Wrestlers Are District Champs

February 18, 2020

by Kailey Marks

 

The Pierce Bluejay wrestlers competed in the Class B-3 District competition in Pierce on Friday, February 14, and Saturday, February 15. The team fought their way through to place first on the stand with 180 points, followed by runner-up Northwest with 162 points. 

After districts concluded, 10 wrestlers qualified to wrestle at state, which beats the previous school state record of six qualifiers. The 10 wrestlers will then compete at the State Championships in Omaha which takes place on Thursday, February 20, Friday, February 21 and Saturday, February 22. 

To qualify for state, wrestlers must have received 1st-4th place in their bracket. Those wrestlers are sophomore Brock Bolling, freshman Jayden Coulter, senior Carter Jensen, senior Jeremiah Kruntorad, sophomore Michael Kruntorad, sophomore Ashton Schweitzer, freshman Zander Schweitzer, senior Brett Tinker, freshman Parker Sackville, and senior Dylan Kuehler. 

Individually, A. Schweitzer and Tinker placed 1st in their brackets; Br. Bolling, J. Kruntorad, M. Kruntorad, and Kuehler placed 2nd; Coulter, Jensen, and Sackville placed 3rd; Z. Schweitzer placed 4th. 

Senior wrestler Tinker (170) said, “I feel like we really wrestled good as a team to end up on top at districts. I am looking forward to seeing what state has in store for myself and nine of my teammates.” Tinker also recognized the other wrestlers who didn’t make it to state, saying how he was grateful to have spent this season wrestling with them. 

Starting at 113, Br. Bolling scored 18 team points for Pierce. Br. Bolling won by fall over Jake Harris of Mount Michael Benedictine and Cole Kunz of Central City. In his final match to claim 2nd, he lost by major decision to Grady Arends of Northwest. 

Wrestling at 120, Coulter put up 13.5 team points for the Bluejays. Coulter won by decision over Ashton Munsell of Wayne. He then lost by decision to Malachi Bordovsky of Wahoo. He came back to win by tech fall over Brandon Fye of Central City, 15-0. In his final match, Coulter won by decision over Trevor Cooley of Arlington, 10-7. 

At 126, Blake Bolling scored four team points. Bl. Bolling lost by major decision to Reece Jaqua of Wayne. He then came back to win by fall over Katy Figueroa of West Point-Beemer in the first period and won in a tie-breaker over Cole McNally of Mount Michael Benedictine. In his last match, he lost by decision to Sebastian Lausterer of Wahoo. 

Jensen (132) scored 18 team points. He won by fall over Griffin Lausterer of Wahoo. Jensen then lost to Hunter Gilmore of Arlington. He came back to win his last two matches by pin to Johnny Scarlett of Central City and Caden Corcoran of Ralston.  

Wrestling at 138, J. Kruntorad contributed 16 points to the final team score. He won by fall over Owen Molgaard of Ralston. J. Kruntorad won in a close decision, 6-5, over Kane VonBonn of Central City. In his last match, he lost to Colling Quandt of Northwest by fall. 

In 145, M. Kruntorad scored 20 team points. He won by fall over Owen Friesen of Northwest. In his second match, M. Kruntorad won by the disqualification of Noah Talmadge of Ralston for the injury of M. Kruntorad. Since M. Kruntorad could not wrestle his last match, Sean Martin of Seward won by injury default. 

At 152, A. Schweitzer racked up 22 points for the Bluejays. He won by fall over Bryce Sutton of Central City. He also won by decision to Austin Cooley, 5-2. A. Schweitzer’s last match was a close win, 3-2 decision, over Peyten Walling of Wahoo. 

Wrestling at 160, Z. Schweitzer scored 12.5 team points. Z. Schweitzer won by fall over Mason Bisbee of Seward. He then lost to Sam Moore of Central City by pin. Z. Schweitzer came back to fight for his place in the top four and beat his opponent, Zachary Paasch of West Point Beemer by tech fall. In his last match, he lost by decision to Trey Shanahan of Wahoo. 

Tinker (170) racked up 23 points of the Bluejays team score. Tinker won by fall over Brandon Cavender of Ralston. He also won by major decision, 12-3, to Reid Korth of Wayne. In his final match to claim 1st place, he won by decision over Cooper Hancock of Wahoo. 

In the 182 weight class, Parker Sackville got 13 team points. Sackville lost by fall to Kobe Wilkins of Arlington but came back to win by pin to Nolan James of West Point Beemer and Micah Loy of Central City. Claiming 3rd place, Sackville won by a 4-2 decision to Dakota Spann of Wayne. 

At 195, Tavin Koehler lost by pin to Zach Ellingson of Seward and Zach Pistulka of Northwest. 

Wrestling in the 220 weight class, Dylan Kuehler scored 20 points for the Bluejays. Kuehler won by fall over Cameron Hilton quick in the first period. He also pinned Joe Rodriguez of West Point-Beemer. In his last match, he lost by fall to Grady Griess of Northwest. 

Jacob Kerber (285) lost by pin against Remington Gay of Arlington and Nick Wehbe of Mount Michael Benedictine.

Coach Tyler Legate stated, “Our mindset and attitude were good. The coaches [and I] all teach a little differently, but I feel like they all did a good job handling each wrestler.” 

The 10 state qualifiers will take the mat again on Thursday, February 20, Friday, February 21, Saturday, February 22, in Omaha at the CHI Event Center.