Fort Calhoun wrestler Merritt Olberding medaled at state as a freshman and didn't want to fall short of the podium in his return.
So, what did the sophomore Pioneer need to do to get it done during the NSAA State Boys Wrestling Championships in Omaha?
“Stay focused, I guess, and lock in,” he said.
Olberding, a 120-pound standout, led seven FCHS state qualifiers at the CHI Health Center with a sixth-place finish Saturday. He went 3-3 overall for coach Drew Welchert's team, while Lucas DeMilt, Presley Olberding and Alex Schuler combined for four more Class B victories.
“Mainly just really hard practices and keeping my mind straight,” Merritt Olberding said when asked how it all came to be.
The Pioneer won his first-round match against Omaha Gross' Brady Kingston on Thursday, 9-2, before a quarterfinals loss to Liam Moline of Elkhorn Mount Michael forced him into consolation competition. There, the 120-pounder won back-to-back matches Friday against York's Ty Erickson and Evan Strom of Gering to secure his second-straight state medal. He topped Erickson by 13-0 major decision before besting Strom 13-4.
In the deciding match, though, the Gering Bulldog shot for a double leg, taking both wrestlers to the mat. Olbering avoided giving up takedown points, though, keeping Strom from climbing up past his legs and ultimately turning the situation into his own 3-point takedown.
“I just had to get my hips up and I did that,” the Calhoun wrestler said. “Came out successful.”
He dominated the match from there, earning two more state matches and a podium spot Saturday afternoon.
“Usually, when I get the first takedown, it sets up the match,” Olberding said.
From there, the Pioneer lost bouts to 47-5 Columbus Lakeview wrestler Jack Glendy and, again, Moline. He closed out the season 42-11 as a result.
Two seasons in, though, Olberding is a two-time state medalist with a 78-26 record.
DeMilt, however, finished his debut high school season a single win shy of his first state medal. The 106-pound freshman started with a medical forfeit victory before a loss to Ace Schweitzer of Central City.
The Pioneer then topped Conner Cooper of Omaha Skutt for a third time since the Feb. 15 district tournament to reach the heartbreak round. He bested the Skyhawk by 7-2 decision.
“His confidence is way up high and it's really hard to beat somebody three times, especially in two weekends,” Coach Welchert said. “And he really did it and did it pretty convincingly against a good wrestler.”
DeMilt was pinned in his next match, though, ending the year 30-18 overall.
“Lucas has really been coming along,” Welchert said. “He's confident in what he does and we try not to worry too much about the other guy. We got our stuff and we stick to that.”
Presley Olberding — Merritt's twin brother — was 1-2 overall at 126 pounds Thursday and Friday, pinning Matthew Arndt of Cozad near the boundary in 3:47 during the first consolation round. He'd previously lost a close, 10-8 opener against Waverly's Royce Klucas, but fell by 13-1 major decision during the second round of consolations.
Schuler, meanwhile, followed up his Feb. 15 district title win in Crete with a first-round 190-pound win at state. The 30-19 senior earned the 6-2 decision against Douglas County West's Kayden VerMaas, displaying his strength by picking the Falcon up and putting him back down on the mat at one point.
From there, though, Schuler lost back-to-back bouts to 43-3 Sidney wrestler Patrick McCartney, 2-0, and Holdrege's Chase Bailey, 7-5.
Still, it was a strong close to the senior's season.
“For about a month, he really started putting things together,” Coach Welchert said, noting how Schuler's only full high school wrestling seasons came during his freshman and senior years. “There was a lot of cobwebs to dust off (this year). The first half of the season was a lot of just kind of retraining our brain and our body to do those moves and technique.”
It was a struggle to start, the coach said, but the multi-sport Calhoun athlete delivered in the end.
“We lost a lot of matches up front,” Welchert expalined. “And we haven't lost very many since about Christmas break.”
The Pioneers' Levi Lasher, TJ DeMilt and Ray Caruso also competed in Omaha, but they each went 0-2 in Class B. Lasher, a senior, lost his opener to top-seeded Hudson Loges of Blair by technical fall before a close, 7-4 loss to Alliance's Hunter Bridges.
DeMilt — an older brother to Lucas — went 0-2, too, to close his senior season with a 34-22 overall record at 157 pounds. He was pinned first and dropped a 10-0 major decision to Hastings' Zane Thomsen on Friday afternoon.
Caruso's state debut at 175 pounds, however, ended by 17-2 technical fall to Brandon DeAnda of Lakeview. Before it, he lost his opener by pin to 49-1 York wrestler Brooks Loosvelt.
Though only one FCHS wrestler medaled during the NSAA Championships, Welchert said he appreciated the team's showing overall.
“We wrestled well. I'm happy with how we wrestled,” he said. “Picking up a win down here is a big deal.”
NSAA STATE BOYS WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Thursday-Saturday at the CHI Health Center, Omaha
CLASS B
Top-10 team standings: Omaha Skutt 205 points, Waverly 120.5, Bennington 111.5, York 104.5, Central City 79, Plattsmouth 75.5, Blair 67, Beatrice 66, McCook 63, Lexington 61. Also: 26, Fort Calhoun, 19.
Fort Calhoun Pioneers Results
(Weight, wrestler: Tourney record (overall record), place)
106 pounds, Lucas DeMilt: 2-2 (30-18), NA.
120, Merritt Olberding: 3-3 (42-11), sixth.
126, Presley Olberding: 1-2 (35-14), NA.
138, Levi Lasher: 0-2 (26-23), NA.
157, TJ DeMilt: 0-2 (34-22), NA.
175, Ray Caruso: 0-2 (9-10), NA.
190, Alex Schuler: 1-2 (30-19), NA.
