Charlie Powers wrote the goal down sophomore year.
The Blair Bear desired an NSAA State Wrestling Championship finals opportunity at the CHI Health Center in Omaha.
“It just festered and festered,” the 160-pounder said Friday after an 11-6 semifinals win. “Now, I get that chance. It's a good feeling.”
It got even better Saturday when he went to overtime with unbeaten Jett Samuelson of Hastings and emerged the champion. The wrestler who missed state as a sophomore due to injury, and finished third as a junior, capped a 51-4 senior season with a 5-3 sudden victory.
“I've never been more excited in my life,” Powers said, noting how he typically tries to keep composed win, lose or draw.
The 160-pounder let himself celebrate Saturday, though, as coach Erich Warner's Blair wrestling team set two school records in Omaha. The Bears scored more state team points than any other lineup in their history — 110 for fourth in Class B — and left the downtown arena with more top-6 medalists than any other the coach is aware of.
BHS' Landon Templar and Jesse Loges earned silver medals, while Hudson Loges, Luke Frost and Yoan Camejo earned their own spots on the podium, but it was Powers' title win that highlighted it all.
The senior won his bracket with a 4-0 record. He first bested Aurora's Britton Kemling by 5-0 decision before using an inside grab to best Cole Maschmann of Beatrice by sudden victory in the quarterfinals.
Then, with his goal within reach, Powers met the challenge head-on, topping Pierce's Michael Kruntorad by 11-6 decision and moving onto the finals.
“Honestly, my biggest weapon has really just been me staying calm,” the 160-pounder said after seizing his opportunity. “I get really anxious sometimes and, when I get my adrenaline going, it takes all of the energy out of me and I just slip and make simple mistakes.”
So, Powers did his best to keep a level-head going up against Samuelson, who'd beaten him by 5-4 scores twice. With everything on the line, the Hastings Tiger took a 2-1 lead through one period.
The Bear, however, evened the score with an escape 35 seconds into the second and found himself even with Samuelson at 3-all going into overtime.
Once there, Powers took his shot and got ahold of the Tiger's legs.
“Keep wrestling,” he said when asked what went through his mind in the moment. “If I stopped, he definitely would have gotten out and I would have been freaking out even more.”
But the champ held on, finished the takedown and celebrated as Blair's fourth state champion wrestler. He'd accomplished his goal and led the Bears to a fourth-place finish.
Templar captures silver
“It's been awesome. I love all of these guys,” Templar said Saturday after BHS wrestled its final match of the season. “It's great to see Charlie finally get his state championship after losing in the semis last year.”
The Bears' senior 145-pounder highlighted efforts of the Loges brothers, too.
“Everyone's improving,” he said. “Great way to finish.”
Templar admitted the same for his career even if he fell short, 2-1, in his finals match against Omaha Skutt's Adam Kruse. Tied 1-all during the third period, the match's referee hit the Bear with a debated, second stall call, awarding the Skyhawk a point and, ultimately, the victory.
Still, the Bear finished his senior year on his sport's biggest stage. He finished 32-3, scoring a pin of Cozad's Dreu White and winning two decisions during his time in Omaha.
The success came at the right time for Templar. He'd lost two chances at the state tournament in his career due to injury and watched this winter as his freshman brother, Brock, lost an opportunity to qualify with his own ailment.
At the same time, his mother, Melissa, is battling a serious illness with the support of her family and the wrestling team, which has worn pink shirts in her honor all season.
“I hope I helped raise their spirits a little bit,” Templar said. “They said they were proud of me no matter what, so I think I did my job raising their spirits a little bit.”
The 145-pounder accomplished a lot. With back fractures that threatened his career, he left Omaha with a silver medal.
“Definitely a good way to go out,” Templar said. “In the moment, right now, (the loss) kind of hurts, but it is a good way to go out.”
Loges earns 2nd at 120
Loges, a junior, had to battle to reach the 120-pound finals, too. It wasn't too long before the NSAA State Dual Championships on Feb. 5 that he was on crutches for an injury suffered during the season.
