Last week we saw the majority of Class A in the Metro and Heartland conference tournaments. Millard South won the Metro with 250 points, nearly 90 points better than runner up Papillion LaVista. All 14 wrestlers placed with Caleb Coyle, Tyler Antoniak, Antrell Taylor and Isaac Trumble taking home championships. Kearney won the HAC tournament with 228 points, outlasting Lincoln East by 11 points. The Bearcats had 13 placers with Brayden Smith and Guage McBride taking home titles. North Platte went out to Wyoming and competed in the Trojan Borader War duals. Jaylan Ruffin and Darian Diaz went undefeated on the day.

Class A Wrestler of the Week.

Caleb Connor from Papillion LaVista South is this weeks wrestler of the week. After competing for most of the season at 152 pounds Connor moved up to 160 and won the Metro Championship with a 3-0 victory over #2 Deson Stapleton from Burke. He also defeated #4 (170) Ethan Valencia from Millard West in the semifinals by fall. Connor’s weekend landed him at #2 in this week’s rankings.

Class A Team of the Week.

Millard South continued their dominance this season. They had 14 placers at the Metro’s The aforementioned Coyle, Antoniak, Taylor and Trumble won first. In second was Conor Knopick and Scott Robertson. Joel Adams and Ian Byington finished in third. Fifth place had Connor Hoy, Chris Wortman and Blake Smith. Aiden Robertson finished in sixth. Bryce Jackson finished seventh. Austin Sloger finished in eighth. South’s 250 points was 90 points better than the runner up. The Patiots had 27 pins in the tournament.

Class A Freshman of the Week.

Tyler Durden from Papillion LaVista South has already had an impressive freshman campaign. On Saturday he continued his hot streak finishing in third in his first Metro Conference tournament. After losing in the semifinals to Bryan junior, Mohamud Abdi, he battled back for a third place finish. He defeated #5 Avery Russell in the consolations semifinals 6-0 before defeating #6 Logan Edwards by major decision 12-4 in the third place match.

Class A Top Ten-Where can you find them?

#1 Millard South 1/25 Plattsmouth Invite

#1 Lincoln East 1/23 Triangular (Lincoln High, Lincoln Northeast) 1/25 Bishop Heelan Invite (Sioux City, IA)

#3 Omaha Central 1/23 Bryan Dual Tournament

#4 Columbus 1/24 @ Kearney, 1/25 UNK Midwest Duals

#5 Grand Island Idle

#6 Kearney 1/24 Columbus, 1/25 UNK Midwest Duals

#7 Papillion LaVista South Idle

#8 Omaha Burke 1/23 @ Bennington, 1/25 Burke Invite

#9 North Platte 1/25 John Higgins Invite (Lexington)

#10 Norfolk 1/25 Lexington John Higgins Invite (Lexington)

Top Potential Matchups

#1A Isaac Trumble (Millard South) vs #1B Grady Griess (Northwest)

A rematch from The Fracas. Two nationally ranked wrestlers going at it in Plattsmouth. Trumble got the first period fall in their first match up. Expect Griess to attack the match differently. It will be another good battle of two titans.

#2A Darian Diaz (North Platte) vs #2B Trevor Reinke (Beatrice)

After missing the first half of the season, Diaz has not missed a beat in his return. He will have a tough match up with Reinke from Beatrice who has been wrestling tough all season and coming off an impressive off season.

#4A Brayden Splater (Norfolk) vs #2B Izaak Hunsley (Hastings)

Hunsley has already knocked off a number of ranked wrestlers from Class A, including a 4-0 victory over Splater at The Fracas. Splater finished runner up at the HAC tournament last weekend and will look to ride that momentum into this weekend

#1A Gavyn Brauer (North Platte) vs #1B Damen Pape (Hastings)

Brauer took over the top spot after pinning the former #1 Daylon Keolavone from Grand Island a little over a week ago. Now he gets Class B #1 Damen Pape. The returning state champion has yet to drop a match this season and will look to remain undefeated.

