The First Wrestling Meet of the Season
By Naomi Sullivan
Pierce’s first wrestling meet of the season was on Saturday, December 7, at the O’Neill High School with weigh-ins starting at 8:00. Both the girls and boys teams finished third as a team, and Pierce brought home 12 medals on the girls side and 11 medals on the boys side.
“Honestly, I thought our girls did an absolutely fabulous job for our first meet, especially since a lot of the girls who wrestled were on JV last year, but they came out and competed. The only thing I ever look for is effort and attitude, and I thought that was 100 percent. I think something the whole team can agree on doing better is finishing. We’ve got to learn how to finish a match. When we do that, this young team is going to do really great things. I don’t feel like one, not one of those girls didn’t give more than 100 percent,” head girls wrestling coach Les Painter said.
Starting off for the girls, Mia Sackville (100) placed fifth after having a bye for her first round. Sackville fell to Marnita Spatz from Blue River. Sackville won against Kynnlee Hamling, also from Blue River. Sackville won her last two matches against Reegan Eggert from Valentine and against Emma Petersen from Battle Creek.
Peyton Brunckhorst placed sixth for her first ever meet for the girls at 105. Brunkhorst got a bye for her first round, and in the second match she took the fall to Bailey Turpitt from Blue River, but came back to take a win in the third round from Maya Macias from Ainsworth. Brunkhorst made her fourth round a win as well, pinning Jadyn Kratz from West Holt. Brunckhorst fell in her last match of the day to Kobie Kosek from Centennial.
For the 115 matchup, Hadleigh Collison took third place. Collison took her first win of senior year against Gracie Bowers from Norfolk Catholic in :22. Taking the energy from her first match into the second, Collison pinned Danica Watts from Blue River. Collison lost in an 11-4 decision to Jolyn Pozehl from Ainsworth. In Collison’s third place match, she took a 10-7 win in sudden victory-1 over Leynn Luna from Boone Central.
Also part of the 115 class is Makenna Blecher, who fell to Hermelinda Cortez from Grand Island in her first round. Bleacher then pinned Jordyn Osborne from West Holt, but fell to Watts from Blue River.
In the girls 120, Isabelle Streff grabbed a third place medal by winning her first match against Corey Payne from Centennial by pinning her in :37 and pinning Madyson DeHart-Harris her second round. Streff took her only loss of the day against Ella Reeves from Battle Creek, but won her final match of the day against Taylor Bergman from Ralston.
Jayan Sackville, also at 120, placed fifth for girls. Sackville pinned Alejandra Salasar from Norfolk. Sackville fell to Bergman from Ralston. Winning the rest of the matches for her day, Sackville pinned Corey Payne from Centennial, Bristol Hardwick from Boone Central, and Alejandra Salasar from Norfolk.
Evelyn Skrdla (125) won over Bailey Salers from O’Neill. Skrdla fell to Micheli Fisher from Norfolk Catholic, and Teela Bleich from Battle Creek by a 12-5 decision.
Karina Willits (130) finished eighth for Pierce. Willits received a bye for her first round. Going into the second round, Willits fell to Grace Drueke from O’Neill. Getting into the groove, Willits won by a 7-2 decision against Victoria De Leon from Grand Island. Going into the third match of the day, Willits fell to Madalyn Pistulka from West Holt, and Madison Dembowski from Grand Island.
At 135, Cailynn Gardner placed eighth. She received a bye for her first round. Arynn Tielke of Norfolk Catholic won by a decision 4-1 over Gardner. Then Gardner pinned Breklyn Landauer from Boone Central. Gardner fell to Grace Hoffman of Norfolk and Valerie Alvarado of Grand Island.
Lainey Jensen (145) placed seventh after receiving bye in the first round. Jensen fell to Adday Tewahade from Chadron. Jensen received a bye for her third round and fell to Nevaeh Martinez from Blue River in her fourth round, but pinned Chelbi Ramponi from Crofton-Bloomfield in her final match.
Placing second for Pierce, Isabelle Kuehler started her day with a bye, then pinned Rylie Doerr from Crofton-Bloomfield in :32. Moving forward, Kuehler won against Addison Diers from Chadron. In her first place match, Kuehler fell to Anyia Roberts from Grand Island.
