Kael Lauridsen seizes history in overtime, 7 Patriots claim gold

Skutt, Broken Bow, Aquinas also win team titles

By Nathan Charles 

Although many of the team races were essentially decided by the time the championship finals came around, Saturday afternoon at the CHI Health Center in Omaha wasn’t without its drama.

Millard South was chasing history for the most individual titles at one tournament and the record for the highest team point total. 

Bennington senior Kael Lauridsen completed history as the 36th four-time champion in state history. Elsewhere in Class B, a wrestler who had suffered three straight title match defeats finally reached the promised land. In the team race, Skutt Catholic rose to the top after three years without a team trophy. In Class C, Broken Bow won its first team state title. In Class D, two unbeaten wrestlers faced off for gold. In girls wrestling, South Sioux City won back-to-bac team titles and seven champs from the year before repeated as gold medalists.

Class A

Millard South ended Friday with a lead of more than 100 points over second-place Norfolk, and with nine wrestlers in the finals, the team race was already over. But the Patriots haven’t become the premier program in the state settling for good. Nine finalists meant the record for most individual champs at one state tournament and the record for most points at state were both within reach.

Seven of the nine won championships, three of those earned bonus-point victories and two more collected medals in the morning. Seven champs tied Omaha Central and Skutt Catholic for the most. Racking up 260.5 team points bested the Skutt record of 256 set in 2008.

Champs included Kiernan Meink (106 pounds), Miles Anderson (126), Logan Glynn (138), Joel Adams (145), Josiah Aburumuh (152), Aiden Robertson (170) and Caeden Olin (195). Anderson and Adams won by pinfall while Olin had a major decision. Anderson and Adams were also repeat winners from last season.

Gabe Turman (132) of Lincoln East, Noah Blair (182) of Millard West and Omaha North teammates Tyler Stewart (220) and Tyson Terry 285) were also repeat champions. Adams and Terry did it with perfect records.

Team Standings: 1. Millard South 260.5, 2. Lincoln East 147.5, 3. Norfolk 131, 4. Columbus 98, 5. Papillion-La Vista 89, 6. Grand Island 86.5, 7. Westside 70, 8. Omaha North 68, 9. Kearney/Papillion-La Vista South 67.

Class B

Was it the greatest match in state championship history? You’d be hard-pressed to find another that can stack up to Lauridsen vs. O’Neill’s John Alden in the Class B 126-pound title bout.

Fans will argue until the end of time about a controversial false start call at the end of regulation, but there won’t be any sort of asterisk or other indicators of the call when Lauridsen’s name is added to the four-time winners' list.

Lauridsen had the first points of the match on a second-period reversal but gave away a point on a stalling call and was taken down near the edge of the circle with 15 seconds remaining in the third period. Alden needed just that long to hang on, and looked like he was just about to rain on Lauridsen’s parade when the match was stopped for a discussion. Had Alden moved early on the restart after the takedown? The officials discussed and agreed Alden was premature, earning him a third caution and a point for Lauridsen. In overtime, Alden looked to have another takedown with Lauridsen underneath and on his back, but without control, the two-point signal was given then quickly waved off. Lauridsen won the scramble moments later and was given the two points for the win.

In the team race, Skutt returned to its championship ways thanks to five in the finals and three champions. Drew Cooper (132), Tyler Harrill (145) and Cade Ziola (170) went to the top of the podium and led the way for the first SkyHawks team championship since 2018. Skutt had won 20 of the previous 21 from 1998 to 2018.

Braiden Kort of Hastings scored a 9-0 decision at 120 for his first state title following three consecutive losses in title matches, Lauridsen’s brother Kyler won his second in a row at 138, defeating 2020 state champ Ely Olberding of Fort Calhoun and Landon Weidner of Hastings successfully defended a title from last winter and completed an undefeated season.

Isaac White of Cozad was denied a repeat championship and a perfect season when 44-1 Drew Moser of Waverly handed White a 2-1 defeat in the championship match thanks to a reversal early in the third period.

Lakeview senior Landon Ternus finished 45-0 and with a 16-5 major decision win in the 220-pound division for the school’s first gold medalist in 28 years.

Team Standings: 1. Skutt Catholic 164, 2. Bennington 135, 3. Waverly 121, 4. Blair 119. 5. Hastings 87, 6. Beatrice 85, 7. South Sioux City 66, 8. Cozad 64.5, 9. Scottsbluff 64, 10. O’Neill 52.

Class C

Dual champs in 2018 and 2019, Broken Bow finally captured its first team state championship on Saturday thanks to seven medalists and two champions. That was good enough to hold off a Bishop Neumann team that had five medalists, two winners and was within 15 points of Broken Bow after day two. But two losses in championship matches and two more in third-place matches prevented the Cavaliers from loosening the Indians’ grip on the top spot.

Broken Bow champs included Connor Wells winning 182 by 3-2 decision and Call Wells rising to the top of the 220 podium by an identical 3-2 victory. Connor scored a takedown late in the second, escaped to start the third then hung on when opponent Derek Wacker of Yutan was awarded a stalling point in the final four seconds. Cal had an escape and a takedown in the second against Jaret Peterson of Chase County. Peterson’s only points were earned on escapes in the second and third.

