Sports

The 2023 Nebraska State High School wrestling championships featured four Clay County wrestlers, with three of the four charting wins in the big show.

Sutton freshman Korey Poppe would wrap up his first-ever trip with a 2-2 run in the CHI Center in Omaha, while South Central sophomores Connor Rempe and Rowan Jarosik both earned one win in three matches.

Harvard senior Maria Perez fell short of a victory on the state meet mats, but went down in history as the first-ever female state qualifier in Clay County history, wrapping up her senior season with a 20-14 record.

POPPE JUST MISSES MEDAL

Poppe’s run in the Class D 106-pound weight class opened with a bigtime win over Wilcox-Hildreth’s Gavin Patterson, as the Mustang freshman doubled up Patterson on the scoreboard, earning a 14-7 victory over the W-H sophomore, who had earned a pair of wins over Poppe during the regular season.

The Sutton Fillies have hit the gas pedal hard in the month of February, as the Fillies headed into the current month with a 7-10 record. Over the course of the last two days of January and the first 10 days of February, Sutton has won four of five games to enter the C2-8 Sub-District tournament with an 11-12 record.

As the Fillies entered the Southern Nebraska Conference post-season tournament, Sutton, the third seed overall, would gain sweet revenge over both Thayer Central and Superior.

In the opening round, the Fillies upended the Titans 45-38, to make amends for a 37-31 loss to Thayer Central on Jan. 13.

The seven-point win over the Titans then advanced the Fillies to the C2-8 title game with the host Wildcats of Superior, who owned a pair of wins over the Fillies, a 43-30 season-opening win, back on Dec. 1, along with a quarterfinal round, 45-40, win over the Fillies in the SNC tournament, Jan. 31.

The 2022-23 wrestling season for the Harvard Cardinal boys team came to a close this past weekend in Hebron, as the Cardinals closed out the year in the D-3 District meet, hosted by Thayer Central High School.

The Cardinals were held scoreless in the meet, as Lathem Schumm’s run in the 145-pound weight class would see him fall in two matches to end the season with a 15-20 record. Kyle Knueven ended his season in the 152-pound weight class with a 14-25 record after falling in his first two matches. Brett Dillman wrapped up the year with a 12-23 record after falling in back-to-back matches in Hebron.

A three-game week closed out the 2022-23 regular season for the Sutton Fillies, with Sutton earning two wins in the three-game stretch.

Sutton opened with a Feb. 7 37-19 road win at Wilber-Clatonia, before the Class D-1 state ranked Centura girls came into the Sutton Dome and charted a 21-point, 57-36 win over the Fillies, in a game reschedule from Jan. 3 weather delay to Feb. 9.

Following the home loss, Sutton headed to Geneva, Friday, Feb. 10 and picked up a 44-31 win over the Panthers to finish the regular season with an 11-12 record.

Sutton shot under 30 percent from the field in the 18-point win, sinking 14 of 52 shots (26.9%) and received a 13-point, eight rebound performance from senior Alivia Huxoll.

Sutton grabbed a 20-13 halftime lead, then outscored the Wolverines 17-6 in the second half to gain the 37-19 win.

Sutton freshman Korey Poppe will represent the Sutton Mustangs wrestling program in the 2023 Nebraska State High School championships in Omaha this week, as the 106-pound Poppe cashed in for a third-place finish in the Class D, District-3 tournament, hosted by Thayer Central High School in Hebron, Feb. 10-11.

His efforts accounted for 20 of the Mustangs’ 29 team points, as Sutton placed 16th out of 23 teams in the tournament.

POPPE’S ADVENTURE

The intensity of Poppe would push the Mustang lightweight to the semifinals after the first day of action, as Poppe opened with a 2:35 pinfall win over Maison Schroll of Ravenna in the opening round, before advancing to the semifinals with a 1:02 pinfall win over Cedar Bluffs Dale Shaner.

The Sandy Creek sophomore duo of Rowan Jarosik and Connor Rempe, wrestling for the South Central Unified wrestling team extended their seasons one more week, after Jarosik claimed the 126-pound Class C-3 District championship, while Rempe gained a thirdplace finish in the 120-pound weight class in action at Central City this past weekend.