“It still hurts, but I knew I had to fight through the pain because I knew I could make the finals,” he said Friday after an 8-3 semifinals win over Boone Central's Carson Wood.
Late in the match, the Cardinal made an all-or-nothing move to throw Loges off balance. It didn't work as the Bear landed on top.
“Once I caught him on his back, I knew I sealed the match right there,” he said.
The next night, Saturday, Loges ran out onto the Class B championships finals mat under a spotlight. Bennington standout Connor Ritonya had beaten him two weeks earlier at state duals, but he was excited for the rematch opportunity.
“It's a new day tomorrow,” Loges said. “New day. New me. New him. Everything's new tomorrow.”
Ritonya scored an early takedown in the championship match, though, holding the lead from there. Loges scored as escape during the second period, but was unable to overcome the Badger. He finished with a silver medal, completing his comeback from injury with a 32-9 season record.
Loges, Frost and Camejo medal
In addition to their finalists, the Bears' Hudson Loges, Luke Frost and Yoan Camejo earned podium spots in Omaha.
While Loges and Camejo qualified for the semifinals Thursday and knew they would medal, Frost, a 113-pound junior, had to battle back Friday. He went 2-0 and 1-1 Saturday, earning a fifth-place finish.
“That was my whole goal ever since I lost last year at state,” the medalist said. “It was to place this year.”
Facing elimination during both of Friday's matches, Frost won. The Bear scored an escape with 8 seconds remaining to beat Beatrice's Gavin Vanover, 7-6, before a 7-2, medal-clinching win against Wyatt Clarke of Crete.
Normally reserved on the mat, a big smile spread across Frost's face when he was congratulated by his coaches.
“After that match, I knew I did it,” he said. “That was one of the best feelings anyone could ask for.”
Loges, meanwhile, ended his first high school season with a third-place finish at 106 pounds.
The 50-5 BHS standout went 4-1 in his debut at the CHI Health Center, earning his bronze medal with a 7-3 decision against a familiar opponent — Cameron Brumbaugh of Hastings. The top-ranked wrestlers met on three-straight weekends dating back to the NSAA State Dual Championships with the Bear winning all three.
Loges' 2-0 Saturday — he also bested Scottsbluff's Christopher Gamino, 4-3 — followed a 6-0 semifinals loss to Gering's Ashton Dane on Friday night.
Camejo's semifinal loss was even tighter. One stall point separated him and Omaha Skutt's Cade Ziola, who advanced into the 152-pound finals with a 3-2 victory.
The Blair grappler, meanwhile, finished his state debut 2-3 in sixth place. He lost the last three matches he wrestled, but started with a 53-second pin of Ashland-Greenwood's Treyton Tweton on Thursday.
Camejo also bested 39-5 Cozad wrestler Hayden Russman by 11-1 major decision, finishing the year with a 31-13 record overall.
Every Bear earns state win
Overall, no Blair Bear left Omaha without a victory.
Tyson Brown, Kaden Sears, Livai Opetaia and Seagan Packett-Trisdale may have not medaled, but they all secured team points for their team.
Opetaia, a Morningside Mustang football recruit, closed out his high school career with a 1-2 showing at 195 pounds. He won his opening match Thursday against Wayne's Martin Carrillo, 6-2, but lost back-to-back matches to Bennington's Luke MacDonald and Hank Hudson of Albion Boone Central to be eliminated.
Brown, Sears and Packett-Trisdale, meanwhile, went 1-2 at 126, 170 and 285 pounds, respectively. Brown, a sophomore, lost his first match by 35-second pin, but bounced back with a pin of his own against Adams Central's Justin Barbee on Friday morning.
Sears, too, lost his first match by pin before securing one of his own during the first round of consolation matches. The junior was eliminated by the 8-3 decision that followed.
Packett-Trisdale's pin came by 45 seconds Friday morning. He planted Jacob Olson of Gothenburg, but dropped his next match to Elkhorn North's Zach Protaskey.