#1A Antell Taylor (Millard South) vs #2B Noah Talmadge (Ralston)

Taylor is still fresh off his return for the patriots after a football injury. He will potentially wrestle against off season teammate Talmadge from Ralston. The two wrestlers are very familiar with each other and will get to battle it out in Plattsmouth on Saturday

Thursday

Coach Kottich Classic (Omaha Bryan)

Teams (Dual Rankings)

#7 Omaha Bryan

#10 Omaha Central

Omaha Benson

Omaha South

Auburn

South Sioux City

Ranked Wrestlers

106

#4 Muhomud Abdi-Omaha Bryan

113

#6 Noor Salat-Omaha Bryan

120

#2 Emilio Haynes

126

#5 Ryan Turner-Omaha Central

#6 Abdi Muhomud-Omaha Bryan

132

#6 Gabe Grice

138

#7B Trenton Ford-Auburn

145

#5 Peyton Martinez-South Sioux City

#6 Ray Hubbard-Omaha Central

152

#2 Deon Davis-Omaha Central

170

#3 Justin Davis-Omaha Central

#8 Chase Pockett-Omaha Bryan

220

#2 Jaylon Walker-Omaha Bryan

#6 Mikey Vasquez-Omaha South

285

#2 Jacob Frezell-McClinton-Omaha Central

#6 Jacob Ngeleka-South Sioux City

Friday

#4 Kearney vs #5 Columbus

The two teams will face off for a second time this season. They will also wrestle Saturday at the UNK Midwest Duals. Kearney won this match up at the Fracas 48-29. Both teams will look different this time around with weight descents and guys coming off of injuries. There will be a few of ranked matchups to keep an eye on. Kearney enters the dual with eight ranked wrestlers while Columbus has seven.

#2 Adrian Bice (Columbus) vs #8 Perry Swarm (Kearney)

#4 Gauge McBride (Kearney) vs #8 Rylee Iburg (Columbus)

#2 Kasten Grape (Columbus) vs #5 Alex Hunt (Kearney)

Saturday

UNK Midwest Duals

Teams

#4 Kearney

#5 Columbus

Gretna

#4 (4A) Broomfield, CO

Cheyenne Central, WY

Schedule

Round 1 Columbus vs Gretna, Central vs Broomfield

Round 2 Columbus vs Kearney, Gretna vs Broomfield

Round 3 Kearney vs Broomfield, Gretna vs Central

Round 4 Kearney vs Central, Columbus vs Broomfield

Round 5 Kearney vs Gretna, Columbus vs Central

Ranked Wrestlers

106

#2 Adrian Bice-Columbus

#8 Perry Swarm-Kearney

113

#2 Archer Heelan-Kearney

#4 Isaac Lopez-Cheyenne Central

120

#6 Clay Cerny-Columbus

#4 Adam Roberts-Cheyenne Central

126

#4 Rylie Steele-Kearney

#4 Ryan Vigil-Broomfield

132

#5 Tanner Kobza-Columbus

138

#2 Brayden Smith-Kearney

145

#4 Gage Ferguson-Kearney

#1 Darren Green-Broomfield

#3 Johnathon Vroman-Cheyenne Central

152

#4 Guage McBride-Kearney

#8 Rylee Iburg-Columbus

170

#2 Blayze Standley-Columbus

#6 Jack Larchick-Gretna

#4 Nathan Rundberg-Cheyenne Central

182

#3 Anthony DeAnda-Columbus

#2 Antonio Welch-Soto-Broomfield

195

#2 Kasten Grape-Columbus

#7 Jackson Arend-Gretna

220

#8 Dario Rodriguez-Kearney

#1 Bryant Walker-Broomfield

285

#2 Tyler Carpenter-Broomfield

Omaha Burke Invite

Teams

#7 Omaha Burke

Lincoln Pius

Omaha Benson

Omaha North

Omaha Northwest

Omaha Roncalli

Omaha South

Omaha Westside

Ranked Wrestlers

120

#4 Nathan Rubin-Omaha Burke

126

#1 Jakason Burks-Omaha Burke

138

#7 Jaden Looney-Omaha Burke

160

#3 Deson Stapleton-Omaha Burke

182

#6 Tyler Stewart-Omaha North

220

#6 Mikey Vasquez-Omaha South

#7 Ryan Zatechka-Omaha Westside

285

#1 Cade Haberman-Omaha Westside

#5 Nolan Olafson-Omaha Burke

Where can you find the rest of Class A?

Plattsmouth Invite-Bellevue East, Elkhorn, Lincoln High

Lincoln NE Invite-Lincoln Northeast, Creighton Prep, Elkhorn South, Fremont, Lincoln North Star, Lincoln Southeast, Millard North, South Sioux City

John Higgins Invite-Lincoln Southwest

David City Invite-Millard West

Holton Invite (KS)-Omaha Bryan

Idle-Grand Island, Papillion LaVista South, Papillion LaVista