The trip to the 2023 Nebraska High School wrestling championship will be Jarosik’s second-straight trip to the big dance in Omaha, while Rempe, in his first season of varsity wrestling will wrestle under the lights at Omaha’s CHI Center in downtown Omaha.

JAROSIKWINS TITLE AT 126

Jarosik left nothing on the mat while dominating the 126-pound weight class in Central City. After a first round bye, Jarosik went to work in a big way, gaining a quarterfinal round tech fall over Fairbury’s Spencer Weers, winning the match in 3:49 to advance to the semifinal rounds.

Sandy Creek freshman Emma Fisher had a teamhigh 13 points in helping to direct the Cougars to their fourth win of the 2022-23 basketball season.

Fisher led a group of four girls in the scoring column, with sophomore Ryleigh Skalka adding nine, while sophomore Sophie Dane added eight, and senior McKenzie Bohlen, seven, to account for the Cougars’ 37 points in a 37-36 win over the Fairbury Jeffs.

The win came in a consolation bracket game at Centennial High School, Saturday, Feb. 4. It also avenges a Jan. 24, 41-27 loss to the Jeffs.

Fairbury opened the game with a 17-11 lead after a high scoring first quarter, but a 9-4 Sandy Creek run in the second quarter trimmed the Jeffs lead to just one point, 21-20.

Fairbury extended the lead to four points at the end of the third, leading 29-25, before Sandy Creek turned the tides of the game with a 12-7 scoring run in the final eight minutes to chart the win and improve to 4-16 on the year.

Five seniors from Sutton High School signed their national letters of intent, Thursday, Feb. 2, to continue their athletic careers after graduation. Pictured in front, from the left is Andrea Reed, the mother of Maddie Baxa, Alivia Huxoll and her mother Erica Huxoll, Vance Smith and his mother Tysha Smith, Alvino Sanchez Jr., next to his mother Guaddalupe Sanchez, and Nathan Baldwin, next to his mother Brenda Baldwin. In the back row, from the left: Randy Reed, Sutton head volleyball coach Shelli Mohnike, Ed Huxoll, Sutton head football coach Steve Ramer, Hastings College assistant football coach Jeff Merritt, Alvino Sanchez Sr., Randy Baldwin, Sutton track throws coach Owen Schernikau, Concordia University throws coach Ed McLaughlin, and Sutton track coach Jon Yost. Baxa signed to play volleyball at Central Community College in Columbus. Huxoll will take her volleyball skills to Denver, CO and play for Metro State University.

Harvard senior Maria Perez made history this past Saturday, punching a ticket to the 2023 Nebraska State Wrestling Championships to build on the rich history of Harvard Wrestling over the last 40 years.

Her history-making journey adds to the Harvard wrestling aura, becoming the first female wrestler to qualify in an NSAA-sanctioned girls state wrestling tournament in Omaha, Feb. 16-18.

Going into districts, coaches Terry Owens, Brandi Owens, and Nate Schumm, were behind Perez every step up the way, helping to keep her confidence and energy up.

“We talked about all the time and work she had put into the sport, that she had everything she needed to be successful in this meet,” Terry Owens said. “We were very positive with her all week and that confidence showed up in every match.”

The annual in-county rivalry between the Sandy Creek Cougars and Sutton Mustangs certainly kept a strong contingent of fans from both schools tied down to their seats in the Sutton Dome, Thursday, Jan. 26, as the Cougars and Mustangs battled to an 11-10 Cougar lead after the first quarter and 19-17 at the half.

It was a third-quarter surge by Sandy Creek that led the Cougars to an eventual 44-36 win, improving the Cougars to 9-10, while Sutton fell to 5-11 with the eight-point loss.

It was Sandy Creek’s third straight win over the Mustangs, dating back to a 48-31 regular-season win on Jan. 27, 2022, and a 59-39 sub-district win, Feb. 22, 2022.

Sandy Creek went on a 14-9 third-quarter run to gain a 33-26 lead going into the fourth, with an 11-10 fourth-quarter Cougar scoring edge securing the 44-36 victory.

Senior Drake Lally had 17 points, making seven of nine shots from the floor, including a 3-4 effort from three-point range.