Bluejay Wrestling
Wrestlers Battle in Boone Central
by Kailey Marks
The Dale Bonge Invitational at Boone Central Invite was where the Bluejay wrestlers were competing on Saturday, January 30, and the Bluejays placed fourth out of 11 teams.
Head coach Tyler Legate commented, “Going into the postseason we have some situations and positions we need to work on. We look forward to letting it fly these next three weeks.”
Starting off with the lowest weight, Zakary Abler (106) lost to Giles Deeder of Boone Central by fall, as well as Grady Romshek of Aquinas Catholic.
Moving to 113, Ethan Dohmen finished sixth for the Jays. In Dohmen’s last match of the day, he lost to Haydon Arrants of Kearney.
Wrestling at 120 and finishing sixth, Isaiah Adams lost by fall to Kaleb Baker of St. Paul.
At 126, Brock Bolling finished third by defeating Owen Sack of St. Paul. Also wrestling at 126, Keenan Valverde placed fifth by winning over Austyn Cote of Ashland Greenwood.
Blake Bolling, wrestling at 132, lost his battle against Maverick Hagemann of Elkhorn Valley in a 6-1, but he still finished in fourth place for the Jays.
Weighing in at 138, Jayden Coulter finished in second after a loss by decision 4-2 to Hunter Vandenberg of Aquinas Catholic.
At 145, Zach Meier lost by major decision 10-0 to Jacob Moravec of Aquinas Catholic and Josh Roesler of St. Paul by a 6-0 decision. Also at 145 was Kaden Froehlich, who lost by fall to Josh Roesler of St. Paul, won by medical forfeit over Micah Green of Nebraska Christian, and lost by fall to Ty Beetison of Ashland Greenwood.
Ashton Schweitzer, wrestling at 152, won first in his bracket by pinning Levi Drueke of O’Neill. Seth Premer (152) lost to both A. Schweitzer and Shane Allington of Ashland Greenwood by fall.
Moving to 160, Michael Kruntorad lost to Nolan Eller of Aquinas Catholic by a 7-2 decision but was able to claim second place for the Jays. Also wrestling at 160, Tyler Friesz was pinned by Nathan Upton of Ashland Greenwood and Joe Paysen of Kearney.
At 170, Jaden Jones was able to capture sixth place for the Bluejays with a loss to Eli Dozler of Boone Central. Looking at the 170 bracket winner, Zander Schweitzer pinned all of his opponents, the final one who was Servando Gonzalez of O’Neill.
Sophomore Z. Schweitzer commented, “I feel like all of the work that I have put in is starting to pay off. I feel like the rest of the guys did a fantastic job, but we also all have some little things to work on here and there before Subdistricts this weekend. I am looking forward to working on takedowns this week to get me prepared for the weekend.”
At 182, Parker Sackville finished in sixth for the Jays with a fall to Stone Swantek of Nebraska Christian.
Wrestling at 195, Zavien Buol lost by fall to Tanner Mrkvicka of St. Paul and Jayden Young of Kearney. Also at 195 was Shayde Semm, who fell to Jayden Young of Kearney and Tanner Mrkvicka of St. Paul.
At 220, Nick Erickson finished in third with a pin over Camden Moser of Boone Central.
Weighing in at 285, Travis Jensen pinned Bryce Kjar of Ashland Greenwood, lost to Rylie Thomsen of St. Paul and lost to Brandon Moore of Kearney.
The Bluejays will next take the mat on Saturday, February 6, in Nebraska City for sub-districts and then on Saturday, February 13, in Schuyler for districts.
Pierce’s Victory at the Varsity Conference Tournament
by Keli Shermer
On Thursday, January 28, the Pierce High School wrestling team did not have to go far when they competed at the varsity Mid-State conference tournament that they hosted. The Pierce team secured the first place spot in the tournament with 178 points.
Zakary Abler (106) lost to Robbie Fisher of Crofton-Bloomfield and Alex Frank of Wayne.
In 113, Ethan Dohmen lost to Jaxson Hassler from Battle Creek by a 9-2 decision. He defeated Brayden Hamm of O’Neill in a 9-2 decision, but lost in the consolation semifinals to John Alden of O’Neill in a 16-6 major decision.
