Upsets plague Class D wrestlers

Jerry Chambers/Special to the Gazette Jess Vapenik, Wauneta-Palisade, left, and Mark Haag, Republican Valley, second to left, wear their medals as the national anthem plays during the medal ceremony for the Class D 130-pound weight division at the Nebraska State Wrestling Tournament. Vapenik pinned Justin Brester, Howells, 2:22, in the fifth-place match. Haag decisioned Taylor Phillipps, Burwell, 10-3 for third place. Travis Anderson, Newman Grove, decisioned Kellen Zastrow, Amherst, 5-2 in the championship. Also pictured are Anderson and Zastrow. Brester is not pictured.

RV's Haag

places third

at 130 pounds

LINCOLN -- Six medals were earned by area wrestlers in the Nebraska Class D state tournament at Lincoln Saturday.

Twenty-six wrestlers from the area qualified for the Class D state tournament.

Cambridge qualified seven grapplers for the tournament, but six lost their opening match.

Chase Shifflet won his opener.

Shifflet won his next match too, with a 19-second pin. A one-point loss eliminated hopes of a state title for the senior.

He did come back to win a berth in the consolation championship match. Against Bernard Nicola of Fremont Bergan, he lost 5-0. That gave him fourth place honors.

"I was wrestling mostly for pride after the semifinal loss," Shifflet said. "They (my teammates) came out good after a tough day Thursday. We picked it up and got back in the groove."

Mark Haag was one of two place-winners in the 130-pound bracket. After a 6-0 first-round win, the Republican Valley wrestler lost a quarterfinal match.

He did battle back, winning his next four matches.

The fourth one was punctuated by a 10-3 decision of Taylor Phillips of Burwell.

Phillips had knocked Haag out of the championship bracket 2-0.

Wauneta-Palisade's Jess Vapenik lost to Haag in the consolation semifinals, sending him into the fifth-place match.

Vapenik returned the favor by pinning Howells‚ Justin Breester in two minutes, 22 seconds earning fifth place.

Whitney Jones became the other third place finisher by defeating Shane Powell of Kenesaw. Jones was a favorite to go to the finals.

He lost to Palmer's Ryan Santin 15-9 to open the tournament.

Santin went on to take second, and Jones didn't lose another match.

At 215 pounds, Bronson Soucie battled his way back, after being pinned in his opening match.

He scored a pin of his own, to earn a medal, but lost to Derek Tesinsky of East Butler, sending him to the fifth-place match.

He came through there beating Winside's Bryce Roberts in 2:37.

The only other wrestler to garner a medal was Tell Sever.

He had to beat Hondo Fanning of Wauneta-Palisade to get into the medal matches.

A loss to Craig Brester of Howells and one to Davey Koenig of Fremont Bergan gave him a sixth-place medal.

Culbertson, which fielded a two-man team this season, earned one point at the state tournament.

Austin Gesselman competed at the 112-pound weight class.

He was pinned in his first match by Brainard's Kyle Wasser, but bounced back to win his consolation opener with a decision against Elm Creek's Reon Benson.

Gesselman lost his next match to Crawford's Brian Drinkwater -- the same wrestler that defeated Gesselman in the third-place match at districts.