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Brooke Robertson | Johnson Publications
Beau Wood wrestles Daniel Duffy of Kenesaw in the semifinal round of the state tournament. 

Wood takes third place at state wrestling

Junior Beau Wood returned home from the NSAA State Wrestling Championships with the Class D bronze medal in the 182-pound class for the second consecutive year. 

Wood pinned his opponents in the first and quarterfinal rounds on Thursday to advance to the semifinals on Friday evening where he faced 36-1 senior Daniel Duffy of Kenesaw. 

Wood lost to Duffy by just one point, 4-5, his first and only loss of the season. 

On Saturday morning, Wood wrestled 45-7 Layne Heese of Pender to earn his way back to the third place match. 

At the end of three periods and a one-minute overtime, the two were still tied at 2-2. Wood earned the winning point after an escape in referee’s position and holding Heese from the same in two 30-second tie-breakers. 

Wood claimed the bronze over 42-7 Matthew Pearson of Cambridge, ending his season at 30-1. 

“Praise God!” Wood said of his accomplishments. 

“I may not be undefeated anymore, but I still wrestle for someone who is,” he said. 

Assistant Coach Todd Ford said they pray together before each of Wood’s matches. 

Wood, a three-time state qualifier and two-time medal winner, said the coaches were amazing this year. 

First-year Head Coach Dustin Stodola said although Wood had big hopes and dreams of being that state champ, he still has another year to achieve it. 

Duffy went on to win the gold. His identical twin brother took silver in the 170-pound class. 

Jack Kennicutt, senior and two-time state qualifier, won his first round match 6-4 in the 170-pound class, but lost by technical fall in the quarterfinals. He lost by decision in the consolations to end his season at 27-14. 

Sophomore Carson Thelander lost by major decision in the first round of the 106-pound class but pinned his next opponent in consolations. He was pinned in his next match to end his season at 21-19. 

Junior and two-time state qualifier Emilio Perez was pinned in the first round of the 220-pound class but won his next match 7-2. He was pinned in his next match to end his season at 19-16. 

Senior and first-year wrestler Isaias Perez joked that he only went out for wrestling this season because his brother, Emilio, thought he was better than Isaias. 

Isaias ended his season at 21-24 after losing two matches by fall in the 285-pound class. 

Stodola said it’s been a great season overall, and everyone wrestled tough. 

“We finally got to the point where we were out there having fun. We weren’t doing so much thinking and we were just wrestling. They started to believe in their ability to take shots and score points,” he said. 

Stodola said they’re still a young team as they lose two seniors, Kennicutt and Isaias Perez.

Perkins County placed 30th out of 61 Class D teams with 24 points. Burwell won Class D with 124 points followed by Elkhorn Valley and Mullen with 88 and 72 respectively. 

Lincoln East, Omaha Skutt Catholic and Valentine claimed top honors in Classes A, B and C. 

Aaron “Eli” Hinojosa from Chase County took gold in the Class C 220-pound class. 

Held at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, 896 wrestlers qualified for the state tournament. 

Only 168 (19 percent) of those 896 won their last match and 56 (6 percent) won gold medals.

 PC State Results

Individual results: D106—Carson Thelander (21-19) Champ. Round 1 - lost by major decision to Thomas Klemesrud (North Central) 24-20 (MD 11-0), Cons. Round 1 - won by fall over Lane Barton (Meridian) 23-19 (Fall 1:32), Cons. Round 2 - lost by fall to Colten Dawe (Burwell) 28-19 (Fall 2:12) scoring three team points.

D170—Jack Kennicutt (27-14) Champ. Round 1 - won by decision over Timothy Markvicka (High Plains Community) 39-11 (Dec 6-4), Quarterfinal - lost by tech fall to Edwen Baptista (Friend) 37-9 (TF-1.5 5:33 (17-0)), Cons. Round 2 - lost by decision to Dylan Horejsi (Howells-Dodge) 42-16 (Dec 7-0) scoring two team points.

D182—Beau Wood (30-1) Champ. Round 1 - won by fall over Kyle Wooldridge (Shelton) 12-25 (Fall 0:30), Quarterfinal - Beau Wood (Perkins County) 30-1 won by fall over Shawn Klientobe (Elkhorn Valley) 38-16 (Fall 5:09), Semifinal - lost by decision to Daniel Duffy (Kenesaw) 38-1 (Dec 5-4), Cons. Semi - Beau Wood (Perkins County) 30-1 won in tie breaker - 1 over Layne Heese (Pender) 45-7 (TB-1 3-2), 3rd Place Match - Beau Wood (Perkins County) 30-1 won by decision over Matthew Pearson (Cambridge) 42-7 (Dec 3-0) placing third and scoring 18 team points.

D220—Emilio Perez (19-16) Champ. Round 1 - lost by fall to Schuyler Brown (Overton) 27-1 (Fall 4:52), Cons. Round 1 - Emillio Perez (Perkins County) 19-16 won by decision over Chase Barnts (Tri County) 42-15 (Dec 7-2), Cons. Round 2 - lost by fall to Anthony Starr (Southwest) 32-9 (Fall 2:25) scoring one team point.

D285—Isaias Perez (21-24) Champ. Round 1 - lost by fall to Tyler Schultz (Cambridge) 40-12 (Fall 1:35), Cons. Round 1 - lost by fall to Taylan Reiser (St. Mary`s) 8-6 (Fall 3:00).

 

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