Week 6 is upon us! Many teams are starting to get to full health and set their final lineups as we head into conference season. Week 5 was on the lighter side as far as tournaments go but we still saw lots of dual action. #1 Millard South defeated Class B #2 Hastings. #3 Lincoln East defeated Class B #5 Bennington and won the Badger Duals. Grand Island went to the Clash where they went 3-3 against some very tough teams from around the Midwest.
Class A Wrestler of the Week
Kolby Lukasiewicz went undefeated at The Clash in Minnesota for Grand Island. He was one of two Islanders to go undefeated joining Daylon Keolavone. Kolby was 6-0 with four of his wins coming via bonus points. Because of his performance, he landed on The Clash’s All Tournament Team.
Class A Team of the Week
Papillion-LaVista won the 41st Annual Tom Dinnen Invite Championship. They took home first place with 219 points, finishing 22.5 points ahead of Burke. The Monarchs had two champions, Cole Price won the 152 pound bracket and Carson Maas won the 182 pound bracket. The Monarchs also had Ian Rudner (126) and Coleton Haggin (145) finish as runner ups. Jordan Bobier (120), Alex Morris (170) and Alek Abels (195) finished 3rd, Dominic Martinez (106) and Jacob Williams (113) place fourth, and Landon Roberts (138) and Jason Borttorff (160) finish fifth. Rounding out the place winners, was Kaden Johnson (220) in sixth.
Freshman of the Week
Adrian Bice from Columbus went 3-0 last week. He won the GNAC conference tournament. All three matches were first periods pins, including a :26 fall of Class B #8 Marcus Miller. He will need another big week this week as Columbus has a dual with #1 Millard South Thursday before competing in the always tough, Norm Manstedt Invite.
NEWrestle Top Ten-Where can you find them?
#1 Millard South 1/09 vs #3 Columbus 1/11 Cameron, MO Invite.
#2 Lincoln East 1/09 vs #5 Kearney 1/10-11 Norm Manstedt Invite
#3 Columbus 1/09 @ #1 Millard South 1/10-11 Norm Manstedt Invite
#4 Grand Island 1/09 vs North Platte 1/11 Atlantic, IA Invite.
#5 Kearney 1/09 @ #2 Lincoln East 1/10 Lincoln North Star Invite
#6 Omaha Burke 1/09 vs Papillion LaVista 1/10 Millard West Invite
#7 Omaha Central 1/10 Lincoln North Star Invite
#8 Papillion LaVista South 1/11 Beatrice Invite
#9 Bellevue East 1/11Bonner Springs, KS Invite
#10 Omaha Bryan 1/11 Wisner-Pilger Invite
Top Potential Matchups
#1 Kasten Grape vs #2 Tony Pray
Both wrestlers will enter the Manstedt invite undefeated. If they can navigate the tough tournament, it will be a rematch of last year’s 220lb state final where Grape got the best of Pray 8-4. Both wrestlers spent a lot of the off season competing in Freestyle and Greco tournaments, so they are both well seasoned. It would be a great match up of two titans!
#1 Conor Knopick vs #2 Tanner Kobza
Knopick has been tough all year, and he has not lost a match in state. The two squared off at Fracas in December, with Knopick getting the best of Kobza by 18-3 tech fall. Expect a lot of fireworks in this match. Kobza will definitely be eager for the rematch.
#1 Brandon Baustert vs #2 Archer Heelan
There is not a whole lot more to say about this match, as it has became a fun matchup over the past two years. Baustert did not compete at Fracas, so the two did not see each other. They did meet up though at Council Bluffs Classic where Baustert got the best of Heelan 6-1.
#1 Keith Smith vs #2 Adrian Bice
The two wrestlers met up at the Fracas, where Smith won 7-2. Smith is coming off a narrow loss to Kael Lauridsen at Bennington and Bice is coming off a GNAC title last weekend. The two wrestlers could meet up at the Manstedt Invite in what will be a fun match that was low scoring last time, but could always blow up to be an absolute scramble.
Thursday
Millard South vs Columbus
It will be a big time match up in Omaha with plenty of ranked match ups. Millard South is coming off a Tuesday night dual victory against Council Bluffs Lewis Central. Columbus is coming off a runner-up finish at the GNAC Conference tournament. The best match on paper for the night will come down at 132 pounds. A lot of eyes will be on the return of Antrell Taylor. He was medically cleared last Thursday, so it is just a matter of time before we see him back on the mat. Millard South enters the dual with eight ranked wrestlers while Columbus has seven.
