Longhorns Peterson, White make cut for state wrestling tournament

    Chase County will have two wrestlers competing this weekend in the Class C State High School Wrestling Tournament at Omaha’s CHI Health Center.
    Cayden White, a junior, and Jaret Peterson, a freshman, both finished fourth at C4 districts Saturday in Valentine, punching their ticket to state.
    Both will be making their first trip to state this weekend, which this year, is divided into a pair of two-day tournaments due to COVID-19.
    Class C will compete on Friday and Saturday, with first rounds Friday afternoon, said Coach Matt Vlasin.     
    Classes A and D will wrestle Wednesday and Thursday.
    White, who was the No. 4 seed at 113 lbs., won his opener with a second period pin over Bridgeport’s Harrison Barnette, then was pinned by Valentine’s Tristin Grooms.
    That sent White into the consolation semis, where he decisioned Dylan Parks of O’Neill before getting pinned in the third place match by Mitchell’s Thomas Hughson.
    Peterson, seeded No. 3 at 220 lbs., pinned his first opponent from Kearney Catholic late in the first period, before losing a 5-1 decision to Amherst’s Drew Bogard.
    That put Peterson in the consolation semi-finals, where he pinned Ravenna’s Tristen Ruzicka early in the second period. That sent him up against Ord’s Alex Flessner, a senior, who also got an early second period pin over Peterson.
    Vlasin said both White and Peterson faced some good opponents in the third place match, but thought they both may have lost a little bit of intensity.
    “But you see that across the board. You realize you’ve made it (to state) and possibly you lose some intensity,” the coach said.
    However, they both wrestled strong in their heartbreak matches, he said.
    Kenyan Biesecker, the only other Longhorn to advance out of subdistricts at 138 lbs., finished 1-2 and districts and missed placing in the top four to qualify. He was the No. 6 seed at districts.
    “He just came up a bit short,” Vlasin said.
    Ord won the C4 District Tournament with 135 points, while O’Neill was runner-up with 129.5.
    With 21 points, Chase County finished 14th overall in team standings.
State opponents
    In his 113 lb. opener Friday, White, who’ll enter state at 24-15, will face Jacob Kavan, 33-7, a freshman from David City Aquinas.
    Peterson, entering with a 34-10 record, will go up against Nebraska Christian’s Carl Mundt, a 27-1 senior, in his first round Friday.
    Class C first rounds Friday start at 5 p.m. CT with six mats of competition. Saturday’s rounds get underway at 1 p.m. CT, with finals starting at 7 p.m.

To read more go to: https://etypeservices.com/Imperial%20RepublicanID359/