Area high school wrestlers began their push for a trip to the state tournament with the first day of district action at a variety of site across the state.
Wayne is competing in the B-3 district at Bennington and sits in sixth place out of 12 teams after the first day of competition with three wrestlers moving on to the semifinals.
Cameron Muhs (120), Gage Schultz (126) and Berto Vergara (195) all won quarterfinal matches after receiving a first-round bye on Friday. Vergara had a 24-second pin in his match while Muhs won on a late second-period pin. Schultz advanced with a 13-5 major decision.
Wayne still has nine of 13 wrestlers alive in the consolation bracket, with 170-pounder Daniel Maxson the lone Blue Devil to not make it through the first day. Tristan Landanger (138) and Isaiah Muhs (160) both won second-round consolation matches to stay alive. The remaining wrestlers who are in the third-round consolations include Qwintin Billheimer (106), Juan Vergara (132), Steven Keiser (145), Casey Koenig (152), Cade Janke (182), Mikey Reyes (220) and Hunter Jorgensen (285).
In the C-2 district at Cross County High School, Wakefield is ninth in the 16-team field with four wrestlers competing in the semifinals.
Cody Thomas remained unbeaten at 27-0 with a pair of wins at 182 pounds. Teammates Julio Sanchez (195) and Moises Barboza (220) both matched Thomas’ win total with quarterfinal wins to move into the semifinals, and Isaac Verzani picked up his 28th win at 145 pounds to advance to the semis.
Five other Trojans are still alive in the consolation bracket, including Tay Guill (106), Jacob Dorcey (120), Charlie Lopez (126), Luke Walsh (152) and Erik Gladitz (170). Ben Chase (132), Clayton Christensen (138) and Nolan Litchfield (160) each lost two matches to end their seasons.
In D-1 district action at Howells, LCC 195-pounder Zach Dietrich is the lone Bear in the semifinals and one of three LCC wrestlers still alive in the tournament. Dietrich earned a win by decision to move on to Saturday’s semifinal rounds and score LCC’s only team points, putting them in 18th place out of 19 teams.
Still alive for the Bears are Levi Jackson (120), Ethan Williams (220) and Hunter Soll (285). Charlie Stanley (152) and Jayden Garret (160) both went 0-2 Friday to end their tournament hopes.
At the D-2 district at Central Community College-Columbus, Winside is sitting in eighth place in the 20-team field and has four wrestlers competing in Saturday’s semifinals.
The four Wildcats who won quarterfinals to move within one win of a state invite are Koby Ellis (106), Sean Mann (126), Zach Morris (152) and Jon Escalante (220).
Still alive for Winside are Carter Jensen (113) and Michael Jensen (170). Eliminated from the tournament were Matthew Frederick (120) and Mason King (138).
Semifinals and third-round consolations start at 10 a.m. at each location. The top four wrestlers in each weight class will advance to next week’s Nebraska State Wrestling Championships in Omaha.
