Team Race Preview and Predictions:

It’s safe to say that things are now very interesting from a team perspective in Class C. Just a few points separate the top four teams. Valentine has just four predicted medalists compared to five for Ord/David City and six for Aquinas. Odds are that the team race won’t be settled until Saturday.

1st: Valentine – Valentine will need to hope for some extra points from district fourth place finishers Lurz, Olson and Battershaw. They’re likely to pick up 28-30 points from Krolikowski and Olson which should help push them up over 100 total points. Williams has had close matches with a few of the others in his class, but if he advance to the finals he should score somewhere around 25. If McGinley at 145 can make the finals that might help them lock up their fourth straight team title.

2nd: David City – The Scouts had a phenomenal district tournament and set themselves up to challenge for the team title. They should get some big points from 170-285. Their tournament should come down to the performance of the rest of their group. Can Harris at 132 keep his momentum going and grab a state medal? If district champ Jacson Valentine at 145 can pull a minor upset in the quarterfinals and Bongers at 106 can scrap his way to a medal then we could have a new team champ this year.

3rd: Aquinas – The Monarchs have the most qualifiers and their depth should help push them towards a top two finish. It’s really a matter of how high their medalists finish as to how high the team does. Right now it looks like Nickolite at 138 is a pretty good bet to make the finals. Other than that solid performances from Vandenberg, Zitek and others will be a necessity to compete with the top end points from the other top five teams.

4th: Ord – The Chanticleers have been as high as second in the rankings. With five qualifiers the margin for error is slim as far as capturing a team title goes. All five qualifiers are predicted in the top six with four of them finishing in the top three.

5th: Archbishop Bergan – The Knights pushed seven through to Omaha and have to like their chances for high finishes from their big guns at 120, 182, 220 and 285. Can they get some extra points from Janke at 132, Marchand at 160 and McIntyre at 170? All three appears to capable of getting some wins for their team in Omaha which will be huge for them to move up the top five.

6th: Broken Bow – The Indians should get big points from Duda at 182 and have a potential state champ in Faulkenberry at 126, but if he is able to navigate a very tough bottom half of the bracket at 126 then he has to feel good about his chances in a fourth match with Williams. They have two other predicted medalists in Trey Garey and Austin Cole. If Keifer Anderson and Tyler Thomas can snag medals then they may be able to finish higher that sixth.

7th: Amherst – The Broncos will be looking to finish in the top five. Shields at 126 is part of that super tough 126 bottom part of the bracket, and if he’s able to medal that will go a long way to crack the top five teams. Predicted champ Frank will score some good points and Stokebrand and Potts are predicted top three finishers. Bogard and Taubenheim can help boost them up the team standings.

8th: Bridgeport – The Bulldogs bring six to Omaha. They have potential champs in Benavides at 113 and Widener at 138. They also have potential medalists in Cooper at 120, Menke at 152 and Warren at 170.

9th: Milford – The Eagles been floating around this spot in the rankings throughout the season. They have big points coming from Schluckebier at 113, Zegers at 126 and Scdoris at 145. All three have the potential to capture individual state titles. Vondra at 120 and Springer at 160 had great district tournaments and if these two can snag state medals they’ll be able to finish much higher in the team standings.

T10th: Logan View – The Raiders bring ten to Omaha which should that added depth should really help them push up the top ten. They have some tough roads and are in a similar position as last year where they were a fringe top ten team but had a great performance in Omaha. They’ve had a wild year with injuries and weight changes, but don’t count out the Raiders to push toward the top five.

T10th: Raymond Central – The Mustangs have three potential champs in Albrecht at 120, Bryce at 132 and Kreikemier at 152. With just one other qualifier in Gavin Soden they’re going to need great performances from their top guys and some help from Soden to help climb the team ladder.

Other Conetnders:

Conestoga – The Cougars bring a group of seven to the state tournament and most of them have state medalist potential. A good state tournament for this squad could result in a top ten finish.

Wilber-Clatonia – The Wolverines are a in a similar boat as Conestoga is. They have plenty of potential medalists throughout their lineup and if they get some momentum going will push for a top ten finish.

