OMAHA — Wayne High has its first state semifinalist since 2005 at the Nebraska State Wrestling Championships.
Blue Devil junior heavyweight Mike Leatherdale punched his ticket to the semifinals with two pins in Thursday’s first-round action at the CHI Health Center.
Leatherdale (24-1) pinned Reid Steinbeck of McCook in the first period of their opening-round match, then defeated Bradyn Kucera of Columbus Lakeview on a second-period pin to move on to Friday’s semifinal round.
Leatherdale was the only Wayne wrestlers to get through the first day unscathed, as the Blue Devils’ other qualifiers — Reece Jaqua (126), Reid Korth (170), Dakota Spann (182), Cade Janke (195) and Martin Carrillo (220) all lost in the opening round.
In other action, Quad County Northeast’s Kolby Casey was pinned in his first-round match at 195 pounds in Class C.
In Class D, Winside won three matches with pins by Cayden Ellis (113) and Gabe Escalante (138) and a technical fall by Art Escalante (132).
Area Results
Class B
126: Tyler Curtis, Blair, dec. Reece Jaqua, Wayne, 13-10.
170: Kobe Lyons, York, maj. dec. Reid Korth, 12-3.
182: Luke McDonald, Bennington, pinned Dakota Spann, 3:19.
195: Imanol Munoz, Holdrege, dec. Cade Janke, Wayne, 4-2.
220: Brayan Rodriguez, York, pinnef Martin Carrillo, Wayne, 3:01.
285: Mike Leatherdale, Wayne, pinned Reid Steinbeck, McCook, 1:20; Leatherdale pinned Bradyn Kucera, Lakeview, 2:38.
Class C
195: Ethan Gabriel, Ord, pinned Kolby Casey, QCNE, :44.
Class D
113: Cayden Ellis, Winside, pinned Ethan Kipp Twin Loup, 5:02; dec. Jacob Fox, Axtell, 11-4.
132: Art Escalante, Winside, tech. fall Jon Peterka, Sutherland 18-3; pinned by Jeremy Larson, Brady, 1:58.
138: Gabe Escalante, Winside, pinned Ethan Dack, Shelton, 3:06; dec. Connor Sonderup, Fullerton, 10-8 (SV).
