Boys have five state qualifiers, Peterson is district champion

    The CCS Longhorn wrestling boys qualified five wrestlers for the state tournament in Omaha this weekend.
    Jaret Peterson kept his undefeated season alive by winning the championship at 215 pounds. Peterson pinned his way to the finals where he would face Cal Wells, (43-2) of Broken Bow.
    This was their second meeting this season and Peterson has come out on top in both matches. In the district final, Peterson scored a takedown in the first period and an escape in the third to take a 3-1 win.
    This will be Peterson’s fourth trip to state. As a freshman, Peterson came up a match short of a medal.
    Peterson placed third as a sophomore and runner-up last year as a junior.
    In the heavyweight division, Zach Tarin brought home the runner-up spot. Tarin, a junior at CCS, faced Wyatt Anderson, a senior from Amherst in the finals.
    Anderson is a large heavyweight and used his size to get a pin with eight seconds left in the second period of the finals.
    Luis Co and Thomas Reeves both juniors, finished in third place in the 144 and 175 pound divisions.
    Rounding out the state qualifiers was junior Westyn Mendenhall, placing fourth at 157 pounds.
    All five of the boys have state wrestling experience, having made the big show last year. Co finished with a fifth place medal last year, while Mendenhall, Reeves and Tarin all came up a little short. The experience should pay off this year.
    The Longhorns had four wrestlers come up just one win short of going to Omaha, losing in the heartbreak round.
    Freshman Jaqueb Hoover lost by pin to Koltdyn Heath, (40-6), of Minden, junior Malachi Christensen, a state qualifier last year, lost by major decision to Trevor Burdick, (28-16), of Valentine, senior Tyler O’Neil was pinned by Andrew Smith, (42-10), of Kearney Catholic and senior Ray Murillo Jr. lost by pin to Matias Jimenez, (21-14), of O’Neill to end all four wrestlers season too short.
    Freshman Brextin Moreno had been out for a groin injury for the last couple of meets. Moreno wasn’t at 100% for the district meet, but went 2-2 to make it to the third round of consolations.
    Freshman Connor Einspahr  finished the tourney with a 1-2 record, while Jackson Cyboron and Scott Hoover finished 0-2.
    On Thursday, Class B and C boys will wrestle in the morning session starting at 9:30 a.m. Class A and D and all Classes of the girls will wrestle the afternoon session starting at 3:00 p.m.
    Friday sessions will have Class B and C boys starting at 9 a.m. and Class A and D plus all Classes of the girls starting at noon.
    Friday evening at 5, the semifinals and third round consolation matches will be held for all wrestlers still in.
    Saturday morning, the medal rounds will start at 9 a.m. with the third and fifth place medal rounds to follow.
    The championship finals will start at 3 p.m. and will be televised on PBS.
District results
113—Brextin Moreno (21-12) pinned Broden Rawles, (4-5)of Gordon-Rushville, 4:15, was pinned by Louden Grooms, (26-11) of Valentine, 3:33, pinned Kellen Forrest, (10-8) of Kearney Catholic, 4:45, was pinned by Jarrett Vanarsdall, (24-15) of Hershey, 1:51.
120—Jackson Cyboron (2-15) was pinned by Chauncey Watson, (40-6)  of Broken Bow, 1:11, was pinned by Collin Shutts, (20-17) of Hi-Line, 1:35.
126—Connor Einspahr (18-21) won by decision over Hunter Brewer, (10-24) of Gordon-Rushville, 4-2, was pinned by Cade Harson, (37-8) of Minden, 2:33, was pinned by Tayven Jenkins, (14-18) of Chadron, 2:21.
132—Jaqueb Hoover (22-24) was pinned by Victor Cucul, (17-16) of Broken Bow, 5:28, pinned Jerrick Godfrey, (0-4) of Amherst, 1:26, pinned David Molina, (27-23) of Gibbon, 2:46, won by decision over Rownan Eggert, (21-14) of Valentine, 1-0, was pinned by Koltdyn Heath, (40-6) of Minden, 1:19.