Individual Weight Breakdown:

106:

Top Half:
Without any returning medalists at 106 we’ll see a complete new slate of wrestlers with medals around their necks. On the top side of the bracket look for Zach Bongers and Aaron Ohnoutka to meet in the quarterfinals. This match should be a close one as they each have common opponents over each other. Bongers tore through his district tournament in impressive fashion. In the other quarterfinal we’re looking at Riley Waddington and Trevin Edwards to meet up for the third time this season. They were both close matches that ended in wins by fall for Waddington. Waddington won 7-2 over tough first round opponent Barger earlier this season. Look for all-freshman semifinal here with Waddington and Ohnoutka.

Bottom Half:
Top ranked Trenton Arlt and Barret Brandt was mentioned as one of the marquee first round matches. Assuming Arlt beats Brandt for the third time this year he should see Ashton Johnson in the quarterfinals. Arlt has won convincingly over Johnson twice this season. Johnson should have a solid chance at coming back for a medal even if he drops that one. The other quarter of this bracket is a good one. Look for Ely Olberding and the winner of Sam Luther and Jacob McGee to meet in the quarterfinals. Olberding has yet to lose in Class C this year so we expect him to advance to the semifinal round and square off against Arlt in a #1 vs #2 match. That one should be an extremely close match in which we’ll give the slight edge to the upperclassman Arlt in a toss-up type match.

Other Notes:
Determining the sixth place finisher at this weight is tough. Assuming Bongers, Ohnoutka, Waddington and Edwards all make the quarters the one of them will not reach the medal stand. Throw in Brandt there in the consolations and two out of those five will not place. That leaves the quarterfinalists from the bottom side. Some of the others in the weight like Johnson, Barger, Luther, and McGee all have some sort of conflicting results that make them all legitimate medal contenders. Really fun weight to kick things off.

Medalist Predictions:
1st: Trenton Arlt (Oakland-Craig)
2nd: Riley Waddington (Wood River)
3rd: Ely Olberding (Fort Calhoun)
4th: Aaron Ohnoutka (Bishop Neumann)
5th: Trevin Edwards (Loomis/Bertrand)
6th: Ashton Johnson (Twin River)

Darkhorse:
Zach Bongers (David City)

113:

Top Half:
It’s very possible that we have two district second place finishers in the semifinals with #3 Zack Dickau and #4 Gavin Dozler. The winners of those two districts happen to be #1 and #2 in the state and they are both on the bottom side. Dozler has a tough match to kick things off against returning medalist Jacob Hilmer. If he wins that one he’ll have Fort Calhoun freshman Lance Olberding in what should be a very close quarterfinal match. Dickau will have to get through Jaimes of Wilber-Clatonia in the first round before likely seeing David City’s Simon Schindler in the quarters. Dickau and Dozler could have met at the Gibbon Bill Foster Invite this year, but it was cancelled due to weather. So we’ll just have to guess on how that match will go if it happens in the semifinals.

Bottom Half:
Crash course between the top two in the state Casey Benavides and Konner Schluckebier for the second straight season. Benavides won that semifinal match last year. Benavides quarterfinal opponent will be the winner of Fillmore Central standout freshman Schademann and returning qualifier Escandon. Schluckebier will be tested right out of the gate against Gage Musser from Hershey who dropped a narrow 8-5 decision to Benavides recently. It was Musser who gave four time finalist McCracken a scare in the first round last year. Schluckebier will most likely see returning medalist Bridgmon in the quarters. They wrestled once this year with Schluckbier winning by fall. We’ll have to go with past history and go with #1 Benavides to advance from the bottom side.

Other Notes:
There was a little bit of a question on Benavides health heading into districts. He seemed to have put that to bed a bit in the district finals handing #3 Dickau his first loss of the season. Musser has a 2-1 record against Hilmer in what could be a place match. Both may have to battle back from first round losses to medal. Other medal contenders include Bridgmon, along with freshmen Lance Olberding and Alex Schademann.

Medalist Predictions:
1st: Casey Benavides (Bridgeport)
2nd: Zack Dickau (Hi-Line)
3rd: Konner Schluckebier (Milford)
4th: Gavin Dozler (Boone Central)
5th: Gage Musser (Hershey)
6th: Jacob Hilmer (Loomis/Bertand)

Darkhorse:
Lance Olberding (Fort Calhoun)

120:

Top Half:
Looking like we’ll see a rematch between Hunter Vandenberg of Aquinas and Trey Garey from Broken Bow in on quarterfinal. Vandenberg won that match 11-6 in the regular season. In the other we’ll have top ranked Caden Arps against the winner of returning medalist Mueller of and Milford returning qualifier Vondra. Expect Arps and Vandenberg to meet up in a huge semifinal match. Arps and Vandenberg haven’t met this season as Vandenberg didn’t wrestle the week the two teams met up at the Centennial Conference.

