Pierce High Boys Wrestling Succeeded at Districts
By Peyton Brunckhorst
The Pierce High boys wrestling team traveled to Summerland High School to compete at the Class C-3 district tournament on Saturday, February 15, and the team ended the day as district runners-up and had 172 points and are sending eight boys off to the state tournament.
The state qualifiers include Kolten Wragge, Corbin Pfeil, Draydin Gossman, Elijah Streff, Brenden Bolling, Kyle Kuehler, Christian Nordby and Boston Krueger.
Finishing the day as district champion, Wragge (113) scored 21.5 points. In Wragge’s first match, he pinned Billy Carnes of Cross County/Osceola. In the semifinal round, Wragge won by tech fall over Collin Hopkins from North Bend Central 18-2. Advancing to the first place finals match, Wragge won by decision over Elijah Ehlers from Raymond Central, 7-0.
“I feel that districts went very well, we had some great wrestlers not qualify. Being a district champion is an accomplishment for me, especially being a freshman, but it's just a stepping stone in my journey. I feel that state is going to be a battle, I got seeded right where we expected to be, so it's time to go show what I can really do, especially never even placing at the youth state championships,” Wragge said.
Pfeil (120), a senior, placed second and scored 18 team points, and will be making his second state championship appearance. Pfeil received a first round bye. In the quarterfinals, he won by fall over Luke Kester of Summerland. Advancing to the semifinals, Pfeil won by decision over Nate Sanderson from Pender, 7-1. Wrapping up Pfeil’s day in the first and second place match, he was pinned by Landon Newton from Tri County Northeast, which placed him second.
Also making his second state appearance is fellow senior, Streff, wrestling at 132, who placed second and scored 21 team points. In Streff’s first match of the day, he pinned Brady Gulbranson from Crofton/Bloomfield. In the quarterfinals, Streff won by major decision over Carson Long from Chadron, 11-3. Advancing to the semifinal round, Streff won by fall over Evan Decker of Elkhorn Valley. Giving Streff his second place finish in the finals match, he was pinned by Cade Harsin from Minden.
District runner-up, Bolling (150), scored 21.5 team points. In his first match, he won by fall over Calob Troy of Cross County/Osceola. Bolling then won by tech fall over Owen Larsen from Pender, 18-1. Advancing to the semifinals, Bolling pinned Kamden Boyels from Superior. In the championship match, Bolling lost by decision to Orrin Kuehn from Minden, 4-1, which placed him second. Bolling will be competing in the state tournament for his third straight year.
The final district runner-up, Nordby, wrestling at 215, scored 20 team points and will be making his second state championship appearance. In Nordby’s first match of the day, he won by fall over Jacob Schlecht of Summerland, 6-1. In the quarterfinals, Nordby pinned Leo Golembiewski from Chadron. Advancing to the semifinals, Nordby won by decision, 2-0, over Tyson Sanger from Crofton/Bloomfield. To conclude Nordby’s day in the championship match, he lost in a major decision to Tysen Taylor of Raymond Central, 12-4.
Gossman (126), placed third and scored 18 team points. Gossman received a bye in round one, and in the quarterfinal match, he pinned Cezar Garcia of Grand Island Central Catholic. In the semifinal match, Gossman lost by injury default to Harrison Reed of Minden. Moving to the consolation semifinals, Gossman pinned Kolt Smith from Pender. To wrap up Gossman’s day and advance him to the state tournament, he won by medical forfeit over Holden McDonald of Superior. Gossman is making his second state tournament appearance.
Placing third and scoring 22 team points was Kuehler, who wrestled at 190. Kuehler pinned Joaquin Alvarez of Cross County/Osceola in his first match. In the quarterfinal round, Kuehler lost by decision to Brock Jeannoutot from Crofton/Bloomfield, 10-5. Kuehler then won by fall over Christian Sorensen of Minden. In consolation round three, Kuehler pinned Bricen Wright of Chadron. In the consolation semifinals, Kuehler pinned Jaxon Halsey from Elkhorn Valley. Pinning up Kuehler’s day with a third place finish, he won by fall over Caleb Redstrom from Raymond Central. Kuehler will be making his first state tournament appearance.
Also making his second state tournament appearance, wrestling at 285, Krueger placed fourth and scored 12 team points. In the first round, Krueger won by fall over Dominic Billinger of Red Cloud/Blue Hill. In the quarterfinals, Krueger won by ultimate tie breaker, 5-4, over Nate Franzluebbers from Tri County Northeast. Advancing to the semifinal match, Krueger was pinned by Owen Kuchar of Crofton/Bloomfield. In the consolation semifinals, Krueger won by major decision over Brenden Gabel of Cross County/Osceola, 10-2. Concluding Krueger’s day, he lost in tie breaker-1 to Owen Kreikemeier from Raymond Central, 3-2.
Wrestling at 106 was Tyler Oliveira. In Oliveira’s first match he lost by fall to Ryder Zimmerman of Red Cloud/Blue Hill. In consolation round one, Oliveira received a bye. To end Oliveira’s day, he lost by fall to Sean Shultz from Raymond Central.
Wrestling at 138, was Baiden Neuhalfen, who lost by tech fall to Koltdyn Heath from Minden, 19-2. In consolation round one, Neuhalfen received a bye. To conclude Neuhalfen’s day, he lost to Remington Parham of Raymond Central by major decision, 11-1.
Cole DeBoer, wrestling at 144, scored two team points. In his first match, he won by decision over Gage Rasser of Red Cloud/Blue Hill, 7-5. In the quarterfinal match, DeBoer was pinned by Isaac Eckert from Elkhorn Valley. DeBoer then received a bye in consolation round two. Finishing his day, he lost by decision to Jed Berggren of Cross County/Osceola, 3-2.
Senior, Peyton Kruntorad (157), scored eight team points. Starting off the day, Kruntorad won by fall over Tymari Francis of Cross County/Osceola. In the quarterfinal round, Kruntorad lost by tech fall to Quinn Bailey of Chadron, 22-3. Kruntorad then pinned Caleb Hesman from Red Cloud/Blue Hill in consolation round two. In consolation round three, Kruntorad won by decision over Boyd Frazey of Pender, 7-0. Ending Kruntorad’s day, he lost to Hunter Sykes from Raymond Central, 13-12.
Kayden Ronnfeldt, wrestling at 165, scored four team points. In Ronnfeldt’s first match of the day, he pinned Jake Shipman from Red Cloud/Blue Hill. In Ronnfeldt’s quarterfinal match, he lost by fall to Robert Nelson of Minden, 13-2. Concluding Ronnfeldt’s day, he lost by decision to Trey Tramp from Crofton/Bloomfield, 9-2.
Wrestling at 175, Jackson Fischer scored four team points. Fischer received a bye in round one. He then lost by fall to Matt Larson of Raymond Central in the quarterfinal round. Fischer received another bye in round two of consolations. In consolation round three, he pinned Ryan Linkous from Pender. To end Fischer’s day, he lost by tech fall to Cael Smith of Minden, 20-5.
The eight state qualifiers will compete Thursday, February 20-Saturday, February 22 at CHI Health Center in Omaha.
