Bluejay Wrestling
Pierce Wrestlers Place 1st at Osmond
by Angelica Volquardsen
The Pierce wrestling team competed at Osmond on Saturday, December 15. The Jays placed 1st as a team with a team score of 324.5.
Placing for the varsity team, Brock Bolling, Isaiah Adams, Ethan Dohmen, Carter Jensen, Ashton Schweitzer, Ryder Fuchs, and Dylan Kuehler placed 1st. Nelson Emerson received 2nd. Jeremiah Kruntorad, Michael Kruntorad, and Brett Tinker got 3rd. Ren Gleason got 5th, Jacob Kerber got 6th, and Travis Jensen got 7th. Also, senior Ryder Fuchs celebrated the milestone of getting his 100th career win at the Osmond tournament.
At 106, Brock Bolling pinned Tristan Korth of Battle Creek and Edward Pena of West Point-Beemer.
At 113, Isaiah Adams pinned Hunter Beacom of Osmond and Devin Graae of Pierce JV.
At 120, Ethan Dohmen pinned Sam Taylor of Ponca, Anthony Ruiz and Kannon Larsen of Norfolk Reserves. Dohmen won by decision over Caden Meinke of Battle Creek and Shane Farnik of Creighton.
At 126, Carter Jensen pinned Jeremiah Chase of Wakefield and Dylan Miller of West Point-Beemer. Jensen won by decision over Cory Armstrong of Norfolk Reserves and won by tech fall over Mason Bykerk of Osmond.
At 132, Jeremiah Kruntorad pinned Devan Schmit and Ryan Graverholt of Norfolk Reserves, and Hunter Bowers of Lutheran High Northeast. J. Kruntorad won by decision over Dalton Anderson of Ponca and fell by decision to Jose Salazar of West Point-Beemer.
At 138, Michael Kruntorad lost by major decision to Cody Hanvey of Creighton. M. Kuntorad pinned Connor DeLancey of Norfolk Reserves and Edgar Rodriguez of West Point-Beemer. M. Kuntorad won by decision over Wyatt Verzani of Wakefield.
At 145, Ashton Schweitzer pinned Kaden Warneke of Battle Creek, Caleb Kuhn of Norfolk Reserves, Troy Donner of Osmond, and Patrick Vinson of Osmond. Schweitzer won by decision over Garret Kaup of West Point-Beemer.
At 152, Nelson Emerson pinned Bodie True of Osmond, Hudson Drobny of Niobrara Verdigre, and Sam Vortherms of Creighton. Emerson fell by a pin to Bode Wortman of Creighton.
At 160, Brett Tinker pinned Johan Rojas of Lutheran High Northeast, Traven Croghan of Battle Creek, Austin Miller of Norfolk Reserves, and JD Kuhlman of Creighton. Tinker fell by decision to Jake Harriger of West Point-Beemer.
At 170, Travis Jensen fell by a pin to Isaiah Felgate and Neptali Ramirez of Norfolk Reserves and Bryce Zimmerer of Creighton.
At 182, Ren Gleason pinned Alexander Jurgensen of Norfolk Reserves, Dustin Jensen of Pierce JV, and Diedrick Ulrich of Norfolk Reserves. Gleason fell by a pin to Jazper Bare of Norfolk Reserves and Andrew Daly of Ponca.
At 195, Ryder Fuchs pinned Joel Mercado of Norfolk Reserves, Brayden Heffner of Norfolk Reserves, Cole Cheney of Pierce JV, Terance Burrell of Creighton, and Jakob Andreasen of West Point-Beemer.
At 220, Dylan Kuehler pinned Colton Obermeyer of Norfolk Reserves, Emil Brandt of Niobrara Verdigre, and Michael Logue of Ponca.
At 285, Jacob Kerber fell by a pin to David Garcia of West Point-Beemer. Kerber pinned Daylin Mallory of Norfolk Reserves. Kerber lost by a pin to Ben McDuffe of Ponca. Kerber lost by injury default by Brody Vrooman of Creighton.
Placing for the JV team, Devin Graae got 2nd, Mason Sedlacek got 6th, Aiden Gnat got 7th, Jaden Jones got 8th, Tim Windheuser got 8th, Cole Cheney got 4th, and Nicholas Erickson got 4th.
At 113, Devin Graae won by major decision over Hunter Beacom of Osmond and lost to Isaiah Adams of Pierce Varsity by pin.
At 138, Mason Sedlacek lost by tech fall to Riley Surman. Sedlacek pinned Tyson Fisher of Norfolk Reserves. Sedlacek lost by a pin to Wyatt Verzani of Wakefield and Edgar Rodriguez of West Point-Beemer.