Bottom Half:
Six out of the eight wrestlers on the bottom side have spent time in the rankings this season. Battle Creek’s Carter King and Braden Ruffner of Conestoga should be an awesome first round match. The winner of that one will take on the winner of returning finalist Dylan Ancheta and Chance Cooper of Bridgeport. The bottom quarter will pit returning qualifier Matt Bruns against freshman Trev Arlt, with the winner likely taking on Mitch Albrecht. Albrecht and Ancheta in the semifinal on the bottom should be a great match if they both indeed get to that point.

Other Notes:
Grant Wells from Lincoln Lutheran became the school’s first state qualifier in wrestling.

It seems like there isn’t much that separates the top four guys at this weight. Arps beat Ancheta by one in the district finals and Albrecht is 2-1 against Vandenberg. There’s no absolute clear favorite, but we’re going with the returning state champion from that group in Arps. After the top four there’s probably about 7 or 8 guys capable of snagging a medal at this weight. Along with 132, 145 and 152 this is one of the deeper weights in Class C this year.

It’s also worth noting that there isn’t a single senior in this entire weight. Not something you see very often outside of 106.

Medalist Predictions:
1st: Caden Arps (Archbishop Bergan)
2nd: Mitch Albrecht (Raymond Central)
3rd: Hunter Vandenberg (Aquinas)
4th: Dylan Ancheta (Wood River)
5th: Trey Garey (Broken Bow)
6th: Carter King (Battle Creek)

Darkhorse:
Matt Bruns (Hershey)

126:

Top Half:
HUGE quartfinal match could happen between Valentine’s Chris Williams and Zach Zitek of Aquinas. That was the C113 State Final match. Those two also wrestled a close one at the state duals. oth matches went in favor of Williams. Zitek should get a good test first round from Doniphan-Trumbull’s Drake Belville. The other quarter on the top side doesn’t have any ranked wrestlers. The winner of Valencia and Patak will likely see Dalton Anderson of Ponca in the quarterfinals with a state medal on the line.

Bottom Half:
Along with the top side of 220 this is probably the toughest half of a bracket this year. Returning state champ Danny Escandon will have a tough first round match against Chini from Conestoga who has been ranked throughout the season. Escandon will likely see Amherst returning medalist Isaiah Shields in the quarters. They haven’t met this season but Escandon did finish ahead of Shields at the Wood River Invite in December. The other quarter on the bottom side will be between Casey Faulkenberry and Ethan Zegers. Both are ranked in the top four. They met once this season in an overtime match won by Faulkenberry. The winner will most likely see Escandon in the semis. It was Escandon who beat Faulkenberry in the semifinals last year at state.

Other Notes:
Williams is looking for his third state title. He won’t have an easy time achieving that feat with Zitek and whoever comes out of the bottom side. Faulkenberry has one win against Williams and was just a few seconds away from notching another in the district finals. It’s unfortunate that the bottom side of this bracket could have four wrestlers in the top six in the quarters. This means one of them won’t medal. Hard to call a multiple state medalist like Shields a dark horse, but the top guys at this weight are as tough as they get.

Medalist Predictions
1st: Chris Williams (Valentine)
2nd: Casey Faulkenberry (Broken Bow)
3rd: Daniel Escandon (Gibbon)
4th: Ethan Zegers (Milford)
5th: Zach Zitek (Aquinas)
6th: Nathan Patak (Wilber-Clatonia)

Darkhorses:
Isaiah Shields (Amherst)
Dalton Anderson (Ponca)

132:

Top Half:
Top ranked Quentyn Frank should be favored to navigate the top side of this bracket. He’ll have a tough first round match against returning qualifier Taylor from Columbus Scotus before wrestling the winner of Thompson from Wood River and Lokken from Wilber-Clatonia. The other quarter on the top side will have a nice first round match with district champ Lade and returning medalist Olson squaring off. Lade beat Olson 4-1 at the state duals. Look for Lade to advance and wrestle Cameron Williams from Conestoga in the quarters. Lade won that match at state duals so look for him to reach the semifinals against Frank.

