Wood and Perez to wrestle at state

Perkins County’s two senior wrestlers will return to Omaha this weekend for the NSAA State Wrestling Championships. 

Moving from Class D to Class C, Beau Wood took Class C4 District gold in the 195-pound division and Emilio Perez claimed the silver in the 285-pound division after two days of competition Feb. 8-9 in Broken Bow.

Head Coach Tanner Collins said he’s really happy for the seniors and excited to see what they can do in Omaha. 

Wood pinned his first three opponents in the first period to earn his place in the championship round. He beat 38-3 Matthew Feldner of Kearney Catholic 4-2 to be named district champion. Wood currently holds two state Class D bronze medals. 

After a bye in the first round, Emilio won the next two matches by fall, but fell to Broken Bow’s 42-5 Drew Drake one second before the first period ended in the championship match.

After wrestling back from a loss in the quarterfinals, the consolation semi-finals would determine if sophomore Brandon Knoles would claim a spot at state or go home empty-handed. 

Trailing 0-5 with seconds left on the clock, Knoles took 29-14 Nicholas Coley of Mitchell straight to his back. While the clock ran down before he could get the pin, it was enough to tie the score. 

In sudden victory, Knoles shot but Coley got the advantage, claiming the two points for takedown and leaving Knoles and Plainsmen fans in disappointed defeat.

Perkins County placed eighth out of 16 teams.

Collins said he’s excited to get his first off-season started and build the guys up for next season.

State

Class C first-round action will kick off on Thursday, Feb. 14 at 4 p.m. CT at the CHI Health Center Arena in Omaha followed by quarterfinals. 

Consolations will begin at 12:30 p.m. CT Friday with semifinals at 5 p.m., and consolation semifinals will begin at 8:30 a.m. CT Saturday followed by third and fifth place matches. 

Championship finals will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday. 

Results

Team results: 1. Valentine, 213; 2. Broken Bow, 203.5; 3. Ord, 110; 4. Bridgeport, 94.5; 5. Hemingford, 91; 6. Mitchell, 77; 7. Kearney Catholic, 70; 8. Perkins County, 60; 9. Gordon-Rushville, 59.5; 10. Loomis/Bertrand, 58; 11. Hershey, 51; 12. Southern Valley, 44; 13. Cambridge, 43; 13. Chase County, 43; 15. Kimball, 39; 16. Minden, 35.

126-—Colton Pouk (13-14) lost by major decision to Holden Mundorf (Valentine) 11-15 (MD 17-5), received a bye, lost by decision to John Kenney (Loomis/Bertrand) 30-20 (Dec 14-9)

132-—Trye Hickey (17-20) received a bye, lost by fall to Gage Krolikowski (Valentine) 37-0 (Fall 1:08), received a bye, lost by fall to Max Palomo (Mitchell) 28-16 (Fall 2:32)

160—Jace Wid (22-16) received a bye, lost by fall to Kelen Meyer (Ord) 24-11 (Fall 3:56), won by fall over Hunter Shiers (Kearney Catholic) 5-28 (Fall 2:18), lost by decision to Dylan Schnell (Bridgeport) 27-21 (Dec 3-1) scoring 3 team points.

182—Deitrik Brueggeman (15-21) received a bye, lost by fall to Jesse Ulrich (Ord) 32-5 (Fall 1:55), won by fall over Emma Gomez (Hemingford) 5-18 (Fall 0:51), lost by fall to James Hargett (Southern Valley) 27-11 (Fall 1:12) scoring 3 team points.

195—Beau Wood (17-0) won by fall over Carlos Torres (Bridgeport) 3-28 (Fall 0:31), won by fall over Rhett Witt (Valentine) 7-12 (Fall 1:43), won by fall over Colton Duda (Broken Bow) 42-10 (Fall 1:26), won by decision over Matthew Feldner (Kearney Catholic) 38-4 (Dec 4-2) placing 1st and scoring 26 team points.

220—Brandon Knoles (30-16) won by decision over Jayce Anderson (Valentine) 9-19 (Dec 1-0), lost by fall to Riley Snyder (Gordon-Rushville) 13-24 (Fall 1:55), won by fall over James Sucha (Kearney Catholic) 11-17 (Fall 2:09), won by fall over Travis Rowley (Chase County) 16-15 (Fall 2:39), lost in sudden victory 1 to Nicholas Coley (Mitchell) 30-14 (SV-1 7-5) scoring 8 team points.

285—Emilio Perez (22-3) received a bye, won by fall over Abe Ramos (Bridgeport) 7-16 (Fall 0:56), won by fall over CJ Hoevet (Ord) 31-6 (Fall 2:31), lost by fall to Drew Drake (Broken Bow) 43-5 (Fall 1:59) placing 2nd and scoring 20 team points.