by Dru Kastler
Many of the state’s top teams were put to the test this weekend against stiff competition. Here is where they competed and how they fared:
1. Valentine – As has been the case several times throughout the year, Valentine competed with a several starters out of the lineup. With only nine varsity wrestlers, they finished in 2nd place at the Chadron Invite to top Wyoming team Campbell County. They had two champs and seven total medalists.
2. Syracuse – 12 out of 13 wrestlers medaled in the top four to push Syracuse to a 2nd place finish at the Capitol Conference Tournament to B#7 Wahoo. They had three tournament champions. Defeated Nebraska City in a Thursday dual 45-22.
3. David City – The Scouts finished 3rd place at their home invitational to B#1 Gretna and A#5 Millard West. They did so without a tournament champion, but they did place seven wrestlers in the top four.
4. O’Neill – Idle on the weekend after winning a Thursday dual against Madison.
5. Battle Creek – Won the Oakland-Craig Invite ahead of #7 North Bend by 27.5 points. They had three champs and ten wrestlers in the top five. Also won duals against Pierce and Norfolk Catholic on Thursday.
6. Kearney Catholic – In their final year in the LouPlatte Conference, the Stars distanced themselves from Ord, Gibbon and Wood River to win the team title. They won seven out of eight medal round matches to have six individual champions and eight total medalists. They did so without two returning state qualifiers in the lineup. Defeated Gibbon in Thursday dual 46-33.
7. North Bend – The Tigers six consecutive tournament winning streak came to an end at the hands of #5 Battle Creek. In a runner up effort, they had 10 placers and three champions.
8. Broken Bow – 1st place at the Gothenburg Dual Tournament ahead of D#2 Burwell and D#5 High Plains. Their closest duals were against Gothenburg (39-30) and York (45-35).
9. Ord – The Chants finished LouPlatte Conference runner up to #6 Kearney Catholic one point ahead of 3rd place Gibbon and 20 points ahead of #10 Wood River. Without #4 at 106 Rowse, they still managed two champs and nine medalists.
10. Raymond Central – 3rd place at Capitol Conference. The placed seven out of 9 wrestlers in the top four and had three champs.
10. Wood River – 4th place at LouPlatte Conference without the services of #2 Wyatt Allen. They had one champ and seven medalists. In Thursday duals, they had wins against Central Valley and Elkhorn Valley, but lost to D#2 Burwell.
Friday’s David City Invite featured 7 class C teams including 3rd ranked David City. It also featured B#1 Gretna who won the team title and A#5 Millard West who finished 2nd. D#3 Plainview only had four wrestlers competing.
Notable Results:
113: #2 Seth Styskal (David City) over #3 Lee Carlson (Sutton) 4-3
120: UR Anton Carlson (Sutton) over D#2 Dominique Rickard (Plainview) 15-12
138: UR Chandler Stone (Sutton) over D#4 Ryley Spatz (East Butler) 4-3
138: #1 Melvin Hernandez (David City) over A#6 Ben Holman (Millard West) by fall
170: #2 Jake Prochaska (Centennial) over A#3 Matt Sorich (Millard West) 4-2
220: #3 Garrett Davidson (Cross Co) over A#4 Alexander Dukart (Mil. West) SV 3-1
285: #3 Hunter Miller (Cross County) over B#3 Pat Arnold (Gretna) TB1 4-2
Other Friday tournaments featuring class C teams were the Madison Invite, RPAC Tournament, Gothenburg Invite and the Thayer Central Invite.
