Cedar wrestlers still have a shot at medals

OMAHA - After the first day of State Tournament wrestling, two Cedar Catholic wrestlers are already guaranteed to win a state medal, while several others still have a shot of finding a spot on the podium.

Maverick Heine earned a 7-0 decision over  Minden’s Logan Choquette in first-round action in the 113-pound division. Ayden Wintz of Battle Creek turned Heine onto his back to earn a second-period pin and send Heine into the wrestlebacks.

In the 126-pound opener, Bodie Hochstein earned a first-period pin over Zachary Burkey of Doniphan-Trumbull. He was upset by  Cross County Osceola’s Devin Nuttlenan in the quarterfinal round.

Easton Hochstein earned a third-period pin over  Eli Streff of Pierce in opening round action in the 132-pound division.

Hoschstein earned a 6-3 decision over Hershey’s Ethan Elliot in second-round action to set up a third-round match against Boone Central’s Ethan Wood.

In the 138-pound class, Cedar Catholic’s Braeden Kleinschmit earned a narrow 6-5 decision over David City’s Brayden Johnson.  He then earned a 5-1 decision over Isaac Eckert of Elkhorn Valley.

Kleinschmit will now face top-seeded and undefeated John Alden of O’Neill.

Hunter Kuchta will have to make a long trek through the wrestlebacks if he hopes to find the medal podium, as he dropped his first  144-pound match of the day. Kuchta suffered a third-period pin against Valentine senior Will Sprenger.

He will now take on Madison’s Alexander Molina in an elimination round.

At 150,  Brady Hochstein suffered a last second 2-1 upset loss to Broken  Bow’s William Moninger. He now takes on Elkhorn Valley’s Michael McFarland in an elimination round.

Kale Korth earned a third-period pin over Broken Bow’s Brice Chaplin. He suffered an 11-7 setback in second-round action against Crofton-Bloomfield’s Brock Jeannoutot.  Korth will now face either Kyler Boyles of Superior or Spencer Pagels of Tekamah-Herman in the wrestlebacks.

In the girls tournament, Madison Kuchta suffered a second-period pin to  Gina Alba of Schuyler.  She will now face Omaha Westview’s Praizh  Suggs.

Class C

Team scoring: Battle Creek 52, Amherst 37, Broken Bow 35, St. Paul 33, Minden 31, Crofton/Bloomfield 30, David City 29, O’Neill 28, Cedar Catholic 26, Wilber-Clatonia 26, Doniphan-Trumbull 25, Syracuse 23, Fillmore Central 21.5, Central City 21, Chase County 21, Mitchell 16, Wahoo Neumann 15, Logan View 14, Malcolm 14, Falls City 13, Pierce 13, Thayer Central 13, Yutan 13, Boone Central 11, Hershey 11, Kearney Catholic 10, Oakland-Craig 10, Valentine 10, Chadron 9.5, Cross County/Osceola 9, Gibbon 9, Madison 9, Elkhorn Valley 8, Hi-Line 8, Wood River 7, Johnson County 6, Clarkson-Leigh 4, Milford 4, North Bend 4, Raymond Central 4, Superior 4, Gordon-Rushville 3, Arlington 2, Columbus Scotus 2, Tri-County 2, Centura 0, Conestoga 0, EMF 0, Gothenburg 0, Louisville 0, Norfolk Catholic 0, Ord 0, Red Cloud/Blue Hill 0, Tekamah-Herman 0, Tri-County 0, West Point Beemer 0.