Placing third for the Jays was Isaiah Adams (120) won by fall over Tavious Pinkelman of Hartington Cedar Catholic but fell to Gavin Dozler of Boone Central. Adams then pinned Peyton Yates of O’Neill, as well as Pinkelman again.
At 126, Brock Bolling pinned Seth Baumert from Guardian Angels Central Catholic, then continued on and won his quarterfinal round against Battle Creek’s Caden Meinke. He again won his semifinal round by a 16-0 technical fall over Ted Hemmingsen. In Br. Bolling’s championship match, he won by 5-0 decision over Ashton Munsell of Wayne.
Also at 126, Keenan Valverde won his first round against Willam Steffen from Crofton-Bloomfield, but he lost to Boone Central’s Ted Hemmingsen and Battle Creek’s Caden Meinke.
Blake Bolling (132) pinned Anthony Miller of O’Neill. He lost by major decision 11-0 to Ty Rainforth of O’Neill. He pinned Chase Knull of Battle Creek and beat Kerby Hochstein of Hartington Cedar Catholic in a sudden victory 8-6 for the third place finish.
Jayden Coulter, wrestling at 138, won all of his rounds and placed first. He won by fall over Camden Jansen of Pierce, Dakota Hoffmann from Battle Creek, Joshua Jansen of Guardian Angels Central Catholic, and William Poppe of Crofton-Bloomfield.
Also wrestling at 138 was Jansen, who lost by fall to both Coulter and Eli Barner of Wayne.
Zach Meier (145) lost by major decision to Allan Olander of Norfolk Catholic 14-1. Meier pinned Fernando Gutierrez of O`Neill and won by a 4-3 decision over Bo Oligmueller from Guardian Angels Central Catholic. He lost in a 4-0 decision to Samuel Grape of Boone Central.
Also in 145, Kaden Froehlich fell to Samuel Grape of Boone Central and lost by a 4-2 decision to Bo Oligmueller from Guardian Angels Central Catholic.
In 152, Ashton Schweitzer placed first and won in all of his rounds as well. He won by fall over Tye Dozler of Boone Central, Noah Wattier from Norfolk Catholic, and Hartington Cedar Catholic’s Conner Hochstein. Schweitzer won by a 4-0 decision over O’Neill’s Levi Drueke.
Also at 152, Seth Premer lost by fall to Levi Drueke of O`Neill and lost in a 12-2 major decision to Tye Dozler from Boone Central.
Wrestling at 160, Michael Kruntorad placed second and won his quarter and semifinal rounds by pinning Korth Kale of Hartington Cedar Catholic and winning by technical fall 19-4 over Ashton Schafer of Boone Central/Newman Grove. Kruntorad lost by an 8-7 decision to Francisco Mendez from Norfolk Catholic.
At 170, Zander Schweitzer won all of his rounds and received first place. He pinned Jaryn Smeal of Guardian Angels Central Catholic, Servando Gonzalez of O`Neill, and Kaden Warneke from Battle Creek.
Jaden Jones, also wrestling at 170, fell to Brandon Kollars of Norfolk Catholic. He then pinned Javier Hernandez of Norfolk Catholic but fell to Aiden Liston of Wayne.
Parker Sackville (182) lost by fall to Cash Meier of Guardian Angels Central Catholic in the quarterfinal and Korbyn Grenier from O`Neill in the third round.
Zavien Buol, also at 182, lost to Kase Thompson from Battle Creek, and won against Ben Morland from Norfolk Catholic. He also lost by fall to Crofton-Bloomfield’s Calvin Dather.
Wrestling at 195, Colton Fritz lost in the quarterfinal by fall to Salvador Rodriguez of O`Neill. Fritz won his next round by pinning Jeston Hassler of Battle Creek but then lost to Taylor Weber of Boone Central by medical forfeit.
Tysen Parsons, also at 195, lost by fall to Taylor Weber of Boone Central and Guardian Angels Central Catholic’s James Rolf.
