Trojans, Broncos lead Class D charge

LINCOLN -- Most wrestling fans consider the Class B-2 district to be the toughest in the state.

If that's so, then the Class D-4 district tournament is a close second.

So when the Cambridge Trojans qualified seven for the Nebraska State Wrestling Championships -- which started Thursday morning at Lincoln -- and the Wauneta-PalisadeBroncos got six, it was quite a feat.

Also qualifying out of the D-4 district were Republican Valley (3), Dundy County (1) and Culbertson (1).

From the D-3 district, Arapahoe qualified four while Eustis-Farnam snagged three spots.

In all, there are 26 area wrestlers headed to Lincoln this weekend from Class D. Going school-by-school, this is how the weekend looks.

Cambridge (7): With seven wrestlers headed for state, Cambridge has the best shot at placing in the top five.

At 125 pounds, Chase Shiflett (28-3) has a good shot to place. His first match is against Kurt Dostal (30-11) of Howells. A win there would give him a shot at Sutton's Austin Carlson (30-9). A semifinal matchup would pit him against Winside's Bo Brummels (21-3) or Chris Kruger (28-2) of Arapahoe. The toughest match would be a district final rematch with Morril's Josh Duncan (30-3).

Tyler Keyser qualified last year, but only has a 17-4 record. He has, however, placed ahead of Franklin's Shane Carraher (17-14) and beat wrestlers that have defeated Kellen Zastrow of Amherst (27-5).

Tyler tenBensel has caught fire recently and hopes to avenge and early season loss to Elwood's Nolan Freeman.

At 145 pounds, Scott Laue will be dangerous and fun to watch. A year ago, he put the state champion on his back, and this year could surprise some people.

This will be redemption for 171-pound

Whitney Jones. A year ago, he lost the semifinals, and a win over Arapahoe's Colby Carpenter (25-4) in the second round, would mean sweet revenge.

Bronson Soucie will have a tough time in his first year at state. If he can get bast Shane Ryan of Greeley-Wolbach, he faces Bertrand's Isaac Kuck (27-4), whom he's already defeated.

Heavyweight sophomore Anthony Hopkins (12-5) could be hooked up in a second round matchup with Steven Bazata (34-0) of Howells.

Wauneta-Palisade (6): Dirk Vapenik (13-10) wrestles Greeley-Wolbach's Trevor Nekoliczak (26-5).

Jesse West (21-7) opens against Pender's Evan Bowder (35-1) at 119.

Jess Vapenik (27-5) should beat 130-pound Cole Meyer (23-7), but would face Justin Brester (33-1) of Howells in the next round.

Peter Barger (21-11) has a tough first-round match with East Butler's Andy Valenti (27-2).

Hondo Fanning at 152 pounds won't face much better odds against undefeated Craig Brester of Howells.

Jake Rundback (24-10) faces Cort Scheer (28-4) of Sandhills at 160.

Arapahoe (4) :Chris Kruger (28-2) opens up for Arapahoe as one of four No. 1 seeds at 125. A win over Parker Rubendall (26-12) of Friend could give him a match against Cambridge's Shifflet.

Colby Carpenter (25-4 at 171) joins Kruger as returning state qualifiers. This year he has a good shot at the championship, as he's already defeated Cambridge's Jones twice this year. Jones would be a second round opponent.

At 189, Jon Kreutzer (21-13) faces Scott Bayer (31-2) of Howells first.

Dalton Helms (24-12) may sneak into the semifinals as an unknown. He has either defeated or at least wrestled well against the first few opponents he will face.

Eustis-Farnam (3): If Will Craig (22-12) wins his first match at 119, he will have to face Bowder of Pender, but a loss would mean a match with WP's West.

Tell Sever (31-5) should get to the 152- pound semifinals with ease. He should face Ted Swanson (31-5) for a shot at undefeated Brester of Howells.

Henry Cross (24-11) faces a tough first-round draw in North Platte St. Patrick's Barrett Brown (32-4), but may get a win against the loser of Tyler Hellner (Kenesaw 24-8) and Christian Stokes (Pope John 25-11).

Republican Valley (3): If Michael Sheets (24-4) drops the first match at 103 to Newman Grove's Derrick Guthard (26-5), he will take on Dakota Schoenhofer (14-16) of Elm Creek.

A win gives him Friend's Robert Eklund (24-1) with a semifinal berth on the line.

Mark Haag should be rested for the semifinals against either Travis Anderson (29-6) of Newman Grove or Jordan Gonzalez (31-7) of Morril.

Jesse Bayliss (21-11) at 171 pounds faces Kenesaw's Shane Powell (29-1) and a consolation draw will be tough.

Dundy County (2): Jordan Stroup (18-9) has a helpful draw at 103 pounds. Skyler Shill (12-6) drew undefeated Michael Bayer of Howells at 215.

Culbertson (1): Austin Gessleman (17-11) faces Kyle Wasser (22-3) of East Butlerin his 112-pound matchup. If he falls in the opener, he could have a toss-up against 17-11 Reon Benson of Elm Creek in the consolation.

Wrestling began Thursday at 8:30 a.m. for Classes B and C. Classes A and D begins at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Classes B and C start at 8:30 a.m. with A and D at noon. Both classes come back at 6 p.m. for the semifinals.