Bottom Half:
Monster first round match with two top five wrestlers in Caleb Eggleston and Chris Feldner. The winner of that one will have #3 Bryce in the quarterfinals. In the bottom quarter another good first round match with Harris and Rowse should take place. The winner of that one will face either Scott from Aquinas or Janke from Bergan. While Scott is the fourth place finisher from his district, he does have a win over Janke this season.

Other Notes:
A lot of talk this season about wrestlers dropping down from 132 to come here. Will it be the mainstay at this weight Bryce that makes it out of the bottom side? Six others on the bottom side all started the year at 138 and made drops to 132 after the holiday break.

Medalist Predictions
1st: Quentyn Frank (Amherst)
2nd: Colton Rowse (Ord)
3rd: Logan Bryce (Raymond Central)
4th: Christopher Feldner (Kearney Catholic)
5th: Owen Lade (Battle Creek)
6th: Caleb Eggleston (Johnson County)

Darkhorse:
Clayton Harris (David City)

138:

Top Half:
Valentine’s Gage Krolikowski will be seeking his fourth state title and looking to cap an unbeaten season for the third time. His road likely goes through Wilber-Clatonia’s Colby Homolka int he quarterfinals followed by a match with fellow unbeaten Cameron Graham of Cross County/Osceola in the semis. Graham should have a tough quarterfinal against McNulty of Logan View who is a returning state medalist and actually moved up from 132 late in the season.

Bottom Half:
Pretty confident that the bottom side will see second ranked Chris Nickolite punch his ticket to the state finals as a sophomore. Nickolite has a 6-1 win over potential quarterfinal opponent Austin Cole. The other quarter on the bottom is interesting. District champ Zack Barlean flipped a 10-4 loss to McNulty into a district final win by major decision the next week. If that version of Barlean comes to the state tournament he could make the semifinals. With a first round win he’d see the winner of Perez and Fairbanks in the quarterfinals.

Other Notes:
Would have been cool to see Nickolite/Graham in the semifinal with the winner moving on to wrestle Krolikowski. Krolikowski beat Nickolite by fall at the state duals. Coin flip on Homolka or McNulty there coming back through consolations that could be a great match in the heartbreak round.

Medalist Predictions
1st: Gage Krolikowski (Valentine)
2nd: Christopher Nickolite (Aquinas)
3rd: Cameron Graham (Cross County/Osceola)
4th: Zack Barlean (David City)
5th: Hunter McNulty (Logan View)
6th: Austin Cole (Broken Bow)

Darkhorse:
Colby Homolka (Wilber-Clatonia)

145:

Top Half:
Top side of 145 has another four wrestlers in the top six that could be in the quarterfinals. Again, that means one of those four doesn’t medal. Third place at C132 last year, David City’s Jacson Valentine will square off against returning medal winner Oren Pozehl in the first round. Pozehl hasn’t logged a ton of matches this year, but is a tough opponent. Winner of that one will likely see Gavin Lampman from Wisner-Pilger. Lampman has been as high as #2 in the rankings this season. Norfolk Catholic’s Wyatt Smydra has a tough one first round against fellow returning medal winner Schrad from Aquinas. A win there would pair Smydra up against Widener from Bridgeport who has finished 3rd and 4th the past two seasons. This top side should be an absolute brawl from the start to see who makes it to the finals.

Bottom Half:
It really doesn’t get much easier on the bottom side of this weight either. Returning state runner-up Scdoris has been ranked anywhere from 2nd to 5th this season. He is coming off a district final win over #3 Lampman by major. He’ll see the winner of Daake/Dorsey in the quarterfinals. That Daake/Dorsey match should be one those low scoring 3-2, 2-1 type bouts. The other quarter has #1 McGinley who was beaten in the district finals by #2 Widener. McGinley has returning qualifier Williams of Doniphan-Trumbull in the first round before facing the winner of Bryce Reed from Cross County and Jacob Dragon of Conestoga. Fully expect to see a Scdoris/McGinley semifinal.