Nick Erickson (220) finished in fourth with a win by fall over Ben Sousek from Norfolk Catholic. He then lost by fall to Jared Janssen of Crofton-Bloomfield, but Erickson rebounded and pinned Jacob Ottis from Battle Creek. In the third place match he fell to Martin Carrillo of Wayne.
Finally, at 285, Travis Jensen fell to Dakota Rose of Boone Central. Jensen then pinned Logan Schafer of Wayne and won by a 6-3 decision over Bo Armstrong of Wayne. Jensen lost by fall to George Fraher of Guardian Angels Central Catholic in his final match.
Head Coach Tyler Legate said, “We wrestled really hard as a team, and we ended up pulling it out at the end.”
The Pierce High wrestling team will be traveling Saturday, February 6, to Nebraska City to compete at sub-districts at 12 p.m.
Bluejays Wrestle at Plattsmouth Invite
by Kailey Marks
The Pierce Bluejay wrestlers traveled to the Plattsmouth Varsity Invitational on Saturday, January 23. After battling through the day, they placed 3rd.
At 106, Zackary Abler was pinned by Evan Kindelin of Plattsmouth, Gavin Ruff of Grand Island Northwest, and again by Evan Kindelin of Plattsmouth.
Wrestling at 113, Ethan Dohmen, lost by a 18-2 tech fall to Gino Rettele of Millard South, but then won by pin over Ben Briseno of Northwest. Dohmen also won by a 5-4 decision over Caleb Alcorta of Northwest, but then lost in this last match by a 5-1 decision to Luke Frost from Blair.
Isaiah Adams at 120, lost by fall to Caleb Coyle of Millard South, but then pinned the next two opponents, Bradyn Anaya of Ralston and Jaidon Bell of Waverly.
At 126, Brock Bolling won by decision over Garrett Rine 2-1, but then he lost by tech fall 20-4 to Conor Knopick of Millard South.
Weighing in at 132, Blake Bolling won by major decision 8-0 over Freddy Basilio of Schuyler, but then lost by decision 6-1 to Aiden Robertson. Bl. Bolling then took his third place victory by pin over Max Yendra of Northwest and DeSota Koziol of Ralston.
Jayden Coulter (138) won by pin over Kemper Reed of Waverly, won by 4-1 decision over Michael Mass of Ralston, but then received 2nd place when he lost by fall to Joel Adams of Millard South.
Sophomore wrestler, Jayden Coulter, “We wrestled pretty well as a team and we just need to continue the hard work in practice. Individually, I think I did pretty well in my bracket.“
Wrestling at 152, Ashton Schweitzer won by pin over Austin Meyers, but then lost by tech fall 26-9 to Scott Robertson of Millard South. To get the victory of third place, A. Schweitzer won by fall over Eli Arends of Northwest and won by decision 7-6 over Yoan Camejo of Blair.
At 160, Michael Kruntorad won by pin over Eddie Johnson of Waverly and won by a 7-4 decision over Austin Cooley of Northwest, but then lost in his final match, but still received second against Antrell Taylor of Millard South.
Wrestling at 170, Zander Schweitzer won by fall over Dane Larsen of Blair and Cameron Aughenbaugh of Plattsmouth, but then claimed 2nd place when he lost to Evan Canoyer of Waverly.
Parker Sackville (182) lost by fall to both Joseph Stein of Northwest and Caleb Adkins of Plattsmouth, but then took fifth place when he won by a 3-2 decision over Devin Boetel of Ralston.
Colton Fritz, at 195, lost to Wyatt Fanning of Waverly by pin, and then lost by decision 8-1 to Victor Isele of Northwest and a 6-2 decision loss Gabriel Moyao of Schuyler.
In 220, Nick Erickson lost by fall to Gabe Gaskill of Blair and Daniel Jerez of Schuyler.
Lastly, in the 285 weight class, Travis Jensen lost by fall to David Hernandez of Ralston and lost by a 8-4 decision to Daniel Garcia.
Head Coach Tyler Legate, “We wrestled well, and it was fun to compete against the likes of Millard South.”
The Bluejays will next take the mat on sub-districts on Saturday, February 6 in Nebraska City.
