Area wrestlers competed in district action over the weekend, and six grapplers qualified for the state tournament after finishing in the top four of their respective weight classes.
On Friday, the Wayne High girls picked up a pair of qualifying spots, led by Nyla Bolles, who won the 130-pound championship in action at York High School. She is joined by Essynce Owens-Webb, who placed third in the 100-pound bracket.
On Saturday at Grand Island Northwest, Wayne High's boys earned three spots in the state tournament, as all three qualifiers finished as runner-up in their respective weight brackets.
Garrett Schultz earned his third trip to state with a second-place finish at 120 pounds, Alex Frank claimed runner-up honors at 144 pounds, and Grant Maas moved up two weight classes and battled his way to a second-place medal at 165 pounds.
History -- both good and bad -- was made among area wrestlers in Class C and D action.
In Class C district competition at Albion, Tri County Northeast got its first-ever state qualifier as Bryan Isom got an exciting win in the 157-pound semifinals to give the Wolfpack its first ticket in the state tournament. He would go on to earn runner-up honors.
Wakefield had three wrestlers get to the heartbreak round, but could not get one through to the medal stand as Samuel Chase (120), Jeremiah Reimers (138) and Ruben Vega (165) all fell short.
In Class D action at Shelby, the Winside wrestling team came home empty-handed, marking the first time in that school's long tradition of mat success -- the program started in the 1966-67 school year -- that they will not have a qualifier in the state tournament. Cooper Behmer (138) and Korbin Carlson (144) both bounced back from quarterfinal losses to reach the heartbreak round, but both were defeated in that match to qualify for state.
The Nebraska State Wrestling Championships run Thursday through Saturday at the CHI Centr in Omaha. Class B and C first-round action starts Thursday at 9:30 a.m., with Class A-C and girls matches following at 3 p.m.
First-round matchups for area wrestlers at state are as follows:
Class B Boys
120: Garrett Schultz, Wayne (37-6, sr.) vs. Hudson Harlow, Douglas County West (27-11, fr.)
144: Alex Frank, Wayne (27-9, sr.) vs. Franklin Musungay, York (22-14, sr.)
165: Grant Maas, Wayne (19-5, so.) vs. Riley Amer, Fairbury (37-13, sr.)
Class C Boys
157: Bryan Isom, Tri County NE (30-8, jr.) vs. Conner Neuhalfen, Battle Creek (38-12, jr.)
Girls
100: Essynce Owens-Webb, Wayne (30-8, fr.) vs. Carlie McKibbin, Bayard (39-7, jr.)
130: Nyla Bolles, Wayne (35-10, so.) vs. Lillian Hagemann, Elkhorn Valley (39-7, jr.)
