Class B
Saturday at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds, Kearney
Team standings: 1, Bennington. 2, Blair. 3, Waverly. 4, Hastings. 5, Scottsbluff. 6, Broken Bow. 8 (tie), Columbus Lakeview and Minden.
Class A, C and D state champions: Millard South (A), David City Aquinas (C) and Sutherland (D)
Blair Wrestlers Records
(Name, weight: state duals record, pins)
Hudson Loges, 106 pounds: 3-0
Luke Frost, 113: 1-2
Jesse Loges, 120: 2-1, 1
Tyson Brown, 126: 0-3
Atticus Dick, 132: 0-3
Josh Rogge, 138: 1-1
Brock Templar, 138: 2-0
LandonTemplar, 145: 3-0, 2
Yoan Camejo, 152: 1-2
Nathan Boswell, 152: 0-1
Charlie Powers, 160: 2-0
Kaden Sears, 170: 3-0, 2
Noah Kuefler, 182: 0-2
Livai Opetaia, 195: 3-0, 1
Thomas Chikos, 195: 0-1
Jim Rasmussen, 220: 0-1
Seagan Packett-Trisdale, 285: 2-0, 2
The Blair High School wrestling team put in a 12-hour-plus work day Saturday during the NSAA State Dual Championships in Kearney.
The top-seeded Bears battled and bested No. 8 Minden and No. 4 Hastings, but they couldn't quite take down their Eastern Midlands Conference (EMC) rival Bennington in a finals dual that came down to the very last match. Coach Erich Warner's wrestlers led with one more bout to go at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds, but the No. 1 195-pounder in the state was waiting for them.
Badger Luke MacDonald notched the title-winning pin, beating BHS by a single point — 33-32. The loss dropped the Bears' dual record to 27-2, a win shy of tying the school record for wins in a season.
Warner remained prideful in defeat.
“We were right there with Bennington to win it, you know?” he said. “A couple things didn't go our way and they very easily could have gone our way.”
Talent and familiarity played a role during the Class B tournament with EMC schools finishing first, second and third. The Badgers topped third-place Waverly in the semifinals, but were forced to buckle in for another conference bout against the Bears, who defeated them 42-25 in January.
“Well, the thing is we know each other so well,” Bennington coach Al Pokorny said. “Just like coach Warner and I were just talking, they knew what we were going to do and we're trying to counter that.”
The dueling strategies made for a tight finals matchup.
“They're such a great dual team,” Pokorny said. “We're very fortunate to win it, but our kids wrestled great all weekend and they did, too.”
Blair started the finale with three straight victories. Senior 220-pounder Livai Opetaia won a 15-5 major decision before Seagan Packett-Trisdale pinned Bennington's Carter Lerch in 60 seconds at heavyweight.
Freshman 106-pounder Hudson Loges then topped Class B No. 3 Cadyn Coyle by overtime tiebreaker. The wrestlers were even, 1-1, after the third period and overtime before the Bear scored an escape during the first 30-second tiebreaker.
Loges then rode out Coyle in the second 30-second session, clinging onto a leg to do it. His win produced a 13-0 BHS lead.
Undeterred, the Badgers responded with five-straight wins against the Bears' Luke Frost, Jesse Loges, Tyson Brown, Atticus Dick and Josh Rogge. Warner didn't fault any of his wrestlers for their efforts during the skid.
“Senior Josh Rogge fought like heck,” the coach said. “Every time he went to his back, he went this way and that way.”
But it wasn't just the 138-pounder.
“I would say it was up-and-down the lineup,” Warner added. “Everybody fought like hell for the team and they did what they could.”
Finally, Blair's Brock Templar got his team back on track with an 11-3 major decision at 145 pounds. The win pulled the eventual runner-ups within 24-17 and set up senior Landon Templar to cut into the deficit further. He delivered from there, pinning Layne Boever in 1:08 and slashing the Badgers' lead to just one.
Pokorny said Bennington's biggest win of the night may have come next, though. In a 2-2 match, the Bears' Yoan Camejo looked poised to score the match-winning takedown in the finals seconds of a 160-pound bout against Dalton Rhoten. The Badger shifted his weight just right, however, and landed on top of the BHS wrestler for a last-second, 4-2 decision win.
“That was huge,” Pokorny said.
Blair's coaching staff felt the importance of the match, too, but attempted to stop it from derailing its team.
“We immediately turned around and said, 'It's alright. We still have this,'” Warner said. “And we did. We still had opportunities to take that.”