138—Malachi Christensen (26-20) won by major decision over Christopher Flores, (9-14) of Gothenberg, 15-6, lost by decision to Clay Rasmussen, (41-10) of Kearney Catholic, 8-10, pinned Rueben Reyes, (16-25) of Gibbon, 0:28, pinned Brodey Hund, (22-20) of Hershey, 2:01, lost by major decision to Trevor Burdick, (28-16) of Valentine, 2-10.

144—Luis Co (45-5) pinned Kirkland Garcia, (8-23) of Mitchell, 1:58, pinned Oliver Schluns, (31-16) of O’Neill, 1:22, lost by decision to Kyler Vincent, (33-8) of Gordon-Rushville, 5-6, pinned Illias Lehman, (29-12) of Bridgeport, 1:23, pinned Oliver Schluns, (31-16) of O’Neill, 1:41 foe third place.
150—Scott Hoover (24-17) bye, lost by tech-fall to Tucker Banister, (17-5) of Gordon-Rushville, 1-16, bye lost by decision to Parker Chavez, (27-18) of Valentine, 6-7.
157—Westyn Mendenhall (29-13) pinned Jayden Trejo, (11-22) of Ord, 0:30, won by decision over Wyatt Feddersen, (31-16) of Gordon Rushville, 6-2, lost by decision to Dakota Baum, (24-9) of Broken Bow, 3-6, pinned Kanin Heath, (19-18) of Minden, 4:22, was pinned by Kade Cox, (24-9) of Gothenburg, 1:41 for fourth place.
165—Tyler O’Neil (33-16) bye, lost by decision to Grady Welke, (30-12) of O’Neill, 5-9, won by decision over Juan Rodriguez, (2-3) of Gibbon, 7-0, pinned Gunner Rice, (26-16) of Ord, 0:39, was pinned by Andrew Smith, (42-10) of Kearney Catholic, 1:53.
175—Thomas Reeves (42-7) pinned Wyatt Sauer, (14-29) of Mitchell, 3:09, pinned Braden Wright, (23-18) of Chadron, 1:51, lost by major decision to Brice Chaplin, (43-10) of Broken Bow, 7-15, pinned Tyson Klingelhofer, (30-15) of Amherst, 3:13, pinned Trent McCain, (24-7) of Ord, 1:15 for third place.
190—Ray Murillo Jr. (12-18) was pinned by Cope Smith, (35-11) of Amherst, 1:09, bye, won by decision over Trace Smith, (17-24) of Gibbon, 5-3, pinned Jaydon Parker, (22-22) of Hershey, 2:42, was pinned by Matias Jimenez, (21-14) of O’Neill, 3:25.
215—Jaret Peterson (44-0) bye, pinned Javier Copley, (18-23) of Kearney Catholic, 1:33, pinned Jose Ramirez-Aguilar, (26-20) of Gibbon, 0:41, won by decision over Cal Wells, (43-3) of Broken Bow, 3-1 for first place.
285—Zach Tarin (40-3) bye, won by ultimate tie breaker over Brody Jakubowski, (29-13) of O’Neill, 3-2, won in sudden victory over Jed Boettcher, (19-5) of Ord, 2-0, was pinned by Wyatt Anderson, (35-6) of Amherst, 3:52 for second place.
Team scoring
    1. Broken Bow 167.5, 2. Minden 152, 3. O’Neill 144, 4. Chase County 126, 5. Amherst 118, 6. Mitchell 111, 7. Valentine 100, 8. Kearney Catholic 79, 9. Chadron 70, 9. Gibbon 70, 11. Hi-Line 68, 12. Hershey 67.5, 13. Gothenburg 59, 14. Gordon-Rushville 47.5, 15. Ord 40, 16. Bridgeport 24.
Pairings for round 1 at state
144—Luis Co (45-5) vs Ben Lautenschlager (36-7) of Bishop Neumann
157—Westyn Mendenhall (29-13) vs Bricen Wilkie (40-4) of Malcolm
175—Thomas Reeves (42-7) vs Kyle Peterson (12-2) of Raymond Central.
215—Jaret Peterson (44-0) vs Christian Nordby (17-17) of Pierce.
285—Zach Tarin (40-3) vs JT Brands (27-1) of Oakland Craig.