By Dru Kastler (@KastlerDA)

C2 District at Cross County High School

There are four top ten teams in this district including #2 David City, #7 Cross County, #8 Raymond Central and #9 Wood River. None of these teams are necessarily set up to run through a district tournament compared to their chances of a top ten finish in Omaha. Centennial has plenty of depth in their lineup and have several wrestlers projected to finish 4th in their district. They will certainly need to push as many as they can through and could potentially make a run to finish near the top of the district. Keep an eye out for Gibbon who is line to qualify as many as 8 wrestlers. Gibbon has rarely brought their whole team to a tournament at the same time, and assuming they do for districts, they should be very competitive. The C2 district is characterized by some extremely deep weights (152, 182) and some where there are opportunities for wrestlers with losing records to sneak in. Keep an eye on 160 and 170 as there may be other wrestlers willing bump up if they think their odds are better at qualifying in those weights.

106:
David City’s Styskal appears to be staying at 113 although he started the season at 106. If that winds up being the case for districts, then this weight will not feature any ranked wrestlers. Springer from Raymond Central looks to be the top seed here as there are no head to head or common opponents with the rest of the field. Forbes from Wood River has a head to head win over Schoephf from Centennial and has split matches with Zeckser from Doniphan-Trumbull. Zeckser and Forbes will likely meet in the semifinals.

Projected Qualifiers:
1. Nathan Springer (Raymond Central) 29-8
2. Koltyn Forbes (Wood River) 35-13
3. Landon Zeckser (Doniphan-Trumbull) 26-10
4. Wyatt Schoephf (Centennial) 28-21

Other Contenders:
Tay Guill (Wakefield) 13-17

113:
#2 Styskal from David City will be the top seed here. There appear to be four others vying for the other three spots. Beattie has a head to head win over Bond from Wood River. Bond common opponent over Schernikau of Centennial and head to head over Williams from Doniphan-Trumbull. Williams and Schernikau appear to be fairly evenly matched and should do battle to capture the fourth spot. If Styskal were to go down to 106 then his teammate Zach Barlean would be a factor at this weight and would definitely be in the mix for a district medal.

Projected Qualifiers:
1. #2 Seth Styskal (David City) 26-4
2. Tyric Beattie (Gibbon) 12-4
3. Ryan Bond (Wood River) 29-14
4. Gavin Schernikau (Centennial) 22-18

Other Contenders:
Lucas Williams (Doniphan-Trumbull) 11-13

120:
Returning finalist and 2nd ranked Evan Waddington is set to grab the top seed here. This weight has four very tough wrestlers as Carranza from Cross County has been ranked throughout the year in addition to #3 Styskal from David City. Escandon gave Waddington a tough battle at the LouPlatte tournament and he could give the others trouble at this weight. Waddington and Styskal have both defeated Carranza head to head this year. This weight has four clear cut favorites to push through to Omaha.

Projected Qualifiers:
1. #2 Evan Waddington (Wood River) 23-1
2. #3 Noah Styskal (David City) 32-5
3. Daniel Escandon (Gibbon) 24-6
4. Cristian Carranza (Cross County/Osceola) 28-7

126:
A potential clash between #2 Allan from Wood River and #3 White of David City is a possibility here, but they both will have to navigate through one of the deepest weights in the district. Allan has been very dominant this season in limited action, highlighted by an 8-0 major decision over returning D champ Pawloski, which happens to be his closest match of the year. Allan also has head to head tech fall over district opponent Smith from Gibbon. Smith head to head over Spike and returning medalist Mues. Mues has head to head over Albrecht. White only has one class C loss this year to #1 Kelber of Valentine 8-5 so he’s definitely capable of knocking of Allan.

Projected Qualifiers:
1. #2 Wyatt Allan (Wood River) 25-0
2. #3 Justin White (David City) 35-4
3. Chase Smith (Gibbon) 27-7
4. Talon Mues (Arlington) 22-8

Other Contenders:
Easton Albrecht (Raymond Central) 30-8
Austin Spike (Doniphan-Trumbull) 22-16

132:
Currently ranked #6 at 138, returning medalist Alex Dubas has made it down to 132 after starting the year at 145. He already has a head to head win over district challenger Lane Brown from Gibbon(7-5OT). Dubas should provide a challenge to 2nd ranked Mumm from Raymond Central who may wind up getting the 2nd seed now although his only losses in class C are to #1 Hughes from Syracuse. Wood River’s Bond has head to head over Brown from Gibbon and Trowbridge from Fillmore Central and common over Betzen from David City. Brown has common over Sauceda from St. Cecilia and Sauceda has a head to head over Trowbridge. There are lots of quality wrestlers at this weight class as well.