Other Notes:
Wrestling is a funny sport. McGinley had beaten Widener I believe three times in a row by major decision going back to last season (once this season). Then somehow that match goes in Widener’s favor the last two matches. There’s a good chance McGinley/Widener could meet in the finals. Both have significant hurdles to get to that point though. Scodris district final performance was impressive to say the least so we’ll give him the nod at this weight.

Medalist Predictions
1st: Jeaven Scdoris (Milford)
2nd: Trevor Widener (Bridgeport)
3rd: Morgan McGinley (Valentine)
4th: Gavin Lampman (Wisner-Pilger)
5th: Wyatt Smydra (Norfolk Catholic)
6th: Levi Dorsey (Johnson County)

Darkhorse:
Jacson Valentine (David City)

152:

Top Half:
Gavin Zoucha really rocketed up the rankings this year, reaching #1 before current #1 Hinrichs dropped from 160. He has a win over his likely quarterfinal opponent in Nolan Eller of Aquinas by a score of 4-1. Eller should face a tough test in the first round from Menke of Bridgeport. The other top quarter has a ranked match in the first round between Conner Kreikemeier and Tryon Calleroz. The winner should see North Bend’s Ethan Mullaly in the quarterfinals. Kreikemeier beat Mullaly 8-2 earlier in the season. Looking for a semifinal match between Zoucha and Kreikemeier. Zoucha won that one in overtime. Again four wrestlers in the top six into the quarterfinals.

Bottom Half:
Ord’s Garret Kluthe has just one loss at 152 to D#2 Gunning. Big quarterfinal match against Lindsley of Shelby-Rising City with the winner advancing to the semifinals. The other quartefinal should see Joe Hinrichs squaring off against the winner of Valdivia and Nuttleman in the quarters. Hinrichs beat Kluthe in a bloody match at Wood River when both were at 160.

Other Notes:
Hinrichs enters as the favorite. However there just isn’t a ton that separates the top 10 or so guys at this weight. Look for plenty of close matches in the early going as evidenced by the regular season results between a lot of these wrestlers.

Medalist Predictions
1st: Joseph Hinrichs (Sutton)
2nd: Gavin Zoucha (Malcolm)
3rd: Garret Kluthe (Ord)
4th: Conner Kreikemeier (Raymond Central)
5th: Nolan Eller (Aquinas)
6th: Grant Lindsley (Shelby-Rising City)

Darkhorse:
Ethan Mullaly (North Bend)

160:

Top Half:
Top ranked Chase Olson of Valentine will look to end his career with a state title. He’s coming off of a 5-0 district win over #2 Schutz, handing Schutz his first loss of the season. He’ll face the dangerous Tyson Rasmussen in the first round. Rasmussen owns a win over B#1 Miller. Olson’s quarterfinal match will be the winner of Kunc/Vrana. That one should be a pretty even first round match. On the other quarter we have #3 Dylan Jones from Louisville who is a very heavy favorite to advance to the semifinals.

Bottom Half:
Schutz as we mentioned suffered his first loss of the season to Olson in the C4 final. Expect that one to be a preview of the state finals. Schutz will have a scappy Ty Miller of Logan View in the opening round, then will likely see Hinrichs in quarterfinals. The other quarter had surprise district winner Carter Springer from Milford. He’ll see a tough Mendez from Norfolk Catholic in the first round. Jaxson Jones from Twin River will be the favorite in the quarterfinals against the Springer/Mendez winner. #4 Halverson of Gordon-Rushville didn’t wrestle at districts, but his teammate Kaden Vincent did and had a fantastic district tournament. He’ll wrestle Jones in the first round.

Other Notes:
While underdogs in their opening matches, look for Rasmussen and Miller to advance to the heartbreak round with a chance at a medal.

Medalist Predictions
1st: Chase Olson (Valentine)
2nd: Conner Schutz (Hi-Line)
3rd: Dylan Jones (Louisville)
4th: Jaxson Jones (Twin River)
5th: Gavin Hinrichs (Fillmore Central)
6th: Samuel Vrana (Bishop Neumann)

Darkhorses:
Tyson Rasmussen (St. Paul)
Ty Miller (Logan View

170:

Top Half:
After suffering some sort of injury at the Norm Manstedt Invite in mid-January, Burton Brandt’s season appeared to be in jeopardy. Fast forward one month and he tore through a VERY tough district in dominant fashion. That district title has set him up nicely for a run to the state finals. His first round match against Gunnar Battershaw is an interesting one, Battershaw missed a big chunk of time this season as well. Ranked fourth in the state, Battershaw finished in that spot at the district tournament. Winner in that one will have Virka/Cleveland winner to advance to semis. Josh Warren and Koa McIntyre is another good first round match with Warren being the district champ out of C4 and McIntyre being fourth in C1. Expect that one to be close and the winner maybe holding a slight edge in the quarters over winner of Thompson and Maline.