Other Notable Thursday/Friday results:
113: #5 Spencer Gaffney (Broken Bow) over B#2 Trevor Holley (Gothenburg) 3-2
120: #1 Clayton Glendy (Broken Bow) over B#6 Wyatt Hotz (Gothenburg) SV 5-3
120: #2 Evan Waddington (Wood Riv) over D#1 Alejandro Martinez (Elk Valley) 4-3
126: UR Chase Smith (Gibbon) over #6 Zach Rogers (Kearney Catholic) SV 11-9
132: #6 Jonah Heng (Norfolk Catholic) over #3 Cody Yawn (Pierce) 8-7
132: #5 Ty Heimes (Battle Creek) over #3 Cody Yawn (Pierce) 3-1
132: #5 Ty Heimes (Battle Creek) over #6 Jonah Heng (Norfolk Catholic) SV 10-5
132: UR Cole Ulmer (Broken Bow) over UR Dillon Micheel (Ainsworth) by fall
145: #4 Keegan Pope (Syracuse) over B#4 Rhett Trail (Nebraska City) by fall
152: #4 Jack Keating (Kearney Cath) over #3 Jacob Tracy (Gibbon) by major 11-3
152: UR Quinten Moles (Crofton) over D#4 at 160 Leland Bowder (Pender) by fall
182: UR Brady Dawson (Southern Valley) over D#6 Cody Downey (Southwest) 5-4
285: #6 Lane Hruby (Arcadia-LC) over D#4 Jacob Peterson (Amherst) by fall
There were several tournaments on Saturday featuring class C competition. However, the injury and illness bug appears to have hit the state as many marquee matchups failed to materialize.
The LouPlatte Conference tournament featured nine class C teams, three of which are in the top ten. Kearney Catholic was the team champion after nearly sweeping their finals matches.
Notable Results:
113: UR Tyric Beattie (Gibbon) over #4 Jacob Paczosa (St. Paul) by fall
120: #2 Evan Waddington (Wood River) over UR Daniel Escandon (Gibbon) 7-3
126: UR Austin Spike (Doniphan-Trum) over #6 Zach Rogers (Kearney Cath) SV 4-2
126: UR Tylor Tobler (Ravenna) over UR Austin Spike (Doniphan-Trumbull) by fall
132: #4 Carter Fleshman (Kearney Catholic) over UR Chase Bond (Wood River) 2-0
138: #3 Eric Pacheco (Kearney Cath) over UR Jared Hulinsky (St. Paul) by fall
152: #4 Jack Keating (Kearney Catholic) over #3 Jacob Tracy (Gibbon) 5-2
152: #1 Marc Zeckser (Doniphan-Trum) over #4 Jack Keating (Kearney Cath) by fall
160: UR Greg Keezer (Ravenna) over #6 Kaden Dawe (Ord) by fall
Other Saturday Tournaments:
At the Oakland-Craig Invitational, top ten teams Battle Creek and North Bend squared off. Battle Creek snapped North Bend’s consecutive tournament win streak at six. This tournament featured eight class C teams.
The Louisville Invite was a mixture of some strong Iowa schools along with class C and D. There were seven total class C teams including Wilber-Clatonia and Louisville who finished 1st and 2nd respectively.
Other Saturday tournaments featuring class C teams included the Capitol Conference, Centennial Conference, Chadron Invite, Aurora Duals, Mullen Invite, Lexington John Higgins Invite and the Neligh/Oakdale Invite.
Other Saturday Notable Results:
106: #1 Caydon McCracken (Battle Crk) over D#5 Koby Ellis (Winside) by major 8-0
106: UR Tyler Curtis (Ft Calhoun) over UR Nick Springer (Raymond Cent) by fall
113: #3 Lee Carlson (Sutton) over UR Sam Saldivar (Johnson County) by fall
113: #6 Brandon Schram (Tekamah) over UR Sam Saldivar (Johnson County) by fall
113: #6 Brandon Schram (Tekamah-Herman) over #3 Lee Carlson (Sutton) by fall
126: #1 Jordan Kelber (Valent) over D#4 Mitchell McKibben (Bayard) by major 12-4
132: #1 Max Hughes (Syracuse) over #2 Monte Mumm (Raymond Central) 5-2
132: #5 Ty Heimes (Battle Creek) over UR Armando Valencia (Logan View) 5-4
138: #6 Trenton Elliott (Tekamah) over UR Chandler Stone (Sutton) by major 12-4
138: UR Ty Burkle (Yutan) over #5 Preston Bussey (Battle Creek) by major 11-2
138: UR Ethan Mumm (Raymond Central) over #5 at 145 Dylan Hartline (Ft Calhoun)
145: #2 Grant Albrecht (Raymond) over #4 Keegan Pope (Syracuse) by major 8-0
160: UR Jaden Janssen (Crofton-Blm) over D#6 Brady Wortman (Creighton) by fall
285: #1 Riley Homolka (Wilber) over UR Noah Shumaker (Louisville) by fall