Pierce Finishes as State Runner-Up
By: Brenden Bolling
Seven boys competed in the state tournament in Omaha from Thursday, February 19 to Saturday, February 21, and Pierce ended with four state medalists and two individual champions.
Medalists include Kolten Wragge at 120 pounds with a third place finish and Kyle Kuehler with fifth at 190 pounds. The state champions were Draydin Gossman, winning the Class C 126-pound bracket, and Brenden Bolling, winning the C 157-pound bracket. The team also finished as State Runners-up, scoring the most points in school history with 92.
Starting at 120, Wragge finished with a record of 5-1 giving him the bronze. Wragge went 1-1 on Thursday, winning his first match by tech fall, 21-3, over Braiden Varley of Central City. He then fell to Rylan Rasmussen of St. Paul. Wragge then went 2-0 on Friday, winning over Carter Lawrence of Kearney Catholic by fall in 3:54 and a decision victory over Lucas Therrien of Gothenburg, 7-2. On Saturday in the medal rounds he won two more matches first over Battle Creek’s Ryan Hoehne, 6-4, and then over Cody Barton of Malcolm, 7-1, ending his sophomore season with a record of 46-7.
“The team finished off well, not how we wanted to end the season but still doesn’t take away from everything we accomplished, winning state duals, districts, and a conference title,” Wragge stated.
Next at 126 pounds was one of Pierce’s state champions, Gossman. He was 4-0 in the tournament, in his first match he won by fall in 3:48 over Teagan Rerucha of David City. Gossman then took out Battle Creek’s Tyan Thompson by major decision, 13-2. He also had another dominant win over Kevin Pedraza of Madison, winning by a 17-4 major decision, bringing him to the state finals. In the finals Gossman wrestled Drey Gardner of Mitchell and won in a decision victory of 11-4, ending his senior season on top of the podium with a record of 47-6, and a career of three time state qualifier and two time medalist, finishing as state champion.
At 132 pounds for the Bluejays was freshman Keegan Holan. Holan lost his first round to Luke Farmen of Lincoln Christian, this brought him to wrestle on Friday morning where he wrestled Grant Eschit of Wilber-Clatonia and lost by fall. Holan finished the season with a record of 30-26.
Bolling became Pierce’s first two time state champion, going 4-0 with all technical falls. In round one, he went against Cade Pribnow of Bergan Catholic where he won 21-4. In the quarters, Bolling won over Parker Newman of Scotus Central Catholic 23-8. In the next round he faced Landon Burt of Tekamah-Herman in which he won 15-0, bringing him to the finals. In the finals, Bolling faced Hunter Kruse where he finished off his career with another technical fall, 18-1. Bolling finished the season with a record of 50-2, and a career of four time state qualifier and a four time state placer and a two time state champion.
At 190 pounds Kuehler finished in fifth bringing home hardware for himself. In the first round he pinned Paxton Burke of Cross County/Osceola in 5:20. Kuehler then lost in the quarters to Preston Burbach of Central City. In the consolations he went on a roll pinning both of his opponents. First he pinned Hayden Meisenbach of Tekamah-Herman in 2:12 and then pinned Nathan Monahan of Louisville in 1:21. In the medal rounds he fell to Cael Smith of Minden before getting revenge on a previous loss, winning by tech fall 17-1 over Preston Burbach. Kuehler finished 29-6 this season.
Christian Nordby finished his season with a record of 40-11. In round one Nordby fell to Colbyn Peters of Central City in overtime. On Friday morning, Nordby won over Tyson Sanger of Crofton/Bloomfield 4-0. In the next round of the consolations he fell to Asher McKenna of Doniphan-Trumbull 4-3. Nordby finished his career as a three time state qualifier.
At 285 pounds, Boston Krueger went 2-2. In round one he won in a decision victory over Connor Heiderman of Battle Creek 1-0. Krueger then fell to Brody Jakubowski of O’Neill in an ultimate tie breaker. In the consolations, Krueger won 9-2 over Hunter McLeod of Red Cloud/Blue Hill. Krueger then fell to Evan Lutkemeier of Minden ending his senior season with a record of 40-9. Krueger finished his career as a three time state qualifier.
“A lot of highs and lows but definitely one of the funnest and most hard working groups of young men I have been able to work with,” assistant coach Jason Freudenburg stated.
The Bluejays had a remarkable season becoming the first team in Pierce High history to be state dual champions as well as state tournament runners-up. They were also district and conference champions.
