OMAHA — Winside is in the mix for a runner-up trophy going into the final day of the 2022 Nebraska State Wrestling Championships.
The Wildcats put four of their seven qualifiers through to Saturday’s medal round and have 64 points going into the final day of competition at the CHI Health Center, just seven behind current runner-up Mullen (71). Sutherland is the runaway leader and has secured the state title with 116 points going into the final day.
Leading the charge for the Wildcats is senior Art Escalante, who has been dominating in each of his three matches so far in the tournament.
The 41-3 senior had two pins on Thursday and followed that up with a 21-6 technical fall over Mason Noel of Southern Valley to advance to Saturday’s Class D 145-pound final against Tanner Frahm of Plainview, who also advanced with a technical fall.
It will be the third meeting between the two wrestlers this season. Escalante defeated Frahm in the finals at the Creighton Invitational during the first week of the season, and Frahm returned the favor in the finals of the Lewis & Clark Conference tournament on Jan. 20.
Escalante was one of four Wildcats in the semifinals, with the other three losing tough matches.
Jacoby Mann lost a 14-2 major decision to top-ranked Eli Paxton of Mullen at 120 pounds, and top-ranked Cayden Ellis was upset by Jacob Fox of Axtell in a 7-4 decision at 126 pounds. Escalante’s twin brother, Gabe, lost a 6-4 heartbreaker to Steven Menke of Bridgeport at 160 in a match that saw Menke get a late takedown to break a 4-4 tie.
Three Wildcats came up short of securing a medal at this year’s tournament.
Mason Topp lost a tough 5-3 decision in the third-round consolations at 195 pounds Friday evening to come up one match short of guaranteeing a medal. Maddox Magwire won a consolation match before bowing out in the second round of consolations at 138, and freshman Korbin Carlson lost in the heartbreak round at 113 on a third-period pin.
For the Wayne High boys wrestlers, the day ended with the Blue Devils coming home empty-handed in the medal department.
Junior Ashton Munsell was the closest to making the medal stand, losing in the heartbreak round Friday night at 138 pounds. He won his first two matches of the day with a pin and a decision, but lost a 2-0 heartbreaker to Owen Barge of Columbus Lakeview to bow out of the tournament with a 38-9 record.
Will Leseberg (106) and Martin Carrillo (195) both won a match in consolation action Friday. Leseberg earned a decision before being pinned in his second match, while Carrillo won a hard-fought 10-8 decision before losing 7-2 to Josh Adkins of Plattsmouth.
Senior Dakota Spann and sophomore Garrett Schultz both saw their tournaments end early with losses in the first round of consolations Friday morning. Schultz was pinned while Spann lost a 4-3 heartbreaker.
It was a bumpy road for the Wayne High girls in their first voyage into the state tournament.
Ichell Rivas, who was ranked fifth in the state at 100 pounds coming into the tournament, started off the day well with a dominating 6-2 win over Carlie McKibbin of Bayard, but lost a heartbreaker in the quarterfinal (4-3) to Payton Thiele of Louisville before being eliminated on a second-period pin by Azaria Ruby of Nebraska City. She ended her junior year with a 27-5 record.
Teammate Jaycee Bruns remains in contention for a medal going into Saturday morning’s heartbreak round. She was pinned late in the first period by Emory Trofholz of Conestoga in the 126-pound bracket. She bounced back with a 9-7 win over Aliena Osterbuhr of Minden to stay alive in the tournament and will wrestle in Saturday morning’s second-round consolations.
Quad County Northeast’s Kolby Casey went 1-1 in Class C 195-pound consolation action Friday, getting a second-period pin over Riley Donahoo of Malcolm before being eliminated by Thomas Fields of Falls City on a second-period pin.
