Blair High School senior Hudson Loges ran out onto the Class B mat and saw his parents in the front row Saturday night.
A row or two behind them, amongst the thousands at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, his brothers — Duncan and Jesse — his teammates and his friends settled into their seats to watch the 138-pounder contend for his second NSAA State Boys Wrestling Championship.
Then, just 77 seconds after the starting whistle, Loges was able to celebrate with them.
“That was so cool, them being there next to me the whole time,” he said minutes later, wearing his newest gold medal around his neck.
After Blaise Baughman and Cornez Tucker Jr. did their part to boost the seventh-place Bears with top-six finishes, the now two-time state champion completed a 51-1 season Saturday by pinning Waverly's Trev Greve. The victory capped a dominant, 4-0 tournament run complete with two pins and a pair of lopsided technical falls.
Loges ends his BHS career as one of only five state champion wrestlers in school history. The Bears have 10 individual titles total with its Class of 2025 representative producing one apiece in 2023 and, now, this year — his graduation year.
The Augustana University (S.D.) recruit is just Blair's seventh-ever three-time state medalist, too, joining his older brother Jesse on that list.
“I knew going into that match he was going to probably try to wrestle me defensively,” Loges said after the win against Greve. “So, I wanted to stay on my offense and that just opened up. I wasn't really setting that up at all.”
The 138-pounder's first attempt to throw the Viking to the mat succeeded and, after just a few circles back-and-forth as Greve struggled to keep his shoulders up, the referee called for a pin with a slap of the mat.
While Loges already experienced a state title win as a sophomore, he embraced the championship atmosphere as a senior. He didn't get to compete in Omaha as a junior due to injury, but he was able to relish the opportunity to be back there one year later.
“I was able to soak it all in,” the champ said.
Loges' front-row family has always been into wrestling. His cousin, Christian, was a three-time state champion at Omaha Skutt, and Duncan and Jesse were two of the first opponents he ever had.
“I've just grown up wrestling them all over the house, you know?” Loges said. “The living room. The bedroom. Everywhere.”
When his brothers wrestled for BHS, it wasn't unusual to spot Hudson in the vicinity, coach Erich Warner said. He was the kid bouncing around with a smile on his face.
“It was easy to figure out who he was and what he was,” the coach explained. “He had a whole lot of wrestling talent pretty early.”
The talent grew and the tournament titles added up. Loges won at every level and across several states. In 2023, he even competed at the U17 World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.
“I’m very, very thankful,” Loges said after his latest victory, crediting club coaches Zac Dominguez and Matt Rein, and school coaches — Warner, John Roan, Jairin Potter and Dirk Desmond included — practice partners, family and friends. “I appreciate everything that happened for me. The Blair Bears’ support system was amazing.”
A lot has happened, but not everything's changed.
“He's still that same kid with a big bright smile that has big dreams for his future,” Warner said. “I'm excited to follow that.”
On Saturday, Loges earned a title-winning pin and sat back on his heels. As he did, he flashed that smile at his family, friends and teammates in the first few rows at the CHI Health Center.
Baughman, Tucker Jr. medal
Beaten and hurt, Baughman's third-place match opponent couldn't continue near the end of the third period Saturday.
So, with the final seconds still winding down, Bennington 190-pounder Dalton Rhoten and the Bear stood across from each other and shook hands.
“I've always been a respectful wrestler,” Baughman said. “And a nicer wrestler that people want to talk to and hang out with afterwards.”
The BHS standout won the match 7-1, earning his second-straight third-place finish at the Class B state tournament. It wasn't what the No. 1-ranked wrestler wanted coming into the weekend.
Even so, Baughman battled back after Friday night's semifinals loss — a 4-1 overtime defeat to Sidney's Patrick McCartney — with a pair of wins against Norris' Eric Hall and Rhoten, who he also bested 8-1 in the quarterfinals.
“I feel like, personally, I let a lot of people down that believed in me,” the junior said, detailing what motivated him going into the consolation semifinals. “So, it was kind of just for them as well as myself.”
