Jesse Loges, Charlie Powers, Braden Hanson and Dex Larsen won their weight classes Saturday as the Blair wrestling team finished third during the Eastern Midlands Conference Tournament at Norris High School.
Coach Erich Warner's team scored 152.5 team points, while second-place Waverly notched 157 and the champion Bennington Badgers logged 184.5. The Bears were 40 points better than fourth-place Norris.
Loges claimed his 106-pound title with a 4-0 record. The 37-6 wrestler won his first two matches by fall before a 3-1 decision against Elkhorn's Tyler Japp (23-16 overall) and a win by tiebreaker against Bennington's Caden Coyle (25-6) in the final round.
Powers, meanwhile, was 4-0 at 145. The Bears' second-period pin against the Badgers' Jonathan Williams during the final round pushed his season record to 43-2.
Braden Hanson and Dex Larsen wrestled less to win their conference titles at 182 and 195 pounds, respectively. Hanson wrestled just once against Bennington's Hunter Thompson, earning a sudden victory against the Badger.
Larsen, however, wrestled three times. The BHS senior — who improved to 43-0 Saturday — won his first match by pin before claiming decision victories against Wyatt Fanning (26-6) of Waverly and Luke MacDonald (24-3) of Bennington.
In addition to its champions, Blair wrestlers claimed three second-place finishes and three third-places. Luke Frost (113 pounds), Dylan Berg (160) and Lance Hume (285) were conference runner-ups, while Atticus Dick (126), Dane Larsen (170) and Gabe Gaskill (220) earned bronze.
The Bears were third Saturday, but finished as the EMC dual champions earlier in January.
Before competing for a conference title in Hickman, the Bears closed out their record-setting dual season with a 39-30 win at Millard West on Thursday. The win was BHS' 28th, the new school record for a single season.
Warner's lineup claimed team points in seven of the 14 weight classes, including every match contested between 138 and 160 pounds. Thomas Bacon, Powers, Yoan Camejo and Berg each notched pins during the four-match run, which turned the Bears' 24-12 deficit into a 36-24 lead with three matches remaining.
BHS' Hume, Dick and Dex Larsen also earned team points in the Bears' victory over the Class A Wildcats.
EMC INDIVIDUAL TOURNAMENT
Saturday at Norris
Team scores: Bennington 184.5, Waverly 157, Blair 154.5, Norris 114.5, Elkhorn 81, Elkhorn North 36.5.
BHS Results
106 pounds: Jesse Loges, 4-0, first
113: Luke Frost, 2-1, second
126: Atticus Dick, 3-2, third
132: Shay Bailey, 0-5, sixth
138: Seth Raymond, 0-5, sixth
145: Charlie Powers, 4-0, first
152: Yoan Camejo, 2-3, fifth
160: Dylan Berg, 4-1, second
170: Dane Larsen, 2-2, third
182: Braden Hanson, 1-0, first
195: Dex Larsen, 3-0, first
220: Gabe Gaskill, 3-2, third
285: Lance Hume, 4-1, second
Fort Calhoun at Raymond Central
The Fort Calhoun wrestling team closed out its final regular season weekend with an eighth-place finish at the Raymond Central Invite.
The Pioneers finished with 97.5 team points and five medalists. Sophomore 113-pounder Ely Olberding led the way, claiming first in his weight class with a 3-0 record. The 32-2 grappler notched two pins and a 14-1 major decision during the semifinals.
FCHS' Trey McCoy, Lance Olberding and Jesse Hartline, meanwhile, finished second in their classes. McCoy went 3-1 with three pins at 106 pounds, while Lance Olberding (29-4) won three of his four matches before dropping the 120-pound final to unbeaten Omaha Burke wrestler Julio Reyes. Hartline won his first two 220 matches at Raymond Central before dropping the final by second-period pin.
The Pioneers' Grant Nixon also placed, taking sixth at 182 pounds.
RAYMOND CENTRAL INVITE
Saturday at Raymond Central
Team scores: Beatrice 249.5, Raymond Central 177.5, Bellevue West 147, Syracuse 142, Omaha Burke 113, Cozad 108, Malcolm 107, Fort Calhoun 97.5, Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer 68, Lincoln High 55.5, Falls City 41, Wakefield 34, Southern 7, Friend 0.
FCHS Results
106 pounds: Trey McCoy, 3-1, second
113: Ely Olberding, 3-0, first
120: Lance Olberding, 3-1, second
138: Tristen Hansen, 0-2, NA
182: Grant Nixon, 3-3, sixth
195: Mason Touring, 0-2, NA
220: Jesse Hartline, 2-1, second
Arlington focuses on subdistricts
Arlington's final regular season wrestling tournament Saturday at Douglas County West was canceled, leaving the Eagles to make a decision about the weekend — attend a different tourney or focus on the postseason.
AHS coach Doug Hart's program opted to put their energy toward getting ready for next Saturday's Class C1-B Subdistrict Tournament at North Bend Central. The Eagles will compete there beginning at 11 a.m. with hopes of advancing through the tournament and into the following week's district tourney. The two-tournament arrangement was the NSAA's plan to limit the number of wrestlers competing in district tournaments amid COVID-19.
Blair and Fort Calhoun, meanwhile, will also compete in upcoming subdistrict tournaments. The Bears will participate during the York-hosted Class B2-B tourney at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, while David City will play host to the Pioneers and the Class C1-A event at 10:30 a.m. that same morning.
