Pierce High Boys Wrestling
Pierce High Boys Wrestling Battles at Mid-State Meet
By Brayden Wolken
The Pierce High boys wrestling team competed in the Mid-State conference tournament at the YMCA in Norfolk and came out as champions of the whole meet, scoring 184 team points.
First for the Pierce boys was Andrik Sorrells at 113, who finished in third place for the Bluejays and won some hard-fought matches. In the first round, Sorrells received a bye. Next in the quarterfinals round, Sorrels defeated Eli Anderson of Battle Creek by tech fall, 16-0. In the semifinals round, Sorrells fought hard, but came up just short, losing to Reid Laible of O'Neill in a tight match, 16-11. In the consolation semifinals, Sorrells jumped right back and defeated Emmanuel Gonzalez of Wayne, 8-3. In Sorrell's final match, he ended strong for third place, defeating James Wells of Battle Creek, 11-5.
Next up for Pierce was William Korth, wrestling at 113. In the first round, Korth received a bye. In the quarterfinals round, Korth battled, but lost by fall to Max Daniel of Norfolk Catholic. Next, in the consolation round, Korth received another bye. In Korth's final consolation match, he was beaten by Emmanuel Gonzalez of Wayne in a 9-0 major decision.
Pierce's next wrestler for the day was Kolten Wragge, wrestling at 120. Wragge received a bye in the quarterfinals round. In the semifinals round, Wragge pinned Isaiah Zarate of Wayne. Battling for gold in the first round match, Wragge came up short in a close match and was pinned by Ryan Hoehne of Battle Creek, giving Wragge second place on the day.
Next for Pierce was the Mid-State conference champion at 126, Draydin Gossman, who won his bracket on the day to get gold. For Gossman's first round, he pinned Kahnen Pelster of Boone Central. In the quarterfinals match, Gossman handled business and defeated Gerson Torres of Wayne by tech fall, 18-2. In the semifinals round, Gossman got another pin and did it against Keyan Wickre of Cedar Catholic. Fighting for gold, Gossman placed first after winning by medical forfeit over Tyan Thompson of Battle Creek.
Wrestling at 132 for the Bluejays were Keegan Holan and Karsen Wragge. Starting off with Holan, in his first match, he pinned Ashton Imus of Boone Central. In his quarterfinals match, Holan got another pin, defeating Keifer Neuhalfen of Battle Creek. In the semifinals round, Holan battled hard, but was defeated by Maverick Heine of Cedar Catholic by tech fall, 15-0. Holan fought in his semifinals consolation match, but it was not enough, and he was pinned by Austyn Carstens of Battle Creek.
For Pierce's second 132 wrestler, Ka. Wragge, pinned Carter Kuhlman of Crofton/Bloomfield. In his quarterfinals match, Wragge was defeated by Keaton Kuchar of Battle Creek by tech fall, 17-1. Wragge bounced back in his consolation match, defeating Thomas Raymundo of Wayne, 4-1 in sudden victory. Wragge fought hard in his final match, but came up just short, falling to Austyn Carstens of Battle Creek.
Next up for Pierce were both Baiden Neuhalfen and Blaine Anson wrestling at 138. First for Pierce was Neuhalfen. In his first match, he pinned Keaton Keiser of Cedar Catholic. In his quarterfinal match, he fell to Trevor Steffen of Guardian Angels Central Catholic. Neuhalfen bounced back in his consolation match, winning over Porter Farmer, 9-4. Neuhalfen won his next consolation match over Kody Bartling of Cedar Catholic, 6-1. After winning back-to-back matches, Neuhalfen climbed his way back into the consolation semifinals match, but fell just short after getting pinned by Gavin Mauch of Boone Central.
The next 138 wrestler for Pierce, Anson, started off by battling hard, but fell to Omar Contreras of Norfolk Catholic. In Anson's consolation match, he fell to Talon Kurtz of O'Neill.
Next for Pierce was the 144 bracket, and Pierce had three wrestlers–Cooper Collins, Brody Kesting, and Cooper Hansen. Starting off with Collins, in his first round, he had a good battle, but fell to Kasen Kemp of Battle Creek. In Collin's next match, he received a bye. In his final match, Collins had a hard-fought battle, but was eventually pinned by Jacob Bowers of Norfolk Catholic.