“The most challenging part for me was to have to wait till the fourth round to actually start wrestling. Most exciting part was probably actually being able to wrestle at my first meet. I definitely need to improve on relaxing more in my matches,” Kuehler says.
Candace Miller (170) placed sixth for the Bluejays. Miller had a bye in her first round. Miller pinned Willa Smith from Todd County in :10. Fabi Cortez from Grand Island then won by fall against Miller. But Miller rebounded to win by pin over Calley Abell from Centennial and Piper Powell from Chamberlain. In her fifth place match, Belle Brodersen from Boone Central won by a 7-3 decision over Miller.
Reniya Miller, also at 170, received a bye for her first ever match, but then fell to Elizabeth DeRoos from Crofton-Bloomfield and Powell from Chamberlain.
Shaylee Gardner (190) placed fourth after receiving a bye in her first round and proceeding to pin her second round opponent, Linkin Rahn from Crofton-Bloomfield. S. Gardner fell to Libby Evans from Elgin Public Pope John and Chanya Zavala from Grand Island.
Finally for the girls, Lauren Ueding (235) placed seventh. Ueding received a bye in her first round, but fell to Ali Edwards from Grand Island. Ueding then received a bye in her third round but Fell to Carleigh Jackson from West Holt in the next round. Ueding received a bye for her last match.
Going to the boys side of things, starting at 113, Tyler Oliveira received a bye for his first match. Oliveira fell to Bode Koinzan from Neligh-Oakdale, later also fell to Paul Ewert from David City, after receiving a bye for his third round.
Kolten Wragge placed second in his first career high school meet, winning all but one match. Wragge pinned Anthony Sonnichson from Crofton/Bloomfield and Jijay Souvannakhot from Ralston. Then Wragge won by a 19-7 major decision over Francisco Juan Lucas of Madison. In the first place match Wragge fell to Ryan Hoehne from Battle Creek by an 8-6 decision.
At 120, Corbin Pfeil placed fifth, winning his first match by pinning Alex Nickolite from David City. Pfeil fell to Ayden Wintz from Battle Creek by a 20-3 tech fall. Pfeil pinned Tyler Furstenau from Neligh-Oakdale. Pfeil won his last two matches against Reid Laible from O’Neill in just :21. For Pfeil’s final match of his day, he took the win against Dylan Furstenau from Neligh-Oakdale.
Draydin Gossman (126) placed third at O’Neill, winning by fall over Jeancarlo Rodas from David City and Keaton Busch from David City. Gossman lost by a 20-14 decision over Ryan Stusse Jr. from Battle Creek. Gossman got third place when he pinned Andrew Henery from Neligh-Oakdale in his final match.
Wrestling at 132, for the Pierce boys was Elijah Streff, who placed sixth. Streff was given a bye in the first round. Streff then fell to Jehki WIlliams from Valentine in an 18-3 tech fall. Streff won against a fellow teammate Brody Kesting with a pin. Streff then went into his next match to win by pin against Carson Long from Chadron. Streff then later fell to Gavin Mauch from Boone Central.
Kesting, who also wrestles at 132, received a bye for his first round, fell to Owen Elsasser from Ralston. received a bye in his third round, and in his final match of the day, fell to his teammate, Streff.
For 138, Pierce’s Baiden Neuhalfen fell to Tomik Duffy from Crofton-Bloomfield by decision, 2-0. Neuhalfen later received a bye. After that, Neuhalfen won his match against Tony Cuevas from Norfolk by a 4-0 decision. For Neuhalfen’s final match, he won by an 8-6 decision against Brenyn Ames also from Norfolk.
Cole DeBoer, who wrestles at 144, placed seventh for the Bluejays. DeBoer won by fall against Cole Barg from Norfolk. In his second round, DeBoer fell to Logan Zimmerman from Wilber-Clatonia. DeBoer went on to win his next two matches by pinning Nathanies Stehle of Chadron and winning by a 19-4 technical fall over Jayce Hoffman of Chadron. Cooper Arehart, who is from Neligh-Oakdale, won by fall over DeBoer. In his final match of the day, DeBoer pinned Gabriele Arrigoni from O’Neill.
Also at 144 is Cooper Collins who fell to Chase Hansen from Chamberlain. Collins went on to win by medical forfeit in the next round against Jody Leighton from Todd County. Barg from Norfolk won over Cooper Collins by fall. In his final match, Collins was given a bye.