Projected Qualifiers:
1. #2 Monte Mumm (Raymond Central) 33-4
2. #6 @ 138 Alex Dubas (Cross County/Osceola) 35-2
3. Chace Bond (Wood River) 38-5
4. Lane Brown (Gibbon) 22-10

Other Contenders:
Lee Betzen (David City) 22-13
Parker Trowbridge (Fillmore Central) 36-10
J Sauceda (Hastings St. Cecilia) 19-13

138:
Top ranked Hernandez from David City is a heavy favorite to win this district and set up himself up for another state title run. Raymond Central’s Mumm seems to be a pretty clear 2nd seed as he has head to head over Avery from Centennial and Burkle from Yutan. Burkle has also defeated Avery. Avery has head to head over Lindsley from Shelby-Rising City. Burkle and Wegrzyn each have commons over each other so the seeding between them may come down to record, which gives Burkle the nod there. The wildcard at this weight is Tanner Staab from GICC who has a head to head win over Avery, but was defeated by Wegrzyn. On paper it looks like five wrestlers vying for the bottom two qualifying spots in another very deep weight.

Projected Qualifiers:
1. #1 Melvin Hernandez (David City) 30-2
2. Ethan Mumm (Raymond Central) 35-4
3. Ty Burkle (Yutan) 26-9
4. Gavin Avery (Centennial) 30-13

Other Contenders:
Nathanael Wegrzyn (Lincoln Christian) 29-15
Tanner Staab (GICC) 18-17
Grant Lindsley (Shelby-Rising City) 19-12

145:
Returning state runner up and 2nd ranked Albrecht from Raymond Central has had a phenomenal season and will be tough for the rest of the field to knock off. Isaac Verzani from Wakefield has common opponents over Lovan from Fillmore Central. Lovan has head to head over Songster and Thompson. Thompson has spent most of the season at 138, but appears to be at 145 for the remainder of the year. He does have a similar score in a loss comparable to Verzani. Behind Albrecht there are four quality wrestlers trying to snag one of the other three spots to Omaha.

Projected Qualifiers:
1. #2 Grant Albrecht (Raymond Central) 37-1
2. Isaac Verzani (Wakefield) 24-15
2. Christian Lovan (Fillmore Central) 36-10
3. Kain Songster (Centennial) 21-11

Other Contenders:
Camden Thompson (Wood River) 30-18

152:
There are three ranked wrestlers in this weight making it one of the most difficult to qualify from. #1 ranked Zeckser from Doniphan-Trumbull is on a tear this season with his closest match being a 7-point win. His one loss must have been on a slam as it was by DQ. Kult from Yutan is down from 160 and will likely have to get by Tracy from Gibbon in the semifinals as he has a head to head over Walla from Raymond Central. Tracy has a common opponent over Walla and holds common opponent over Lamoree from Cross County as well. Look for the possible quarterfinal match between Walla and Lamoree to determine the fourth place spot.

Projected Qualifiers:
1. #1 Marc Zeckser (Doniphan-Trumbull) 35-1
2. #4 Levi Kult (Yutan) 38-5
3. #6 Jacob Tracy (Gibbon) 21-5
4. Garrett Walla (Raymond Central) 26-11

Other Contenders:
Tanner Lamoree (Cross County/Osceola) 23-9

160:
This weight is by far the most wide open weight in the district. There are no ranked wrestlers here, but Meysenburg from Cross County has the best body of work in the field. Caneva from Lincoln Christian has head to head over Henkel from Yutan and Binfield from GICC. Henkel head to head over Koch from Arlington. Koch head to head over Caneva. Binfield head to head over Shultz from Shelby-Rising City and he and Sharp from Red Cloud/Blue Hill have commons over each other. Henkel, despite having a losing record was a state qualifier last year and is probably just getting into the swing of things after missing the majority of the season. Several wrestlers are essentially vying for the bottom three places.

Projected Qualifiers:
1. Trae Meysenburg (Cross County/Osceola) 31-8
2. Calvin Caneva (Lincoln Christian) 27-15
3. Clayton Koch (Arlington) 22-7
4. Tyler Henkel (Yutan) 8-9

Other Contenders:
Ethan Sharp (Red Cloud/Blue Hill) 21-13
Gerald Binfield (GICC) 14-15
Drew Schultz (Shelby-Rising City) 10-12

170:

Centennial’s Prochaska is having an outstanding junior season and should walk away with a district title. Murillo from Gibbon hasn’t been on the mat much, but his only three losses are all to ranked wresters from C and D and has a common opponent over Motis from Fillmore Central. Arlington freshman Gay is having a great year as well and looks to do battle with Motis for the 3rd place spot.