At 145, Aiden Gnat lost by pin to RJ Wilmes of Creighton, Patrick Vinson of Osmond, and Kaleb Kummer of Battle Creek. Gnat pinned Daisy Jimenez of Norfolk Reserves and Kaden Warneke of Battle Creek.
At 152, Jaden Jones lost by a pin to Bode Wortman of Creighton, Chase Eisenhauer of West Point-Beemer, Mitchell Fischer of Wakefield, and Hudson Drobny of Niobrara Verdigre.
At 160, Tim Windheuser lost by a pin to Isaac Verzani of Wakefield, JD Kuhlman of Creighton, Hunter Bennett of Ponca, and Traven Croghan of Battle Creek. Windheuser pinned Oscar Rodriguez of Norfolk Reserves.
At 182, Dustin Jensen lost by a pin to Andrew Daly of Ponca, Ren Gleason of Pierce Varsity, Jazper Bare of Norfolk Reserves, and Cooper Colson of West Point-Beemer. D. Jensen lost by decision to Alexander Jurgensen of Norfolk Reserves.
At 195, Cole Cheney lost by a pin to Brayden Heffner of Norfolk Reserves, and Ryder Fuchs of Pierce Varsity. Cheney pinned Jakob Andreasen of West Point-Beemer and Joel Mercado of Norfolk Reserves. Cheney lost by a pin to Terance Burrell of Creighton.
At 220, Nicholas Erickson pinned Logan Suckstorf of Norfolk Reserves and Nick Timmerman of Osmond. Erickson lost by a pin to Michael Logue of Ponca and Colton Obermeyer of Norfolk Reserves.
The next wrestling meet is the Pierce Invitational on Saturday, December 29.
Pierce Wins Double-Dual at O’Neill
by Kailey Marks
Pierce competed and placed 1st at a double-dual against the O’Neill Eagles and Elkhorn Valley Falcons on Thursday, December 13.
When facing O’Neill, at 106, freshman Brock Bolling, lost toTy Rainforth. Wrestling at 120, sophomore Ethan Dohmen fought his battle but got pinned by Trinity Mosel. Junior Carter Jensen, at 126, lost 0-3 against Oscar Lopez. At 132, Jeremiah Kruntorad lost 0-3 to Brady Thompson. At 138, freshman Michael Kruntorad gained six team points against Angel Lopez and pinned him at 3:29. Freshman Ashton Schweitzer, wrestling at 145, got pinned by Tanner Storjohann. At 152, senior Nelson Emerson lost 0-4 to Servando Gonzalez. At 170, junior Brett Tinker pinned Chuy Munoz for six team points. Sophomore Travis Jensen, wrestling at 182, lost to Enrique Sanchez. Wrestling at 220, senior Ryder Fuchs defeated Riley Davis for six points. O’Neill was open at 160, 195, 285, 113, giving Pierce 24 extra team points, leaving the team score against the Eagles 42-31.
Against Elkhorn Valley, Bolling won over Hunter Bennett 3-0. For six points, Jensen, pinned Reed Bennett. Kruntorad pinned Hunter Klinetobe for six points. Schweitzer fell to Prestin Vondra for his second match of the day. Emerson pinned Michael Glynn to score six points. Jones lost to his opponent Joshua McFarland. Tinker also won his second match over Chuy Munoz. Jensen fell in his second match to Brock Schaecher. Fuchs won his second match over Caden Reikofski. To finish off the double dual, junior Dylan Kuehler, wrestling at 285, won over Christian Yaw. Finishing off the Falcon dual, Pierce defeated them 60-18.
Coach Tyler Legate was pleased with his team but also feels they have room to reach their full potential, saying they need to work on finishing a match. Legate said the team will be working on techniques and hand fighting in all positions going forward. He added, “Overall the guys are working very hard and showing up on time and ready to go. Leadership has been good. On the other side, we need to work on being tougher, but it will come.” He also expressed how excited he was to see what the rest of the season could bring.
The Bluejays’ next tournament is at the Pierce Invite on Saturday, December 29, at 10 a.m.
JH Wrestling Closes Season
by Angelica Volquardsen
Pierce’s junior high wrestling team traveled to Plainview on Tuesday, December 11, for their last meet of the season.
There were no team scores recorded, but individually, Parker Sackville went 3-0. Zander Schweitzer and Jayden Coulter went 2-0. Colbey Jensen, Blake Bolling, and Ashton Koch had a record of 1-1. Zakary Abler, Cameron Armitage, and Karter Wolfe all had a record of 0-1. Zach Meier and Camden Jansen finished with a record of 0-2.
Coach Gary Shada said, ”As a team, I felt we came out a little flat, but after the first two to three matches, then things improved. The boys started to step things up.”
This was the last junior high wrestling meet of the season.