Four Class C wrestlers who were looking for back-to-back titles advanced to Saturday’s final round and each of the four came through for consecutive championships. Ashton Dane of Gordon-Rushville, Robbie Fisher of Crofton/Bloomfield, Alexander Schademann of Fillmore Central and Ryan Gabriel of Ord each won their second state golds.

Zaiyahn Ornelas from Wilber-Clatonia took the 106 gold with a perfect record of 43-0, Tristan Burbach of Central City completed a 43-0 season with a 1-0 in the 132-pound title match, Schademann ended his year 55-0 and Grand Island Central Catholic’s Ben Alberts took the 160 title with a perfect 49-0 record.

Team Standings: 1. Broken Bow 119, 2. Bishop Neumann 97, 3. Fillmore Central 96, 4. Pierce 78.5, 5. Battle Creek 75, 6. Boone Central 66, 7. Wilber-Clatonia 65.5, 8. Valentine 64, 9. Crofton/Bloomfield 59, 10. Ord 55.

Class D

Different class, same result. Aquinas Catholic was head and shoulders above the rest in Omaha and won its second straight team state championship to go with the one it had last year in Class C. For the Monarchs, it was their fifth team title in school history and completed another double for the second year in a row with dual team and state team championships.

Aquinas led Elkhorn Valley by 40 points following Friday’s semifinal round and maintained that final margin 152.5-112.5. Grady Romshek at 106 pounds and Kelby Coufal at 145 won individual golds while brothers Zander (126) and Jakob Kavan (138) both had to settle for silver. Romshek, a rare senior at 106, was a fifth-place medalist last year. Coufal qualified but didn’t place last year as a freshman. Zander is following a similar path as Hastings’ Braide Kort. He’s now advanced to three state title matches but lost them all.

Class D had five returning champs but three of those were eliminated from title contention either in the quarterfinals or semifinals. Plainview’s Tanner Frahm added to his 2022 title with another at 152 pounds in a 6-0 decision. Aiden Kuester of Neligh-Oakdale, a 2021 champ who was fourth last year, returned to the top of the podium and finished 44-0 for a 170-pound title. His win denied Thayer Central’s Gunner Mumford an unbeaten season. Kuester scored a 12-2 major decision win over Mumford with a takedown in each period and nearfall points in the first and second.

Sebastian Sauceda of Shelton won the 113-pound title with a 36-0 record – the first for the Bulldogs program since 1992, Nickolas Kuehn of Kenesaw completed a 51-0 season for the title at 132, Kyler Mosel of Plainview won 9-6 at 138 pounds for a 53-0 perfect season and Howells-Dodge’s Jestin Bayer came back from a last-second championship loss last year for an 8-3 win at 182 and a 42-0 season.

Team Standings: 1. Aquinas Catholic 152.5, 2. Elkhorn Valley 112.5, 3. Mullen 76, 4. Anselmo-Merna 71, 5. Shelby-Rising City 68, 6. Neligh-Oakdale 67, 7. Hitchcock County 64, 8. Sutherland 59, 9. Plainview 57, 10. Wisner-Pilger 54.

Girls

South Sioux City has struggled to find recent success for many of its programs, but there are bright spots and none brighter than girls wrestling. The Cardinals have now completed back-to-back team championships and the first two in girls state history after sending three to the finals and winning two gold medals. Yohaly Quinones won back-to-back titles when she was victorious at 155 pounds on a third-period pinfall following an 8-3 lead. Melissa De la Torre took the 235-pound championship with a second-period pin after converting a reversal into a fall. A runner-up finish for Madelynn Bohne at 105 and fifth place for Jackie Zamora at 190 were enough to hold off Westside for the title 109-89. The Cardinals had a 30-point lead over Grand Island following Friday but the Islanders slipped back to fifth when they were only able to send one to the finals and two others lost medal-round matches on Saturday morning.

Westside moved back into second, a position the Warriors held Thursday, thanks to a 130-pound championship by Regan Rosseter and medals by each of the other four state qualifiers.

More than any of the boys classifications, the girls had the most wrestlers looking to win back-to-back titles. The girls had 10 at the start of the tournament and eight when the championships began on Saturday. Maycee Peacher of Bennington (110), Aubrie Pehrson (120) of Yutan, Rosseter, Reagen Gallaway of Amherst (140), Kenli Boeselager (145) of Chadron, Quinones and Kaylee Ricketts (170) of Pierce both went back-to-back. Makena Schramm of Fairbury denied Claire Paasch of West Point-Beemer a second straight title at 190 pounds during a 4-1 decision.

Afftynn Stusses (105) of Battle Creek took gold with a 39-0 record, Peacher finished 46-0, Dylan Ritchey (135) of Ralston won a title with a 42-0 record, Gallaway walks away from the season 43-0, Ricketts took her title at 52-0 and Schramm finished 39-0.

Gallaway was also a state champ in 2020 and 2021 before the NSAA sanctioned girls wrestling when the coaches’ association ran a girls tournament.

Team Standings: 1. South Sioux City 109, 2. Westside 89, 3. Yutan 74, 4. Papillion-La Vista 70, 5. Grand Island 68, 6. Crofton 56, 7. Millard South 54, 8. Conestoga 52, 9. Battle Creek 51, 10. Amherst 48.5.