Ranked match ups.
113 #3 Caleb Coyle vs #8 Blake Cerny
120 #5 Joel Adams vs #7 Clay Cerny
132 #1 Conor Knopick vs #2 Tanner Kobza
182 #4 Ian Byington vs #2 Anthony DeAnda
195 #3 Chris Wortman vs #1 Kasten Grape
#2 Lincoln East vs #5 Kearney
Last year, the two teams put on a show with Kearney claiming an epic 34-29 victory in a battle of top teams. It’s a new year this year but the storyline is the same. Top teams battling in front of a loud crowd with loaded lineups. What has become arguably the best rivalry in Class A, Lincoln East’s Brandon Baustert will wrestle Kearney’s Archer Heelan. They have gone back and fourth the last two years, with Baustert taking the most recent victory at the Council Bluffs Classic. They will headline a dual that features seven ranked wrestlers for Lincoln East and seven ranked wrestlers for Kearney.
Ranked match ups.
113 #1 Brandon Baustert vs #2 Archer Heelan
145 #2 Breckin Sperling vs #5 Gage Ferguson
Friday
Millard West Invite
Teams-#6 Omaha Burke, Millard West, Gretna, Lincoln Southwest, Omaha Westside, Papillion LaVista, South Sioux City
106
#5 Avery Russell-Milard West
#6 Logan Edwards-Omaha Westside
#8 Dominic Martinez-Papillion LaVista
113
#4 Julio Reyes-Omaha Burke
#6 Landon McLaughlin-Lincoln Southwest
#7 Nathan Hartman-Millard West
120
#3 Nathan Rubino-Omaha Burke
#6 Wyatt May-Millard West
126
#1 Jakason Burks-Omaha Burke
#4 Ian Rudner-Papillion LaVista
132
#7 Jaxon Marrow-Lincoln Southwest
138
#8 Jayden Looney-Omaha Burke
145
#6 Peyton Martinez-South Sioux City
#8 Coleton Haggin-Papillion LaVista
152
#1 Cole Price-Papillion LaVista
#5 Blaine Miller-Omaha Burke
160
#2 Deson Stapleton-Omaha Burke
170
#4 Ethan Valencia
182
#7 Carson Maas-Papillion LaVista
#8 Cole Haberman-Omaha Westside
195
#8 Jackson Arend-Gretna
220
#5 Breckin Heiman-Gretna
#7 Ryan Zatechka-Omaha Westside
#8 Eli Nitzel-Lincoln Southwest
285
#1 Cade Haberman-Omaha Westside
#5 Nolan Olafson-Omaha Burke
#7 Jacob Ngeleka-South Sioux City
Lincoln North Star Invite
Teams #5 Kearney, #7 Omaha Central, Lincoln North Star, Bellevue West, Elkhorn South, Fremont, Lincoln High, Lincoln Pius, Lincoln Southeast, Millard North, Omaha Benson, Omaha Northwest
113
#2 Archer Heelan
120
#2 Emilio Haynes
#8 Salomon Allerheiligan
126
#5 Rylie Steele-Kearney
#6 Pla Plot Soe-Lincoln High
#8 Grant Moraski-Bellevue West
132
#5 Daniel Schuman-Elkhorn South
138
#2 Brayden Smith-Kearney
#6 Chris Kueny-Omaha Central
145
#4 Peyton Meink-Millard North
#5 Gage Ferguson-Kearney
#7 Ray Hubbard-Omaha Central
152
#2 Deon Davis-Omaha Central
#3 Gauge Mcbride-Kearney
#7 Jackson Okereke-Lincoln High
160
#3 Guillermo Espinoza-Millard North
#7 Ayden Welch-Elkhorn South
#8 Brogan Zegars-Lincoln Southeast
170
#3 Justin Davis-Omaha Central
#8 Quinn Thew-Lincoln High
195
#4 Alex Abels-Kearney
#7 James Keller-Bellevue West
220
#4 Garrett Moser-Fremont
285
#2 Jacob Frezell-McClinton
#6 Jace Shiney-Millard North
#8 Garrett Beeck-Lincoln Pius
Where is the rest of Class A?
Norm Manstedt Invite-Creighton Prep
EMC Duals-Elkhorn
Beatrice Invite-Lincoln Northeast
Sioux City East Duals-Norfolk
Wisner-Pilger Invite-Omaha South
North Platte-Tri (Hastings, Scottsbluff)