Josh Rowan
C-H sports writer
The culmination of the 2009-2010 wrestling season will end on Thursday with the  2010 State Wrestling Tournament at the Qwest Center in Omaha.
The top 16 wrestlers from each class will be on hand to vie for the coveted title of state champion.
For the Clipper-Herald area, it will be represented well by 15 wrestlers from the Lexington, Cozad, Overton and Elwood area.
Cozad and Lexington took part in the B-4 district tournament on Friday and Saturday at Cozad High School.
The tournament held 13 teams from across the western and central part of the state, with each weight class sending its top four wrestlers to the Qwest Center.
Cozad took fifth place overall at the tournament, sending an area-high six wrestlers to Omaha. Lexington took eleventh overall in team points, sending three wrestlers to the state tournament.
At the 103-pound bracket, David Becerra was pinned by Nicandro Quevedo of Scottsbluff in the first period to move to the consolation bracket. Becerra stayed alive after pinning Conor Lococo of Sidney in the second period, but tragically saw his season come to an end in the Heartbreaker round, losing to Erwin Solario Alvarado of Holdrege in the first period.
Logan Hunke (Cozad) and Mauricio Calmo (Lex) took to the mat at 112 pounds, where Logan Hunke entered as one of the favorites to win it. Hunke had a first round bye then pinned Dane Aurich of Sidney at 1:26 to advance. Calmo was defeated by James Lopez of Gering 11-2 to move to the consolation bracket. Calmo’s season was ended by Kurtis McMann of Chadron by pin in the first period. Hunke then pinned Kolby Nelson of Alliance to advance to his first district final. The freshman was upset by Jesus Gauna of McCook by a 9-5 decision to take home second and secured a seat at the state tournament.
Minuteman Seth Kopf was all alone in the 119-pound bracket, facing a tough draw from the beginning. Kopf lost his district opener to Tyler Smith of Alliance 10-3 to move to the consolation bracket. Kopf stayed alive with a pin of Nathan Garcia of Ogallala in the second period. Kopf’s freshman season was ended by Holdrege’s Dillon Hill in the second period, two wins shy of a state tournament berth.
The 125-pound bracket saw two area wrestlers in the worst situation possible, as Cozad’s Caleb Lucero and Lexington’s Danny Ibarra fought for their spot to Omaha. Lucero was sent to the consolation round after a quarter-final loss to Richard Hinojos of Holdrege and Ibarra was defeated in the semi-final match by Chance Bila of Chadron.
Lucero defeated Justin Larson of Gothenburg in the consolation quarters to meet up with Ibarra in what’s called “the Heartbreaker Round.” At this point in the tournament, it’s win and you’re in, lose and your season is over. Both wrestlers put everything on the line for three periods, with Lucero getting the best of Ibarra 11-6 to punch Cozad’s second ticket to Omaha. Ibarra lay on the mat shattered, but Lucero pulled Ibarra off the mat and hugged the fallen Minuteman in a great act of class between the two rivals.
Lucero fell in the consolation finals to Hinojos in overtime, but still a fourth-place finish was enough for him to pack his bags for the state tournament.
Dark horse Colton Derr was the Haymakers third qualifier for the state tournament after a second place finish Saturday. Derr got past Reece Ureste of Lexington in the first round by a second period pin. Derr then took care of Kyle Groshong of McCook by a 13-2 major decision to move to the semis. Derr then punched his ticket after he pinned Bryce Eggleston of Gothenburg with one second remaining in the first period. Derr fell short in the championship, losing to Francisco Garcia of Gering 4-1, but still was elated after sealing his bid for a state championship. Ureste of Lexington ended his season after losing to Derek Goodwin of Holdrege by a 10-9 decision.
Kyle Carlson of Cozad and Manuel Dominguez of Lexington had to battle through a tough 135-pound bracket. Manuel Dominguez lost his quarter-final match to fourth-ranked Ryan Roach of Sidney in the second period. Dominguez was sent packing after losing to Lucas Parsley of Scottsbluff in the consolation quarter-finals.
Carlson defeated Parsley by a 10-0 decision to advance. Drew Sandoz of Alliance also fell victim to the junior, as Carlson got the pin in 4:29 to move to the semis. Carlson got a huge victory over Gering’s Dylan Wolf in the semi-finals that gave him a berth in the state tournament for the second year in a row. Carlson capped off the day with his first district championship, defeating Matthew Denson of Broken Bow 5-1. Carlson was one of two district champions for Cozad on the day.
Derrick Kvasnicka had a short stint at the district tournament this season at 140 pounds, losing to Justin Schremmer of Chadron in the second period, then losing to Jay Brass of Broken Bow in the second period. Rolando Gonzalez of Lexington became the first Minuteman to punch his ticket to Omaha, finishing third. Gonzalez advanced to the semi-finals, where he was pinned by eventual champion Justin Richter of Scottsbluff. Gonzalez then moved through the consolation bracket, defeating Keldon Osterman of McCook in the Heartbreaker round, then beating Garrett Folchort of Ogallala to take the bronze. This is Gonzalez’s second trip to Omaha.
The 145-pound bracket featured Bill Reynoso of Lexington and Bernardo Revelo of Cozad. Revelo was sent to the consolation bracket after being pinned by Skyler Kalinski of McCook in the second period. Revelo fell one match short of the state tournament, falling to Justin Sage of Sidney by pin in the second period in the consolation quarter-finals.
Reynoso advanced to the semi-finals where he fell victim to Kalinski by a 12-2 major decision. Reynoso stared the Heartbreaker round in the face, as he took out Sage of Sidney in the first period to secure his second straight trip to Omaha. Reynoso then capped it off, defeating Spencer Isaacson of Holdrege by a 3-1 decision to take the bronze.

