By: Kevin Fries

Week Five of the wrestling season has historically been a quiet week with teams coming off the moratorium. However, in recent years this week has ramped up in the number, and quality of tournaments around the state as teams look to get back into the swing of things as quickly as possible after the holiday. Wrestlers are always excited to get back on the mat after the moratorium as they get their 2-pound present, which will allow some of them to finish their descent plans.

Where Can You Find Them?

Ord Dual Tournament
Teams:
Adams Central, Arlington (#6C), Burwell (#6D), Central City, Clearwater/Orchard, Conestoga, Northwest (#4B), Ord

Ranked Wrestlers:
106- #4B Grady Arends (Northwest)
113- #2B Tristen Obermiller (Adams Central); #6C Trevor Cooley (Arlington)
120- #3B Dyson Kunz (Central City); #3C Hunter Gilmore (Arlington)
126- #4B Collin Quandt (Northwest); #5D Coy Gideon (Burwell)
132- #2B Koby Bradenburg (Central City)
138- #2D Joel Ostrom (Burwell); #3C Talon Mues (Arlington)
145- #3C Josh Miller (Arlington)
170- #6B Dyllan Lee (Central City)
182- #2D Corey Dawe (Burwell); #5C Jesse Ulrich (Ord)
195- #2B Grady Griess (Northwest); #4C Remington Gay (Arlington)
220- #2B Cooper Kiser (Northwest); #6D Donovan Nolzle (Clearwater/Orchard)
285- #5C CJ Hoevet (Ord); #6B Marcos Martinez (Northwest)

What to Watch:
The Ord Dual Tournament showcases a nice mix of Class B, C and D teams, of which three of them are ranked in their respective classes – #4B Northwest, #6C Arlington and #6D Burwell. Teams like Ord and Central City also have solid teams which could make for a strong tournament.

The first-round pools have been set and are as below:
Pool A – Northwest, Adams Central, Ord, Clearwater/Orchard
Pool B – Central City, Arlington, Burwell, Conestoga

Northwest and Ord look to have the most depth in Pool A and should advance to the Championship Bracket. Pool B will be a three-team race between Central City, Arlington and Burwell. This Pool could easily come down to criteria to determine who advances.

Bennington Dual Tournament
Teams:
Ashland-Greenwood, Bellevue East (#9A), Bennington, Crete, Elkhorn South, Fairbury, Omaha Skutt Catholic (#1B), Ralston, Wahoo (#2B), Wayne

Ranked Wrestlers:
106 – #1A Gabe Grice (Bell East); #5B Zach Ourada (Skutt)
113 – #2A Garrett Grice (Bell East); #5B Michael Mass (Ralston)
126 – #3B Caleb Lazure (Skutt); #5A Daniel Derosier (Bell East)
132 – #3B Joey Orsi (Skutt)
138 – #2B Nicholas Stoltenberg (Skutt); #3B Juan Vergara (Wayne)
152 – #3B Zane Bennett (Wahoo)
160 – #3A Liam Kirk (Elk South)
170 – #3B Ace York (Fairbury)
182 – #1B Alex VanDyke (Skutt); #3B Seth Firmanik (Fairbury); #4B Kole Bordovsky (Wahoo)
195 – #1B Sam Kolterman (Wahoo); #3B Eli Jansen (Skutt)
220 – #4B Garrett Menke (Bennington)
285 – #1B Jack Sutton (Wahoo); #5B Tavion Leatherdale (Wayne)

What to Watch:
The Bennington Dual Tournament once again draws a very tough line-up, showcasing three ranked teams in #1B Omaha Skutt, #2B Wahoo and #9A Bellevue East. Last year, Bellevue East was the runner-up at this tournament. For this year’s tournament, teams are seeded based off the NSAA wildcard points. Teams will wrestle all teams in their pool and then have one cross pool dual (#1 in pool A vs. #1 in pool B, #2 vs. #2, etc.).

Pool A
Omaha Skutt
Bellevue East
Ralston
Wayne
Fairbury

Pool B
Wahoo
Bennington
Elkhorn South
Ashland-Greenwood
Crete

In Pool A, Omaha Skutt and Bellevue East should battle it out for the top spot, while Wahoo looks to be the team to beat in Pool B. Should it line up, an Omaha Skutt vs. Wahoo match-up could be a preview of things to come at the State Duals and State Tournament.

GNAC Tournament
Teams:
Columbus (#5A), Gering, Hastings (#6B), McCook, North Platte (#10B), Scottsbluff (#3B)

Ranked Wrestlers:
106 – #1B Paul Garcia (Scottsbulff)
113 – #1B Quinton Chavez (Gering); #3B Jaylan Ruffin (North Platte); #6A Clay Cerny (Columbus)
120 – #4A Tanner Kobza (Columbus); #6B Dylan Miller (Hastings)
126 – #1B Darian Diaz (North Platte); #2B Nate Rochleau (Gering); #5B Bryce Brown (Hastings)
132 – #1B Jerryd Hernandez (Scottsbluff); #4B Izaak Hunsley (Hastings); #5A Carter Kucera (Columbus)
145 – #1B Devontae Gutierrez (Scottsbluff); #6B Mason Brumbaugh (Hastings)
160 – #5A Avery McMeekin (Columbus); #5B Cash Arensdorf (North Platte)
170 – #1B Damen Pape (Hastings)
182 – #1A Carson Zwingman (Colubmus); #6B Alec Langan (McCook)
195 – #2A Anthony DeAnda (Columbus)
220 – #2A Kasten Grape (Columbus); #5B Collin Giron (McCook)
285 – #6A Eddie Loredo (Columbus)

What to Watch:
The first conference tournament of the year highlights Week 5 with the revised GNAC. Over the recent years, this conference has changed dramatically from what is was originally. However, the GNAC may prove to be one of the toughest wrestling conference tournaments in the state. This tournament has seven #1 ranked wrestlers in their respective classes/weights. Additionally, many
weights could set the tone for the upcoming district and state tournaments as teams like Scottsbluff, Gering, McCook and North Platte all land in the same district this year.