Winter weather and subsequent school cancellations put a pause to Washington County high school sports competition Monday and Tuesday.
Basketball and wrestling teams from Arlington, Blair and Fort Calhoun were all affected. This season, those teams have all earned a measure of success thus far.
Basketball
The first Omaha World-Herald boys and girls basketball rankings of 2024 were released this week, but no Washington County squads were included.
Still, both the Arlington girls and Fort Calhoun boys are off notable starts in particular. The Eagles recently had their nine-game winning streak snapped, but are 11-2 overall. They have wins against 6-6 Platteview and West Point-Beemer as well as 6-5 Douglas County West and Raymond Central.
AHS is led by its three top scorers — Britt Nielsen, Emme Timm and Macy Wolf — who average more than 10 points per game.
The FCHS boys, meanwhile, are on a five-game win streak with a 9-2 overall record. Coach TJ O'Connor's squad has notable bested 10-2 Fremont Bergan, 10-2 Howells-Doge and 8-3 Sandy Creek.
Pioneer Grayson Bouwman is Washington County's top scorer, notching a 22.1 average with 6.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists according to maxpreps.com as of Wednesay. His teammate, sophomore Colby Bentley, is average 11.3 points and 7.9 rebounds, too.
The Fort Calhoun girls basketball team is 8-4, too, with wins against 8-4 Bergan and 8-3 Bancroft-Rosalie. Raeann Massey, Ansley Elofson and Bria Bench all carry double-digit scoring averages with Massey producing 11.9 per game, according to the most up-to-date statistics at maxpreps.com.
The Blair girls have a winning record after 10 games, too. They are 6-4 with victories against 5-6 Omaha Gross and 5-8 Plattsmouth. Addie Sullivan is the team's top scorer with a 10.2 average, but she sat out the Bears most recent game with an injury.
The BHS boys are 5-5 with a Dec. 5 win against 4-6 Waverly. The Vikings did win the recent rematch to start 2024, though.
Coach Jake Polk's Arlington boys have wins against four-win teams from Columbus Lakeview, Yutan and Tekamah-Herman. The Eagles are 6-6 overall with Trent Koger averaging 16.8 points and 12.1 rebounds per outing. Oliver Ladehoff adds 10.5 points per game, too.
Wrestling
The Blair boys wrestling team, meanwhile, is the only Washington County wrestling team to hold a NSWCA top-10 rating. The Bears are Class B's No. 4 tournament team and its No. 5 dual squad with a 16-7 record.
Hudson Loges (1-1 overall) and Tyson Brown (32-5) are BHS' highest touted wrestlers with No. 1 rankings in the 126- and 138-pound weight classes, according to the NSWCA. Tannon Bellamy (No. 5 at 106 pounds), Atticus Dick (No. 6 at 150), Brock Templar (No. 2 at 165) and Blaise Baughman (No. 6 at 175) are also ranked.
Ali Wheeler leads the Blair girls with a 15-3 record at 120 pounds this season. Riley Martin is 14-4, Katie Wheeler is 12-4 and Madi James is 13-5, too.
Kelise Krivohlavek of Arlington, however, is the lone Washington girl in the NSWCA all-class rankings. She is No. 2 at 125 pounds with an unbeaten 20-0 record, while Carly Segebart is 16-5 for the Eagles.
Kolton Gilmore leads his Arlington boys team with a 20-2 record at 165 pounds. Jake Flesner (15-3 overall) and Braxton Soll (14-3) have also contribunted to the Eagles' 5-5 dual record this season.
The Fort Calhoun boys, meanwhile, are 6-2 in duals. Presley and Merritt Olberding at 16-7 and 14-7 at 113- and 106-pounds, respectively, while TJ DeMilt and Gage Nixon have both attained 15 victories.
Madi Larrick leads the fledgling FCHS girls wrestling team with an 11-4 record at 125 pounds. Ali Dill has a double-digit win total, too, with a 12-14 record.
Most of Washington County's winter sports teams were scheduled to resume their seasons Thursday, today and Saturday after Monday and Tuesday's cancellations. Full coverage of their results will appear in Tuesday's Washington County Pilot-Tribune.