Next up for Pierce was Kesting, and in Kesting's first match, he received a bye. In Kesting's second match, he fell to Casey Chadwick of Ponca. Kesting bounced back in his consolation match and defeated Lincoln Rolf of Boone Central by major decision, 10-2. In Kesting's second consolation match, he battled and defeated Jacob Bowers of Norfolk Catholic, 12-7. In Kesting's final match, he fell to Cash Culliton of Crofton/Bloomfield.
Now the final 144 wrestler for Pierce was Hansen, and in his first match, he battled, but was pinned by Bodie Hochstein of Cedar Catholic. Hansen was given a bye in his second round. In Hansen's final match, he fell to Kemp.
Next for Pierce was Cole DeBoer (150), who was given a bye in his first round. In the quarterfinals round, DeBoer pinned Alex Ramponi of Crofton/Bloomfield. DeBoer was in a hard-fought battle during the semifinals match, but ultimately was defeated by Easton Hochstein of Cedar Catholic by tech fall, 19-4. DeBoer jumped right back up after his loss and pinned Dylyn Gentrup of GACC in the consolation semifinals. Battling for third, DeBoer gave it a good shot, but could not get it done, and was defeated by Barrett Koehler of Battle Creek, 5-2 in overtime.
Pierce's 157 wrestler, Brenden Bolling, went through this bracket very handily and was crowned the champion of the 157 bracket. In Bolling's quarterfinals match, he pinned Blaine Sholes of O'Neill. Bolling handled business in his semifinals match, pinning Landon Winter of Boone Central. In Bolling's match for first, he did not disappoint, pinning Hunter Kruse of Battle Creek.
For 165, Pierce had two different wrestlers in Ethan Claussen and Kaiden Ronnfeldt. Starting with Ronnfeldt, he had to battle his own teammate in Claussen, but was defeated in a close match, 4-3. Ronnfeldt received a bye in his second round. In his consolation semifinals match, Ronnfeldt pinned Greyson Frank of O'Neill. In Ronnfeldt's third place match, he put up a good fight, but ultimately fell to Taven Ocampo of Wayne. After Claussen defeated Ronnfeldt, he fought hard in his semifinals match, but was defeated by Daren Dozler of Boone Central by tech fall, 21-6. In Claussen's final match, he had a very good match, but was defeated in a close match against Ocampo, 14-12.
Pierce's 175 wrestler is Burkley Collison, who eventually was the champion of the 175 bracket. Collison got a nice pin in his first match over Wyatt Guenther of Crofton/Bloomfield. In Collison's second match, he got another nice pin, defeating Keyden Throener of GACC. In the semifinals match, Collison defeated Casey Schnebel of Battle Creek in a hard-fought match. In the first-place match, Collision came out on top, pinning Broderick Kleinschmit of Cedar Catholic to win his bracket.
Up next for Pierce was Charlie Ottis, who was wrestling at 190 for them. In Ottis's first match, he was beaten by Evan Shoemaker of O'Neill by tech fall, 18-1. Ottis bounced back in his second match, pinning Tim Ney of Ponca. In Ottis's final match, he battled hard, but fell to Rilee Sellin of Battle Creek.
Pierce had two wrestlers in the 215 bracket in Christian Nordby and Xavier Miller. Starting with Nordby’s first match he received a bye, and in Nordby's second match, he got a nice pin over Pierce Jeannoutot of Crofton/Bloomfield. In the semifinals match, Nordby won a close match against William Roberts of Boone Central, 2-0. Nordby's first-place match was no easy task. Nordby fought hard but could not pull through, falling to Grady Welke of O'Neill. This ended the day for Nordby, who finished in second place.
The other 215 wrestler, Miller, did very well in his bracket as well. Miller was given a bye in his first round of the day. In Miller's quarterfinals match, he pinned Jet Welsh of O'Neill. Moving on to the semifinals match, Miller was pinned by G. Welsh of O'Neill. With a must-win match for Miller, he pulled through and pinned Jacob Swick of Ponca. Miller was competing for third place and fought hard, but lost by fall to William Roberts of Boone Central. Miller ended his day off nicely, getting fourth place.
Finishing off for the Bluejays was Boston Krueger in the 285 bracket, and he did not disappoint, getting third place. Krueger got a quick pin in his first match over Kaden Haverkamp of Crofton/Bloomfield. In Krueger's second match, he lost a tough, hard-fought match against Connor Heiderman of Battle Creek. Krueger bounced back quickly in the consolation semifinals and pinned Luke Kollars of Norfolk Catholic. Battling for third, Krueger won a great match against Owen Kuchar of Crofton/Bloomfield.
