Wood’s perfect record yields gold, Perez sixth at state

Perkins County wrestlers returned home with a state champion and sixth place medal winner from the NSAA Wrestling Championships Feb. 14-16 in Omaha. 

Senior Beau Wood received the gold in the Class C 195-pound division, ending his season 21-0. 

In the first round, Wood pinned 11-9 Simon Rother of Johnson County Central in 3:36. He pinned 26-24 Joey Otero of Norfolk Catholic in 3:36 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he faced 45-12 Colton Duda of Broken Bow, who he pinned in 1:19.

Expecting to face defending champion and undefeated Ryder Fuchs of Pierce in the championship, 41-3 Haydn Deinert of Malcolm won in sudden victory - 1.

Wood faced Deinert in the championship and kept the lead throughout to win 6-2.

This was Wood’s fourth state meet and third state medal, winning the Class D bronze medal his sophomore and junior years. 

Senior Emilio Perez claimed the Class C 285 sixth-place medal, ending his season 25-6. 

In the first round, Perez pinned 27-16 Gustavo Duarte of Arlington in 5:02. 

In quarterfinals, Perez lost to 30-15 Jake Ingwersen of David City by just one point, 4-5. He won the next two consolation matches by fall, pinning 41-10 Tyler Ohrman of Sutton in 3:36 and 31-15 Dalton Rasmussen of Boone Central/Newman Grove in 2:50 to put him in the medals. 

In the consolation semifinals that would determine whether Perez would wrestle for third or fifth, he faced 46-7 Drew Drake of Broken Bow, who he fell to at districts. The match came down to the final seconds, but Perez was defeated 2-4.

In the fifth-place match, Perez lost by fall to 30-15 Jake Ingwersen of David City in 4:06 to finish his wrestling career with a sixth-place medal. 

This was Perez’ third trip to state and first state medal.