Bottom Half:
Two ranked first round matches between Zoucha/Meyer and Drahota/Hoesing in the first round. Zoucha has a win over Meyer so look for him to advance to quarters to wrestle #1 Vodicka. The winner of Drahota/Hoesing has a good shot at the semifinals. Ben Kment of Aquinas is the likely quarterfinal opponent there. Meyer and Drahota may drop those first round matches and work through to the heartbreak round for a fourth meeting of the season to get on the medal stand. Meyer has a 2-1 edge over Drahota, but Drahota has the most recent win.

Other Notes:
C1 and C4 were by far the toughest two districts with 7 total ranked wrestlers. The random bracket draws have those two districts squaring off in the first round so keep an eye on all four of those matches. The question of whether Vodicka or Brandt is the top guy here was never answered this season although the two teams met twice. All signs point to us finding out that answer to that question on Saturday.

Medalist Predictions
1st: Dylan Vodicka (David City)
2nd: Burton Brandt (Syracuse)
3rd: Dylan Zoucha (Malcolm)
4th: Eric Hoesing (Hartington Cedar)
5th: Josh Warren (Bridgeport)
6th: Kelen Meyer (Ord)

Darkhorses:
Ben Kment (Aquinas)
Jesse Drahota (Ravenna)

182:

Top Half:
Top ranked Duda has returning qualifier Hand in the first round followed by a likely match with #4 Sterup from Cross County/Osceola. Duda and Sterup have a combined 102 wins between the two of them. In the other quarter Brady Knott is a good bet to advance to the semifinals over the winner of Metzler and Barnes. Look for Duda to advance to the finals for the top part.

Bottom Half:
Chase County’s Trevor Peterson had a great district tournament. Beating Stokebrand in the semifinals and dropping a tight match with Duda in the finals. He’ll be tested in the quarterfinals by a surging Ethan Villwork from Bergan who has really been impressive as of late after dropping some matches early in the year. In the other quarter Stokebrand and Allen in the first round should be a good one. The winner there is likely to see Owen Snipes of Conestoga in the quarters. Stokebrand appears likely to advance to the semis for a rematch with Peterson.

Other Notes:
Duda, Peterson, Stokebrand, Sterup and Knott all have over a 90% winning percentage. Tons of top end talent at this weight makes the medalists a little easier to predict than the other weights.

Medalist Predictions
1st: Lathan Duda (Broken Bow)
2nd: Trevor Peterson (Chase County)
3rd: Cole Stokebrand (Amherst)
4th: Ethan Villwok (Archbishop Bergan)
5th: Kyle Sterup (Cross County/Osceola)
6th: Brady Knott (Louisville)

Darkhorse:
Owen Snipes (Conestoga)

195:

Top Half:
David City’s James Escamilla is the favorite to navigate the bottom half anad make the state finals. He’ll likely see Bogard of Amherst in the quarterfinals. The top quarter is pretty interesting with district champ Brandon Beeson squaring off against Jazper Ames from Lutheran High in the first round. Ames was under the radar most of the season, but almost knocked off highly ranked Booth at the district tournament. Nolan Schultz and Tyler Wetzel is another good first round match here. We’ll take Beeson and Schultz in the quarters, with Schultz winning two close matches.

Bottom Half:
Top ranked Ethan Gabriel will face off against the winner of sophomore standouts Aiden Worthy and Logan Booth in the quarterfinals. Booth has been ranked as high as #2 this season. In the other quarter freshman Quran Cook of Yutan and Twin River’s Tucker Alexander will meet in the first round. Alexander won that match in early January 8-5, handing Cook his first loss of the season up to that point. Winner there will see Hunter Thonen/Nicholas Coley winner in the quarters. Alexander has a win over Thonen this year. Look for Gabriel to advance through the bottom half and make his second state finals appearance.