The Bluejay boys fought hard and gave it all of their effort to pull out the win as a team, and they have much more to show as a team.
Ko. Wragge (120 wrestler) says, “I thought we all wrestled well for each other, and I think we have even more to prove as a team, and I'm excited to see what we can do when it comes time for state.”
The Bluejay wrestling team will wrestle at Boone Central for their next meet.
Pierce Takes Down Battle Creek and Norfolk Catholic
By Kolten Wragge
The Bluejays jumped over to the Norfolk YMCA to wrestle in a triangular against the Class C No. 1 Battle Creek Braves and the Norfolk Catholic Knights. The Pierce boys wrestled extremely well through positions and ended up coming out on top in both of their duals.
In the first dual, Pierce wrestled Norfolk Catholic.
Starting the night off at 285, Class C No. 4 Boston Krueger pinned Luke Kollars, scoring Pierce six points.
Next, Evan Fisher received an open at 106, scoring NC six points.
At 113, William Korth dropped a 7-0 decision to Max Daniel, scoring NC three points.
Then, at weights 120, 126, 132, and 138, Pierce received opens, giving the Bluejays 24 points.
At 144, Baiden Neuhalfen lost by fall to Omar Contreras, giving NC six points.
Next, at 150, Cole DeBoer came out blazing with a 52-second pin over Tanner Risinger, scoring Pierce six points.
Then, at 157, 165, and 175, Pierce received opens, scoring 18 more points.
At 190, Charlie Ottis fell to Class C No. 8 Miles Ramaker, giving NC six more points.
Finally, at 215, Class C No. 4 Christian Nordby received an open, giving Pierce the final six points.
The final score of the dual was 60-21, and Pierce was victorious.
In the main event of the night, the Class C No. 2 Pierce Bluejays took on the Class C No. 1 Battle Creek Braves.
Starting off the dual at 106, Talon Dreger received a bye for BC, scoring six points.
Next at 113, Korth fell to Class C No. 8 James Wells, putting BC up 12-0.
At 120, Class C No. 4 Kolten Wragge avenged an earlier loss to Class C No. 3 Ryan Hoehne, defeating him 12-8, making the score 12-3.
Then at 126, Class C No. 4 Draydin Gossman pinned Class C No. 5 Tyan Thompson, making the score 12-9.
At 132, Keegan Holan fell to Class C No. 10 Keaton Kuchar, making the score 18-9.
Following that, at 138 Class C No. 3 Ashton Kuchar followed his brother with a fall over Karsen Wragge, making the score 24-9.
Then at 144, Neuhalfen pulled off the 4-2 victory over Keifer Neuhalfen, making the score 24-12, still in favor of Battle Creek.
At 150, Barrett Koehler came out on top with a close match, 5-3, over DeBoer, making the score 27-12 still in favor of Battle Creek.
Class C No. 1 Brenden Bolling came out guns blazing at 157, pinning Cael Gansebom in just 37 seconds, making the score 27-18, Battle Creek.
“The team needs to work on cutting weight right as well as staying focused during practice, but the team performed very well,” Bolling, a senior, stated. “We knew that we could go out there and beat Battle Creek, and accomplishing it would boost our morale. I think the win will prove to ourselves that the work we put in is worth the outcome when it comes to state and state duals.”
At 165, Kaiden Ronnfeldt lost by a 15-0 technical fall to Class C No. 7 Hunter Kruse, making the score 32-18, Battle Creek leading.
Then at 175, Burkey Collison got the late pin with seven seconds remaining in the third period over Nick Kreikemeier, making the score 32-24, Battle Creek.
At 190, Kyle Kuehler pinned Rilee Sellin, making the score 32-30.
Coming out hot, Class C No. 4 Nordby at 215 pinned Levi Mahlin in just 51 seconds, making the score 36-32, in favor of Pierce.
Coming down to the last match, Class C No. 4 Krueger avenged a previous loss and got a pin over Class C No. 3 Connor Heiderman, securing Pierce the score of 42-32.
These amazing matches resulted in the Class C No. 2 Pierce Bluejays defeating the Class C No. 1 Battle Creek Braves.