At 152 pounds, the surprise of the bunch was Lexington’s Jesus Guerrero, who became Lex’s second state tournament qualifier, after a third-place finish. Guerrero fell to eventual champion Kohlton Price of Sidney in the championship semi-finals to immediately move into the Heartbreaker round. Guerrero was successful and moved to the consolation finals, where he defeated Andrew Garza of Alliance to take the bronze.

Lucas Burch’s season ended a match short of the state tournament at 160 lbs. after going 0-2 on the day. Burch lost his opener to eventual champ Tyson Lanka of Ogallala in the second period to move to the consolation bracket. Burch faced off with Dustin Fuhrmann of Gering in the consolation quarter-finals, where lost by a 12-3 decision.

Brad Walker was the lone area wrestler at 171 pounds, where he looked to secure a spot at the state tournament. Walker fell in the quarter-finals to David Matthes of Sidney by pin in the second period to move to the consolation bracket. Burch got by Austin Platulka of Holdrege by a 15-0 technical fall to advance, but fell short as he was pinned by Jessy Richard of Gering in the second period.

Tanner Sturgeon continued his dominance at the 189-pound weight class, by securing a district championship and securing his ticket to the state tournament. Sturgeon made quick work of everyone he faced, pinning two out of his three opponents in the first period. Sturgeon pinned Joey Munoz in the championship match in 3:14 to take home the title. Sturgeon remains undefeated on the year and looks to capture his first state championship starting Thursday.

Daniel Chacon of Cozad and Jose Muniz of Lexington saw their fates rest on a match between each other to stay alive for a trip to Omaha. Chacon and Muniz lost their opening round matches to meet in the second round of the consolation bracket. The match turned out to be a classic, as Muniz took out Chacon in overtime 4-2 to advance. Muniz however fell to Paul Martinez of Gering in the quarterfinals to end his season.

Cozad head coach Derek Hammerlun’s one wish was to see Pedro Garcia make it to Omaha, but it would come down to one match. A match that gave everyone a heart attack. All of Garcia’s off-season workouts paid off as the junior took out Armando Chavez of Gering in the Heartbreaker round in overtime, to advance to his first state tournament. Pedro then put an exclamation point on the tournament by pinning Dane Ehlers of Gothenburg in the consolation final to take third.

Chadron took the overall team title, scoring 151 points. Scottsbluff came in second with 131.5 points. McCook beat out Cozad for fourth place by only a half of a point. Lexington was three and a half points shy of cracking the top 10.

Elwood and Overton took to the mat in Amerst in the D-3 wrestling tournament.

The Pirates, though plagued by small numbers all year, had great success at the tournament this year, sending five wrestlers to Omaha. The Eagles weren’t going to be left out this season, as Overton will get to send one athlete to the Qwest Center.

Ethan Enochs of Overton punched the first ticket and only ticket for Overton, taking home third at 103 pounds. Enochs defeated Thomas Roth of Ansley/Arcadia in the second period. Overton had three other wrestlers (Paul Martin at 130 lbs., Preston Meier at 171 lbs., and Brandon Jerred at 215 lbs.) that fell one win short of a trip to the state tournament.

At 119 pounds, Walter Flint will get to take another trip to Omaha, after placing third. Flint won his opening match over Bryce Brown of S-E-M in the second period, before losing to top-ranked Justin Taubenheim of Amherst by pin in the second period. Rahjes was already on his way to Omaha, moving to the third-place match, where he pinned Brown once again, this time in the first period.

Michael Daake continues his stellar season, as he took home a district championship and another state championship berth. Daake began his day with a 12-0 major decision over Derek Stabenow of Elm Creek. Then, in a rematch at the Fort Kearny Conference tournament, Daake pinned Lane Barry of Amherst in the second period to take home the championship.

Will Rahjes was another Pirate who will see his season continue in Omaha, as Rahjes took home a fourth place finish at 135 pounds. Rahjes opened up with a 4-2 decision, then was defeated 4-0 by fifth-ranked Devan Schake of Amherst. Rahjes punched his ticket when he took out Anthony Garvin of Franklin 2-0 to move to the third-place match. Rahjes lost to Cale Eacker of S-E-M 5-3 in overtime to take home fourth.

Mitch Kubert became Elwood’s fourth wrestler to move on to Omaha, taking fourth place after a long day of wrestling. Kubert opened up with a win over Michael Zern of Overton, pinning him in the second period. After beating up on Cole Miller of Alma by a technical pin, he lost to Gavin Kenney of Amherst by pin in the second period to move to the Heartbreaker round. There, Kubert got a 5-4 win over Austin Fauss of Arcadia to wrestle for third place, where Kubert lost to Patrick Gardner of Arapahoe 5-4.

Dillon Tiede was Elwood’s last qualifier as he took home a third place finish at 189 pounds. Tiede opened up with a third period pin of Joe Gregory of Ansley, then was defeated by pin by Kalen Pfeiffer of Amherst to move to the consolation bracket. Tiede sealed his trip to Omaha with a first period pin of Tony Smith of Franklin. Then Tiede defeated Gregory again, this time by pin in the first period to take home third place.

Elwood took home fifth place in the team standings, just two points out of fourth-place finisher S-E-M. Amherst took home the team title and looks to capture a state team title, with 237.5 points.

Overton scored 30 points to take home 12th place.
The Clipper-Herald will have Day 1 coverage of the state wrestling tournament in Saturday’s issue. Consolation brackets and championship coverage, if necessary, will be in the Feb. 24 issue.

• Cozad Haymakers
• Cozad Wrestling
• Elwood Pirates
• Elwood Wrestling
• Lexington Minutemen
• Lexington Wrestling
• Overton Eagles
• Overton Wrestling

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