Projected Qualifiers:
1. #1 Jake Prochaska (Centennial) 43-1
2. Javier Murrillo (Gibbon) 14-3
3. Gatlin Motis (Fillmore Central) 27-17
4. Remington Gay (Arlington) 24-8

182:
This is the highlight weight of the district with three out of the top five ranked wrestlers in the state. Thomas from Wakefield has remained unbeaten throughout the season, his closest match being a 7-point victory over formerly ranked Ray from North Bend. Smith from Arlington has a similar 6-point win over Ray. Smith has only lost to A and B competition. Baasch has only one loss this season to 2nd ranked Reimers from Aquinas. This is a tough one to predict as the top three are all top notch wrestlers. Nantkes from Centennial is pretty clearly the fourth guy at this weight and owns wins over several of the other district competitors.

Projected Qualifiers:
1. #3 Cody Thomas (Wakefield) 25-0
2. #4 Riley Smith (Arlington) 30-4
3. #5 Brad Baasch (Doniphan-Trumbull) 36-1
4. Dylan Nantkes (Centennial) 22-6

195:
What 182 makes up for in ranked wrestlers, 195 makes up for in overall depth. Perhaps the deepest in the district there are at least eight wrestlers capable of qualifying out of this district. David City’s 2nd ranked Worm has separated himself from the rest of the field however, coming off a win over #1 Thompson from O’Neill. Kee from Gibbon looks to be in line for the 2nd seed as he has head to head over Guerrero from Wood River and common opponents over Schluckbeier of Lincoln Christian and Cast from Centennial. Cast has common over Guerrero and head to head over Motis from Fillmore Central. Schluckbeier has common opponent over Sanchez. Guerrero has head to head on Motis. Sanchez from Wakefield may have to be seeded on record because outside of Worm he hasn’t ran into the other wrestlers or common opponents for that matter. Ziemba from Yutan hasn’t wrestled since December, but he did have a close loss to Cast and has common opponent over Schluckbeier and Motis. Both Guerrero and Motis have spent time at 220 recently, possibly to test the waters about bumping up for the district tournament.

Projected Qualifiers:
1. #2 Ryan Worm (David City) 35-4
2. Wyatt Kee (Gibbon) 21-7
3. Caleb Cast (Centennial) 30-17
4. Logan Schluckbeier (Lincoln Christian) 26-9

Other Contenders:
Julio Sanchez (Wakefield) 24-9
Diego Guerrero (Wood River) 30-13
Travien Motis (Fillmore Central) 31-18
Trevor Ziemba (Yutan) 10-1

220:
2nd ranked Davidson from Cross County will look to best a tough field to win a district title and he does own pins over his top competition. Wakefield’s Barboza has a head to head over Eilers from David City and Eilers has a head to head over win over Bauers from Centennial. It looks like Eilers and Bauers should match up in the 4 vs 5 seed quarterfinal likely to determine a state qualifier. Keep an eye on the previously mentioned 195 lb wrestlers bumping up to attempt to qualify at 220 instead. Guerrero from Wood River was giving Smyth from Gibbon all he could handle before getting pinned.

Projected Qualifiers:
1. #2 Garrett Davidson (Cross County/Osceola) 36-0
2. Moises Barboza (Wakefield) 21-3
3. Collin Smyth (Gibbon) 27-5
4. Matthew Eilers (David City) 27-13

Other Contenders:
Kalten Bauers (Centennial) 29-14

285:
#3 Miller from Cross County, like teammate Davidson, should be able to keep his undefeated record in tact through districts with an eye on a state title. He owns wins by pin over the other projected qualifiers. GICC’s Spies has a head to head win over Bender from Centennial and common opponent over Moses from Fillmore Central. Moses has head to head over Bender and Murillo from Gibbon. Watts from Shelby-Rising City has head to head over Bender as well.

Projected Qualifiers:
1. #3 Hunter Miller (Cross County/Osceola) 33-0
2. Dalton Spies (GICC) 18-9
3. Riley Moses (Fillmore Central) 39-6
4. Jose Murillo (Gibbon) 23-11

Other Contenders:
Clayton Watts (Shelby-Rising City) 8-5
Cody Bender (Centennial) 16-12