Placing second for the Bluejays was Brenden Bolling at 155. Bolling was given a bye his first round, but in the next round Bolling pinned JD Ress-Conkey from Ralston. Bolling then went on to win against Jace Rerucha from David City in a 4-0 decision. The only loss for Bolling was against Iverson Mejia from Wilber-Clatonia in a 9-4 decision in the first place match.
Kaiden Ronnfeldt (157) placed seventh, pinning Kaden Nutzman from Norfolk Catholic. Ronnfeldt fell to Hunter Kruse from Battle Creek, but came back to pin Evan Shoemaker from O’Neill and win by an 8-4 decision against Carter Lueken from Boone Central. Then Jerrod Larsen from Chamberlain won by fall over Ronnfeldt. In the seventh place match, Ronnfeldt won by decision, 5-0, over Angel Peralta of Madison.
At 165 is Ethan Claussen, who won a 12-10 decision over Owen Monroe from Ralston. Brittin Valentine from David City won by fall over Claussen in the second round. Claussen later went on to win by a 6-4 over Kolton Vornhagen of Crofton-Bloomfield, but lost by fall to Clayton Elliott of Valentine.
Claussen is not alone at 165, as Bryce Lindstrom also wrestled the same weight and placed sixth for the Jays. Lindstrom pinned Cameron Hanson of Madison. In round two, Pryor Mathews from O’Neill won by fall over Lindstrom. But on the back side of the bracket, Lindstrom pinned Ryan Hawkins from West Holt and won 13-6 over Elliott from Valentine. In the fifth place match, Lindstrom fell to Zane Cullers from Chadron
Wrestling at 175 is Charlie Ottis who lost in a major decision 8-0 to Hunter Fredrick from Chamberlain. Ottis then fell to Alex Dunagen who attends Wilber-Clatonia. In his final round, Ottis lost in a 6-3 decision to Santiago Mauricio Lugo Aquino from Norfolk.
Also at 175 is Hunter Parsons who fell in his matches to Dominick Ogden from West Holt, Alexander Vicente Luna from Madison and Charlie Flannery from West Holt.
Kyle Kuehler (175) took down Flannery from West Holt in :22. In Kuehler’s second round, he fell to Grady Welke from O’Neill took the win from Kuehler, and in his third round, Kuehler lost in a 1-0 decision to Landon Ferris from Norfolk.
Placing seventh for Pierce was Peyton Kruntorad (175). Kruntorad won by pin over Jordan Bailey from Valentine, but fell to Wyatt Tramp from Crofton-Bloomfield. Kruntorad took a tech fall win of 15-0 over Dominick Ogden from West Holt. Kruntorad fell to Hudson Last from Battle Creek, Braden Wright from Chadron.
Weighing in at 190, Brody Coulter pinned Ty Nielsen of Crofton-Bloomfield in his first round. Coulter then fell to Anthony Baughman from Ralston and William Roberts of Boone Central.
At 215, Quintin Flesner won his first match by pin against West Holt’s Lucas Griess. Fellow teammate Christian Nordby won by fall over Flesner. Max Jasper of David City won by fall against Flesner.
Along with Flesner at 215 is Xavier Miller, who won by fall in his first round against Beau Duhachek of West Holt. Dahkota Zlomke from Battle Creek went quick against Miller, getting the win by fall. Miller came back to take a win by pinning Stockton Shabram from Neligh-Oakdale, but he fell to Grant Osborne from West Holt.
The 215 bracket continues with Angel Santiago-Glinsmann, who fell to Raul Acosta-Butanda from Neligh-Oakdale along with Misael Ciriaco of Madison. The last two matches of the day Santiago-Glinsmann received byes.
Christian Nordby (215) placed fourth for Pierce. Nordby won by fall over Flesner and Joshua Dittmer from Norfolk. Nordby lost by a 6-0 decision to Battle Creek’s Zlomke. In the third place match Nordby fell to Tyson Sanger from Crofton-Bloomfield.
Boston Krueger placed third at heavyweight. Krueger received a bye for the first round, then Krueger won by a 5-1 decision over Carter Brave of Todd County. Krueger fell to Mason Planer from Battle Creek but won his third place match Krueger won 6-3 in tie breaker-1 over Owen Kuchar who attends Crofton-Bloomfield.
