Justin White (David City) over #5 Damien Kersten (Battle Creek) 3-2
126 – #1 Jordan Kelber (Valentine) over B#5 Nolan Barry (Adams Central) 10-4
132 – UR Ty Heimes (Battle Creek) over #4 Julian Ramon (Valentine) TB1 5-3
132 – #4 Carter Fleshman (Kearney Catholic) over Ty Heimes (Battle Creek) 4-2
138 – #1 Melvin Hernandez (David City) over Lane Eggen (DC West) by major 12-3
138 – #2 Eric Pacheco (Kearney Cath) over Trenton Elliott (Tekamah-Herm) by fall
138 – #1 Melvin Hernandez (David City) over Mario Venzor (Schuyler) 9-4
138 – #2 Eric Pacheco (Kear. Cath) over #3 Noah Eklund (Valentine) by major 10-2
138 – #1 Melvin Hernandez (David City) over #2 Eric Pacheco (Kearney Cath) 8-6
145 – UR Ty Connely (Kearney Catholic) over Eamon Morrison (Creighton Prep) 5-4
145 – #4 Hudson Pearman (Valentine) over Ty Connely (Kearney Catholic) 4-3
145 – #4 Hudson Pearman (Valentine) over Eamon Morrison (Creighton Prep) 5-2
152 – #4 Caleb Long (Valentine) over D#5 Connor Donscheski (Palmer) 5-0
152 – #4 Caleb Long (Valentine) over #2 Jack Keating (Kearney Catholic) 3-2
152 – #4 Caleb Long (Valentine) over B#4 Zane Bennett (Wahoo) 2-0
170 – #4 Jake Prochaska (Centennial) over #1 Donald Stephen (Valentine) 4-0
195 – #3 Ryan Worm (David City) over #2 Dean Haase (Valentine) Inj Def
220 – #6 Jan-louw de Jager (Battle Creek) over Jesus Maganda (Schuyler) 6-4

Burwell Invite:
Cross County continued a solid season taking second place at the Burwell Invite Friday. Wood River finished 3rd without the services of 2nd ranked 126 Wyatt Allen.

Notable Results:

120 – #1 Evan Waddington (WR) over Cristian Carranza (Cross County) by fall
120 – #1 Evan Waddington (WR) over D#6 Coy Gideon (Burwell) by fall
138 – UR Jarred Hulinksy (St. Paul) over #6 at 145 Alex Dubas (Cross County) 1-0
195 – Kaleb Johnson (Crofton-Bloomfield) over Hunter Kocian (St. Paul) by fall
220 – #5 Bryan McGahan (Hershey) over D#3 Seth Wentworth (West Holt) 10-2
220 – #3 Garrett Davidson (Cross County) over #5 Bryan McGahan (Hershey) 7-4
285 – #3 Hunter Miller (Cross County) over D#1 Thomas Hughes (Burwell) 11-6
285 – UR Nathan Louder (Hershey) over #6 Lane Hruby (Arcadia-Loup City) by fall

Aquinas Invite:
David City Aquinas has been steadily improving throughout the season, and it showed on Saturday as they won their home invite over several solid class C teams including Broken Bow, O’Neill and Fort Calhoun.

Notable Results:
106 – Tyler Curtis (Ft Calhoun) improved to 22-1 and avenged his lone loss to Jeaven Scdoris (Milford) with a 13-3 major decision
113 – #4 Spencer Gaffney (Broken Bow) over Eli Lorenzo (O’Neill) 9-0
132 – UR Jonah Heng (Norfolk Catholic) over D#6 Juan Lasso (NE Christian) 2-1
132 – UR Jonah Heng (Norfolk Catholic) over #6 Cole Ulmer (Broken Bow) TB1 1-0
138 – #2 at 145 Jeff Heinz (Fort Calhoun) over Anthony Eickmeier (Aquinas) 2-0
145 – #1 Caden Moore (O’Neill) over #6 at 138 Dylan Hartline (Ft Calhoun) 27-12
182 – #2 Joseph Reimers (Aquinas) over D#4 Dietric Kenning (Thayer Cent) by fall
220 – #1 Jason Hahlbeck (O’Neill) over #5 Bryan McGahan (Hershey) by fall

Other Tournaments Featuring Class C teams:
Wilber-Clatonia Duals, Ashland-Greenwood Invite, Central City Invite, Amherst Invite, Wisner-Pilger Invite, Garden County Invite, Franklin Invite, Winside Invite, Beatrice Invite, Ogallala Duals, Malcolm Invite

Other Notable Results:
106 – UR Ryan Zoucha (Malcolm) over D#6 Preston Acton (Southern) 4-0
106 – #3 Koby Brandenburg (Central City) over #5 Colton Rowse (Ord) by fall
113 – #2 Lee Carlson (Sutton) over Thomas Buchanan (Crete) 9-1
120 – UR Lane Bridgemon (Syracuse) over #5 Anton Carlson (Sutton)
126 – UR Trevor Peterson (Chase Co) over D#3 at 120 Alex Araujo (Bayard) by fall
145 – #5 Keegan Pope (Syracuse) over A#3 (Papillion-La Vista South) by fall
152 – UR Tucker Randall (Raymond Cent) won by DQ over #1 Marc Zeckser (DT)
152 – #3 Jacob Tracy (Gibbon) over D#4 Edwin Baptista (Friend) 8-1
160 – #5 Stephen Duffy (Shelton-Kenesaw) over D#5 Cole Egge (Amherst) 8-1
170 – UR Cooper Von Seggren (W-P) over #3 Dalton Mueller (North Bend) by fall
182 – #3 Cody Thomas (Wakefield) over #5 Brock Ray (North Bend Central) 8-1
285 – #6 Lane Hruby (Arcardia-LC) over D#4 Jacob Peterson (Amherst) by fall
285 – #2 Caleb Lefferdink (Syracuse) over A#6 Mar’San Casteneda (Linc. NE) 3-0