Other Notes:
Schultz beat Alexander, Alexander beat Thonen, Thonen beat Schultz. Alexander has pushed Booth. Escamilla appears to have separated himself from the pack and will be the top challenger to Gabrield. Gabriel pinned Escamilla when they met in December. Will be interesting if we get an ‘all-David City’ semifinal between Escamilla and Schultz. Escamilla won in their dual meeting this year, but Schultz won last year.

Medalist Predictions
1st: Ethan Gabriel (Ord)
2nd: James Escamilla (David City)
3rd: Logan Booth (Logan View)
4th: Tucker Alexander (Twin River)
5th: Nolan Schultz (Aquinas)
6th: Brandon Beeson (Tri County)

Darkhorse:
Hunter Thonen (Conestoga)

220:

Top Half:
The top half of this bracket is loaded. Huge first round match with Scheer and Beaver. The winner there should see Potts in the quarters. In the other quarter Andrew Cone vs Jared Janssen should be a good first round match. The winner there should see top ranked Peyton Cone in the quarters. We’ll go with a Potts/Cone semifinal match, but no guarantees as a lot of these battles should be evenly matched.

Bottom Half:
Wayne Moore had a fantastic district tournament, winning a weight with two ranked wrestlers. Moore had been as high as #2 in the rankings, but dropped a little bit after a few mid-season losses. He’ll have a first round match against in town rival Meysenburg from Aquinas. In the next round he’s likely to see Jon Matulka from Bishop Neumann. Matulka really burst onto the scene this year and has as good of a shot as anyone on the bottom side to make the state finals. Kolby Johnson from Madison and Dahlas Zlomke from Battle Creek should be a good first orund match. Winner will see either Anderson from Broken Bow or Lovejoy frm Winnebago. Look for Johnson to push through to the semis with a couple close wins.

Other Notes:
By far the toughest weight to predict. Several conflicting regular season results coupled with the fact that a lot of these wrestlers are pretty evenly matched. Don’t count anyone at this weight out of the running for a medal. This is an absolutely huge weight for David City’s team title aspirations.

Medalist Predictions
1st: Peyton Cone (Archbishop Bergan)
2nd: Wayne Moore (David City)
3rd: Jarin Potts (Amherst)
4th: Landon Beaver (Wisner-Pilger)
5th: Jon Matulka (Bishop Neumann)
6th: Kolby Johnson (Madison)

Darkhorses:
Andrew Cone (Logan View)
Nathan Scheer (St. Paul)

285:

Top Half:
Archbishop Bergan’s Eli Simonson is set up nicely to make the semifinals on the top side. He’ll face the winner over Tyler Thomas and Daven Whitley in the quarters, both are underclassmen. The other quarter is very tough, with four medal contenders. #2 Hoevet and #5 Escobar square of right away in the first round. In the other first round match it’s Ingwersen and Zach Burr. Burr is responsible for one of Ingwersen’s four losses this season so that is definitely an interesting one. Hard to make a prediction on who makes it through that quarter especially when you factor in how unpredictable 285 can be. Simonson might be a coin flip to make the finals on the top side especially with the gauntlet the other quarter will have to go through to reach the semifinals.

Bottom Half:
Top ranked Jerabek will have a tough test out of the gate against Smith from Sutton. He’ll see the winner of Miller and Nordmeyer. Miller has steadily climbed up the rankings this year and Nordmeyer has been a staple in the top eight. Schramm from Aquinas is set up well in the bottom quarter to advance to the semifinals and get his first state medal after qualifying the past two seasons. Schramm will likely see Connor Asche from Fillmore Central in the quarters. Asche continues the 285lb tradition for Fillmore Central following Jarrond Hinrichs and Riley Moses to the state tournament.

Other Notes:
Simonson and Miller could meet in the consolation semifinals for the third time this season. They’ve split their meetings one match apiece.

Medalist Predictions
1st: Jakob Jerabek (Arcadia/Loup City)
2nd: CJ Hoevet (Ord)
3rd: Jake Ingwersen (David City)
4th: Eli Simonson (Archbishop Bergan)
5th: Alex Miller (Logan View)
6th: Owen Schramm (Aquinas)

Darkhorse:
Eric Escobar (Wilber-Clatonia)