Ahead 27-23 and well aware of who they had left to wrestle, the Badgers forfeited the next match against the Bears' highly-rated Charlie Powers. With that, Blair led by two and extended its advantage when Kaden Sears earned a 3-1 decision at 182 pounds.
Those five points of separation weren't enough, though. Not with MacDonald up next.
“When we knew it was going to end at 195, we knew that — as long as we were within five — we had a great chance,” Pokorny said. “The draw worked out perfect as far as ending it. We just needed to get to that point and, fortunately, guys came through.”
It was all unfortunate for Blair, though. The Bears looked solemn as MacDonald celebrated on the edge of the mat after a 16-second pin of freshman Thomas Chikos.
The season isn't over, though. Blair next competes Friday and Saturday during the Class B District 3 Tournament in Minden. Friday matches begin at 3 p.m. as the Bears contend for individual state tournament berths to Omaha.
Warner said he has no doubts that his team will shake off any dual tournament disappointment.
“Kids are resilient,” he said, stepping away from the post-finals interview to shake the hand of Pokorny one more time.
STATE DUAL SUMMARIES
Finals
Bennington 33, Blair 32: The Blair and Bennington wrestling lineups each claimed seven weight classes' team points during Saturday's Class B state championship dual at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds in Kearney.
The Badgers' tally reached one point higher after 14 matches, though. No. 1 195-pounder Luke MacDonald ensured that result with his dual-capping and title-clinching .
Before that, though, BHS won six matches and claimed six more points by Bennington forfeit at 170 pounds. Livai Opetaia, Seagan Packett-Trisdale, Hudson Loges, Brock Templar, Landon Templar and Kaden Sears won their matches with Landon Templar and Packett-Trisdale doing so by pin.
Opetaia and Brock Templar added major decisions, while Sears won a 3-1 decision and Loges earned an overtime tiebreaker.
The champion Badgers, who finish the season with a 23-6 dual record, earned four pins and three decisions to win Class B's dual championship by the smallest of margins.
Semifinals
Blair 33, Hastings 28: The Bears earned their spot in the finals against Hastings, winning the Flatwater Fracas rematch when Charlie Powers and Sears won the last two matches of the dual by pin.
The fourth-seeded Tigers led 28-21 after twelve matches, but Blair coaches had moved both Powers and Sears up a weight class to finish off the semifinal round. Powers pinned his 170-pound opponent, Jeret Frerichs, in 1:50 before Sears stuck 182-pounder Zander Lockling in 57 seconds.
Ultimately, the dual came down to Sears' match with the Bears still down 28-27.
“I was a little nervous, but I just knew I had to go out there and wrestle my best, wrestle for my team,” he said. “Get the win.”
The Blair standout did, admitting he was glad to have the weight of the dual on his shoulders.
“Oh yeah,” Sears said. “I knew I would get the job done.”
Earlier, Opetaia earned the Bears' first win of the dual at 220 pounds, claiming a 6-2 decision. Packett-Trisdale's pin at heavyweight then gave BHS a 9-5 advantage.
At 106 pounds, Hudson Loges earned a 1-0 Blair win against fourth-ranked Cameron Brumbaugh. Jesse Loges (120 pounds), Brock Templar (138) and Landon Templar (145) won decisions, too, setting up the Bears' big finish to beat Hastings despite a late deficit.
First Round
Blair 51, Minden 21: The top-seeded Bears started Saturday's competition with a 51-21 win against No. 8 Minden.
The teams traded wins early, resulting in a 28-21 BHS lead, but coach Erich Warner's team assumed absolute control with Josh Rogge's 3-1 decision win at 138 pounds. He trailed the Whippets' Alex Brais 1-0 through two periods, but was allowed to stand up to start the third and scored the match-winning takedown points with just 5 seconds to go.
From there, Blair won four more matches to close the dual out. Landon Templar and Sears won by pin, Powers earned a first-period technical fall and Yoan Camejo claimed a 6-3 decision.
It was Camejo's win at 152 pounds that clinched the dual and he knew it.
“I went out there, tried to do my best and did my best,” the Bear said.
Against 40-8 Evan Smith, Camejo fell behind 2-0, but scored six points during the second to secure control.
“Every time I go out there, I try to just have tunnel vision and blur everything else out,” Camejo said. “I got out there every time, tough (opponent) or not, and I try to do my best.”
Opetaia, Hudson Loges, Luke Frost and Jesse Loges also earned contested victories against Minden.
Compiled by Grant Egger, Enterprise Sports Editor
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