Wayne High seniors Ashton Munsell and Jaycee Bruns advanced to the semifinals after the first day of action at the 2023 Nebraska State Wrestling Championships in Omaha.
Munsell, ranked sixth in the state at 145 pounds, breezed to a 13-5 major decision over Johnny Radicia of Elkhorn North in Thursday’s opening round, then got a last-second takedown to post a 3-1 win over Dreu White of Cozad in the quarterfinals to guarantee a medal and earn a spot in Friday’s semifinals.
Bruns, who was ranked third in the girls 125-pound division coming into the tournament, got a late pin over Kianna Wingender of Bennington in the opening round, then dominated Aliena Osterbuhr of Minden 10-4 to punch her ticket to the semifinals and lock up the first-ever medal by a Wayne girls wrestler.
Garrett Schultz also won a match for Wayne on Thursday, taking an 8-2 deision over Brayan Romero of Schuyler before losing a 5-4 heartbreaker to Garrison Brehm of Waverly in the quarterfinals. The 120-pound junior will have to win two matches Friday to return to the medal stand after finishing sixth as a freshman in 2021.
Both Winside and Quad County Northeast had two wrestlers competing, with two getting to the quarterfinals before losing.
Mason Topp earned a first-period pin over Blake Emig of Dundy County Stratton in Class D 195-pound action Thursday morning before losing a sudden-death heartbreaker to Jeremy Felix of Alma. He will need two wins to earn a medal for the Wildcats.
Winside’s Emily Jaeger was pinned in the first period of her 120-pound match on Thursday. She will wrestle Friday and need three wins to secure a spot on the medal stand.
Kolby Casey reached the quarterfinals for QCNE with a 72-second pin over Messiah Green of Boys Town, but lost in the Class C 220-pound quarterfinals on an 8-2 decision to Cal Wells of Broken Bow.
Temmate Ajay Gubbels lost in his state tournament debut at 182 pounds, losing a 5-1 decision to Jurgen Baker of Tri County.
Action continues Friday with two rounds of consolations in Class A and D at 9:30 a.m. and the first two rounds of consolations for Class B and Class C boys and the all-class girls bracket at 12 p.m. Semifinals and third-round consolations are set to start at 6:30 p.m., with consolation semifinals and all medal matches set for Saturday.
