NORTH PLATTE, Neb. -- Gazette schools found plenty of reason to cheer at Saturday’s D-4 District Meet at North Platte St. Patrick’s High School.
Five state qualifiers, including two each from Hitchcock County and Dundy County-Stratton, highlighted the Gazette performances at Class D’s western-most district.
The Falcons had the best team finish of all area schools with 61 points for eighth place.
Individually, Hitchcock County qualified Zach Janousek at 120 and Wyatt Standiford at 152.
Janousek won his weight class by pinning Morrill’s Nathaniel Murillo at the 1:39 mark, while Standiford lost a 9-3 decision to Morrill’s Austin Garcia.
Janousek will head to the Class D State Tournament, which begins Thursday, with a 39-4 record. Standiford improved his season mark to 32-4.
Hitchcock County had three other Falcons lose in the consolation semifinals.
Noah Standiford (138) lost a 4-1 decision to Garden County’s Mark Schwartz, while Joel Priest (126) lost a major decision to Hemingford’s Carter Buchheit. Remington Hodges (220) was the third Falcon to lose in the heartbreak round, as he was pinned by John Hill of Morrill at the 2:47 mark.
The DCS duo of Brenden Warman and Dakota Ehart led the Tigers to a 12th-place team finish at Saturday’s meet.
Both Tigers qualified for state with runner-up finishes.
Warman (113) scored two wins, including a 1-0 decision in the semifinals, before being pinned by Mullen’s Teven Marshall at the 5:21 mark of the championship match.
Ehart qualified with two quick pins in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, which sent him to the championship round against Hemingford’s Cade Payne. Payne, however, got the upper hand on Ehart with a pin just 37 seconds into the match.
Next-best performances for the Tigers were Delton Haines (220) and Matthew Wissink (120). Both lost in the third round of the consolation bracket.
Medicine Valley qualified the other Gazette wrestler, as Austin Wolfe finished second in 195.
Wolfe received first round and quarterfinal byes, then pinned Minatare’s Isaac Gomez in the semifinals to clinch his spot in Omaha. In the championship match, Wolfe was bested by Mullen’s Ty Kvanvig with a pin fall at the 1:36 mark.
The Raiders’ Jaden Henderson (126) and Braeden Hottovy (182) made third round consolation matches.
Wauneta-Palisade had two wrestlers at the D-4 Meet, but neither qualified for state.
The Broncos’ Evan Nordhausen came close to qualifying, but lost in the heartbreak round to Hyannis’ Alyssa Shaw. Nordhausen was pinned by Shaw at the 0:53 mark.
Mullen won the district title with 167 points, while Maxwell and Morrill were second and third, respectively.
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