Sutton wrestlers finish 5th overall during D1-1 District meet in Oakland last weekend
The Sutton Mustangs will advance to the Class D state wrestling championships with four wrestlers after the Mustangs wrapped up a successful run at the D1-1 District tournament at Oakland-Craig High School this past weekend.
Sutton finished fifth as a team, scoring 97 team points in the process. Burwell outscored Aquinas Catholic for the team title, 191.5-151. Amherst placed third overall with 139.5 team points, while Wilcox-Hildreth finished ahead of the Mustangs with 101 team points.
Griffin Bergen, a returning state runner-up from the previous season, leads the foursome of Mustangs that head to Omaha this week, including Korey Poppe, Landon Scheidemann, and Aydin Banta.
BERGEN ROLLS TO 175 TITLE Bergen’s dominant run in the 175-pound weight class moved the junior to 32-3 on the year, as he gained a pair of pinfall wins and a technical fall win en route to the gold medal in the weight class.
Bergen opened with a 2:28 pin over Amherst’s Gavin Knajdl, and then advanced to the championship match with a 1:07 pinfall win over Anthony Arredondo of Overton.
In the title match, Bergen ran to a 17-2 lead and recorded the techfall win over Hunter Gall of Clarkson/Leigh in 4:35.
Bergen will take on Sandy Creek’s Jackson Gerdes in the opening-round of the state meet in Omaha.
BANTA PLACES 2ND AT 215 Banta’s eye-opening run in the 215-pound weight class earned him a runner-up finish, winning two of three matches on the weekend.
He opened with a 4:38 pin over Burwell’s
LILY GRIESS | CLAY COUNTY NEWS
Owen Stevensen, and punched his ticket to the title tilt with a hard-fought 8-5 win over Gavin Johnson of Oakland- Craig.
In the championship match, Amherst’s Tyson Klingelhoefer gained a 2:48 pinfall win over Banta to place the Mustangs second overall.
Aydin Banta works towards a 4:38 pinfall win over Burwell’s Owen Stevensen in the openingand will make his first trip to Omaha for the state wrestling meet this week. round of the 215-pound D-1 District bracket at Oakland. Banta placed second overall
Banta faces Plainview’s Jaeger Frahm in the opening round at state this Thursday.
POPPE IS 3RD AT 132 Poppe had his work cut out for him in the 132-pound weight class, facing a total of six wrestlers, on his way to capturing third place in the class.
The senior opened with a 1:25 pin over Winside’s Carson Planer, and then suffered his lone loss of the weekend, falling 6-1 to Wilcox-Hildreth’s Kyler Masters to send Poppe into the consolation bracket.
Once in the consolation bracket, Poppe got to work, starting with a 1:59 pin over Elijah Moulton of Aquinas Catholic, followed by a 3:48 pinfall win over Taven Kent of Tri County Northeast.
In the consolation semifinals, known to many as the “heartbreak round,” Poppe survived a match with Cash Truska of Aquinas Catholic, pinning Truska in 4:37 to advance to the consolation finals and punch his ticket to state.
In the battle for third place, Poppe gained a 1:25 pinfall win over Riverside’s Hunter Rutten to gain the bronze medal.
Poppe will begin his state tournament trek with a match this Thursday afternoon and evening against Franklin’s Carter Trambly.
SCHEIDEMANN IS 4TH Scheidemann’s run in the 144-pound weight class began with a pair of wins in the first two rounds, pinning Luke Belina of Howells-Dodge in 1:01, before claiming a 2:20 technical fall win over Caleb Wick of Amherst.
Round three, Scheidemann stubbed his toe against Symon Kastl of Aquinas Catholic, as Kastl pinned Scheidemann in 2:48 to move the Sutton senior into the consolation bracket, where he faced a heartbreak round challenge from Winside’s Mason Edwards.
Scheidemann held a 9-0 win over Edwards before gaining a 2:57 pinfall win to earn his ticket to state and a trip to the third-place match, where Tate Brodersen of Randoph, gained a 14-5 win over the Mustang senior.
Scheidemann will face Arapahoe’s Briggs Hill in the first round in Omaha this week.
NARROW MISSES
Brody Schelkopf, Brian Liberato, and Aaron Sanchez all came up one match short of advancing to the state meet, as both fell in their respective heartbreak round matches in Oakland.
Schelkopf, wrestling in the 165-pound weight class, won two of four matches, opening with a 1:24 pinfall loss to Jaxon Graham of Amherst, before battling back with two straight wins, a 2:20 pin over Carter Cech of Aquinas Catholic and a 1:34 pin over Overton’s Mason Duro to reach the consolation semifinals, where Winside’s Stratton Sellin gained an 11-5 win to end Schelkopf’s weekend.
Liberato’s run in the 190 pound class earned him one win in three matches. Burwell’s Kason Larson gained a 3:50 tech fall win over Liberato to start the meet, before the Mustang battled back for a 2:30 pin over Landon Willis of Weeping Water.
In the heartbreak round, Liberato suffered a 2:52 pinfall loss to end his run.
For Sanchez, wrestling in the 285-pound weight class, his weekend in Oakland began with a 1:36 pinfall win over Joey Riggle of Oakland- Craig, but a narrow 4-2 loss in round two to Kaleb Andel of Aquinas Catholic sent Sanchez into the consolation bracket.
Sanchez began his run in the consolation bracket with a 1:28 pin over Blake Ransom of Humphrey-Lindsay, before pinning Teagan Richter of Lyons-Decatur Northeast to advance to the heartbreak round where Nate Franzluebbers of Tri County Northeast gained an 8-5 win to end Sanchez’s weekend.
Billy Meyer (126) and Brayden Griess (175) fell short of wins in the district meet.
TEAM SCORES: Burwell 196.5, Aquinas Catholic 151, Amherst 139.5, Wilcox-Hildreth 101, Sutton 97, Randolph 79.5, Clarkson/Leigh 75, Weeping Water 69, Pleasanton 60, Howells-Dodge 55.5, Tri County Northeast 46, Wisner-Pilger 46, Riverside 45.5, Lyons-Decatur Northeast 44, Winside 37, North Central 34, Overton 34, Niobrara/Verdigre 17, Oakland-Craig 17, Bancroft-Rosalie 8, Humphrey-Lindsay 4, Lutheran High Northeast 0, Scribner-Snyder 0.
Senior Korey Poppe readies for a restart to his match with Elijah Moulton of Aquinas Catholic at the D-1 District meet last week. Poppe won the match by way of a 1:59 pin. LILY GRIESS | CLAY COUNTY NEWS
Senior Landon Scheidemann works Luke Belina towards his back during his first-round win over the Howells-Dodge wrestler, pinning Belina in 1:01 to advance in the 144-pound weight class. LILY GRIESS | CLAY COUNTY NEWS