Though the 190-pounder remained disappointed in the end result, he was boosted by how he closed out his junior season.
“The last two years, I've went out with a few wins in a row, so that's really helped my morale and the way I look at the overall season,” Baughman said.
After the 45-4 campaign, the wrestler plans on working hard to become bigger, faster and stronger as a senior.
“The future is super bright for him,” Coach Warner said. “I have no doubt.”
At 285 pounds, Tucker Jr. — a Southwest Minnesota State University football recruit — closed out his senior season with a sixth-place finish. He was 2-3 overall in Omaha, topping McCook's Spencer Steinbeck by pin during the quarterfinals to guarantee a spot on the podium.
“When he hit that single leg and came right down in the half, I was so excited and pumped for him,” Warner said. “He hasn't been ranked in the top-six all year, but we knew he was good enough to get a state medal.”
Tucker Jr. started his Class B tourney with a second-period pin. In the quarterfinals, though, he was an underdog against Steinbeck.
“I just go out there and wrestle me,” the Bear said of his approach. “Most of the heavyweights can't keep up when I'm wrestling them, so I pushed the pace a little bit.”
He jumped out to a 7-0 lead and finished the match from there.
“I get them tired,” Tucker Jr. said. “And then I go to work.”
Back in the CHI Health Center tunnels after the match, he couldn't even get his hoodie on over his head before teammates Tannon Bellamy and Jaxon Logan mobbed him. The BHS heavyweight lost his next three matches to wrestlers with a combined record of 113-15, but he still left the state tourney with a medal.
“Last year, I didn't make it because I got hurt,” Tucker Jr. said. “And this year I made it. Means a lot.”
5 Bears fall short of podium
Of the five Blair state qualifiers who finished shy of a state medal Friday, Griffin Rosterman got the closest. The 175-pounder went 2-2 in Class B, dropping his heartbreak round match by 13-6 decision to Bennington's Ty Bouaphakeo. He was taken down early in the match, but reversed it and scored two back points to lead 4-3 through one period.
It just didn't stick.
Prior to his season-ending loss, though, Rosterman picked up two victories in Omaha. He opened with a 15-2 major decision before a second-round consolation pin.
Bears Wyatt Loftis, Bellamy and Logan, meanwhile, earned a win apiece before their eliminations Friday afternoon. Bellamy went 1-2 at 126 pounds, closing out an injury-plagued season with a 14-6 record. The multiple-time state qualifier beat Hastings' Trindyn Degodt by 12-10 decision during the first consolation round.
Logan won his first 144-pound state match, but lost his next two by pin, closing out the season 37-17. The win was a 16-7 major decision against Alliance's Jackson Bailey.
At 165 pounds, Loftis eked out an 11-10 decision win during the consolation rounds, too. The victory against Bennington's Layne Boever set up a match with Lincoln Christian's Asa Wegrzyn, who pinned the BHS wrestler in 2:22.
Carson Faue, meanwhile, went 0-2 in his state debut at 150 pounds, but battled. He lost his consolation match to 45-7 Columbus Lakeview wrestler Eli Pilakowski by an tight, 9-6 decision.
“We were excited for everybody,” Coach Warner said. “We wrestled really well overall as a team. Some of those kids that, maybe, were the underdogs — they put themselves in good positions and almost got a couple wins to put them in the medal rounds.”
It was a good, three-day stay at the state tournament overall.
“I'm super excited about all of the experiences they had and the effort they put in,” Warner said. “I'm proud of the way they competed.”
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.
Blair Bears Results
(Weight, wrestler: Tourney record (overall record), place)
126 pounds, Tannon Bellamy: 1-2 (14-6), NA.
138, Hudson Loges: 4-0 (51-1), first.
144, Jaxon Logan: 1-2 (37-17), NA.
150, Carson Faue: 0-2 (21-25), NA.
165, Wyatt Loftis: 1-2 (29-26), NA.
175, Griffin Rosterman: 2-2 (36-22), NA.
190, Blaise Baughman: 4-1 (45-4), third.
285, Cornez Tuckr Jr: 2-3 (40-15), sixth.
