Three of the top eight NSWCA Class B tourney teams met on Elkhorn North wrestling mats Saturday for the six-team Eastern Midlands Conference (EMC) Individual Tournament.
The third-ranked Blair Bears, who are first in the dual ratings, earned third behind No. 1 Bennington and the second-place squad, No. 8 Waverly. Coach Erich Warner's team — which was without regular varsity wrestlers Jesse Loges, Brock and Landon Templar, and Noah Kuefler — scored 159 points, while the Badgers had 177.5 and the Vikings notched 170.
Overall, the Bears were 3-2 in EMC title matches. Hudson Loges, Yoan Camejo and Charlie Powers claimed wins and conference championships with their efforts.
Loges, the NSWCA's No. 1 at 106 pounds, won his finals match against No. 3 Cadyn Coyle of Bennington by sudden victory. BHS' 40-4 freshman won his quarterfinal and semifinal matches by first-period pin, too.
Camejo, meanwhile, needed just two wins at 152 pounds to earn an EMC title. He pinned Bennington's Layne Boever in 1:07 and topped Waverly's Kemper Reed 7-6.
Powers also topped a Badger at 160 pounds, besting Dalton Rhoten by 4-2 decision to cap a 3-0 Saturday. The 41-3 Blair senior, who is No. 2 in the Class B ratings, also won a 17-2 technical fall and by pin during the tourney.
The Bears' Kaden Sears and Livai Opetaia reached the end of their brackets, too, but lost first-place matches. Sears was second at 170 pounds to Cooper Spaulding of Norris, while Opetaia was pinned by Elkhorn North's 220-pounder, Jadon Webster.
To reach the finals, however, Sears and Opetaia combined to go 3-0. Sears won by pin and a 8-4 decision, while Opetaia earned a sudden victory over Bennington's Carter Lerch. The 220-pounders wrestled to a 1-1 tie through regulation after the Blair grappler earned an escape about 35 seconds into the third period.
Opetaia then took Lerch's back near the boundary in overtime, leading to a matside conversation between the referee and Bennington coaches, but also a win for coach Warner's team.
The Bears' Luke Frost, Tyson Brown, Atticus Dick, Thomas Chikos and Seagan Packett-Trisdale also contributed wins during their third-place finishes. Dick actually led BHS with three pins at 132 pounds during the EMC event.
Josh Rogge, meanwhile, was fourth at 145 pounds to round out Blair's top-4 medalists.
Bears beat Wildcats, Storm
Blair swept Millard West and Elkhorn South last Friday in its final duals before this Saturday's NSAA Dual Championships in Kearney.
The Wildcats fell on their home mats, 49-28, before the Bears also took down the Storm, 44-24. BHS has lost just one dual all season.
Against Millard, Opetaia, Packett-Trisdale, Dick, Landon Templar, Powers, Sears and Chikos all earned Bear pins. Loges and Brown won matches, too.
Then, against Elkhorn South, Dick, Camejo and Sears won by fall. Cole Welte, Loges, Brown, Templar and Powers won their matches, too.
First round Class B dual championship matches start 9 a.m. Saturday at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds. Blair, the 2019 champion, will compete as a state favorite.
