Bluejays Received 5th Place at State Duals
By Cameron Kuehler
The Pierce boys wrestling team traveled to the Buffalo County Fairgrounds in Kearney where they took on Battle Creek, Milford and Tri County for the Class C state dual tournament.
The boys started off the day wrestling against Battle Creek.
Corbin Pfeil, wrestling at 120, kicked the day off wrestling Tyan Thompson. Pfeil came up just shy of the win, losing by decision, 5-4.
Pierce was open at 126.
Following Pfeil, Draydin Gossman (132) took on Ashton Kuchar but could not secure the win. He came off the mat losing by major decision, 13-3.
Elijah Steff then took the mat at 138. Streff also came up short, taking the loss of a 5-2 decision to Noah Mahlin.
Wrestling at 144 was Cole DeBoer who challenged Devin Hassler and got Pierce their first win of the day, securing the victory with a pin.
Brenden Bolling (150) followed DeBoer. Bolling faced Hunter Kruse and walked away with another victory for Pierce. He won with a technical fall with a score of 17-2.
Following Bolling was Peyton Kruntorad at 157. He went against Hudson Last, and Kruntorad went all three rounds plus overtime. The match ended with a sudden victory with Kruntorad losing 9-6.
Pierce then sent out Kaiden Ronnfeldt at 165 versus Conner Neuhalfen. Ronnfeldt ended up losing by a technical fall with the score of 16-0.
Next up for Pierce was Jackson Fischer at 175. He went head to head with Casey Schnebel and ended up losing the match by a fall.
Kyle Kuehler then faced Brek Thompson at 190 and Kuehler lost by fall.
Following Kuehler was Christian Nordby (215) for Pierce. He ended up going all three rounds against Dahkota Zlomke but lost by decision, 8-3.
Boston Krueger (285) then took on Mason Planer and pinned him for another win for Pierce.
After Krueger came Tyler Oliveira at 106. Olivera lost to Ryan Hoehne by fall.
Kolten Wragge finished up Pierce’s first dual and wrestled at 113. Wragge lost to Ayden Wintz by a fall.
Pierce ended up losing to Battle Creek 51-17.
Pierce then faced Milford on the right side of the bracket.
Gossman kicked off the duel and wrestled Quinn Zegers. He got his first win of the day by decision, outscoring Zegers 12-6.
Streff (132) followed Gossman and wrestled Jonny Kohout. Streff also secured his first win of the day, winning with a pin.
After Streff was Baiden Neuhalfen (138) who took on Jax Hansen but lost by fall.
DeBoer, at 144, then faced Cooper Rea and also lost by fall.
Wrestling at 150, Bolling then pinned Drake Roth.
Kruntorad (157) then went head to head with Hunter Dickinson. Kruntorad fought for all three rounds but could not hold on and lost by decision 4-3.
Ronnfeldt followed Kruntorad and fell to Cory Langenberg at 165.
At 175, Fischer then took the mat and won by fall over Coy Maas.
After Fischer, Pierce sent out Kuehler to wrestle Nick Wanetka at 190. Kuehler had a quick match pinning his opponent in 35 seconds.
Nordby then took the mat, wrestling Brodie Roth and won by fall.
Krueger followed and took on Garrett Schoen, and Krueger ended up losing by decision, 4-0. Oliveira, wrestling at 106, then went head to head with Caden Rainforth and lost by fall.
Wragge then took on Austin Vosta and got Pierce another win. He won his match by a pin.
Pfeil wrapped up this duel with a loss to Kellen Lovitt by major decision, 12-2.
Pierce came out on top winning, 39-34.
The boys wrapped up the day going head to head with Tri County.
Brody Kesting (132) kicked off the match. He wrestled Henry Holtmeier but lost by fall.
Streff followed at 138 and wrestled Gabriel Alarcon, winning by major decision, 13-5.
At 144, DeBoer then wrestled Cole Spahr but also lost by fall.
Kruntorad (157) faced Keyton Reck and earned Pierce points with a win by decision, 11-4. Ronnfeldt, wrestling at 165, took on Riley Kopf and was pinned in the third period.
Pierce then sent out Fischer (175) to wrestle Justin Schwisow, and Fisher came out on top with a pin.
Kuehler followed Fischer’s footsteps and also got a pin against Nick Sullivan at 190.
Nordby (215) then lost to Cooper Stokebrand by an 8-4 decision.
At 285, Krueger beat his opponent, Luis Alarcon, by a major decision, 9-1.
Oliveira then took the mat and faced Justus Wehrman, losing by fall.
Wragge, Pfiel, and Gossman, at 113, 120, and 126, respectively, wrapped up the day for Pierce with three wins. Wragge beat Cade Spahr by fall. Pfeil also got a pin against Carver Olberding. Gossman followed in their footsteps and ended the day with a pin against Owen Lewandowski.
“We did pretty good. It was tough that we faced Battle Creek in the first round, but we came back the next two duals. It was overall a fun experience” Brenden Bolling exclaimed.
