Headed to State

Cedar wrestlers advance to girls state tournament

WEEPNG WATER — Evie Freeman enjoyed her trip to the State Tournament last year - but it was a lonely journey.

She was the lone Cedar Catholic girl to advance to State last year.

This year she will have a little more company as all three of Cedar’s wrestlers qualified for State.

And those three wrestlers are really good. How good? Those three placed in the top 10 of the team scoring at the B-3 District Girls Wrestling Tournament over the weekend after scoring 68.5 team points to place eighth out of the field of 37.

All three will be heading to Omaha Feb. 17 and Feb. 18 to compete in the 2026 NSAA Class B State Girls Wrestling Tournament.

Evie Freeman returns from her freshman campaign to try to improve her medal after winning a district title at 120 pounds. She didn’t just win the title. She dominated the competition, pinning five straight opponents to get the title.

In fact, she stuck four of the five in under a minute into each match and pinned her finals’ foe in 2:34.

“I am ‘over the moon’ happy about the way these girls all wrestled in the district,” said Cedar Catholic coach, Justin Bartling. “I really think they’ll all do well down in Omaha.”

Joining Freeman will be freshman teammate Ashlynn Dailey who won the District title at 110 pounds in the first District meet of her career.

Joining the two youngsters will be junior 135-pounder Morgan Kuchta. Kuchta lost in the heartbreak round of the district meet last year. She wasn’t going to let that happen again this year, though. She wrestled her way to fourth to grab a ticket to Omaha this season.

“Evie has the experience down there so she’ll be very helpful for the other two in handling the pressure of a state meet,” said Bartling. “These three girls really get along and I am extremely happy for and proud of all three of them.”

According to their coach, he expects all three to do well at state.

“Evie has beaten a lot of the top girls in her weight class already and she has been pushing herself this season to not let last year’s experience happen again,” said Bartling.

Last year, Freeman dropped a semifinal match and ended up in the consolation bracket. She became a medalist, but she is shooting for more in her second trip.

As for Dailey and Kuchta, the coach believes anything can happen once you get to the big stage at Omaha and he trusts his wrestlers. They haven’t shied away from any challenges since they’ve been wrestling.

West Holt won the team title at the district with 175 points, Pierce was second with 121.5 and Palmyra was third with 105.5.

NSAA CLASS B-3 DISTRICT GIRLS WRESTLING TOURNAMENT

Team Results: 1. West Holt 175; 2. Pierce 121.5; 3. Palmyra 105.5; 4. Arlington 96; 5. Thayer Central 86; 6. Wood River 80; 7. Crofton/Bloomfield 75; 8. Cedar Catholic 68.5; 9. Lyons-Decatur Northeast 68; 10. Wilber-Clatonia 63.5; 11. Conestoga 55; 12. Centennial 51; 12. Louisville 51; 14. Wahoo 49; 15. Elgin Public/ Pope John 43; 16. Elkhorn Valley 41.5; 17. Loomis 38; 18. Sandy Creek 37.5; 19. Weeping Water 31; 20. Archbishop Bergan 27; 21. Cedar Bluffs 26; 22. Shelton 25; 23. Southern 24; 24. Fairbury 21; 25. Bancroft-Rosalie 13; 25. Malcolm 13; 27. Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer 7; 27. Meridian 7; 27. Platteview 7; 30. Omaha Gross 6; 31 Dorchester 4; 31. Grand Island Central Catholic 4; 33. EMF 3; 33. Giltner/Harvard 3; 35. Boys Town 0; 35. Mead 0; 35. Pawnee City 0.

Cedar Catholic Individual Results: 

110 - Ashlynn Dailey (1st) defeated Allie Bruns (WAH) by fall, 3:01; defeated Jaydee Overholt (ARLN) by technical fall-1.5, 17-0, 5:43; defeated Sadie Keogh (HOLT) by fall, 0:35; defeated Madison Nelson (CRBL) by decision, 12-8.

120 - Evie Freeman (1st) defeated Bella Hetzel (CRBL) by fall, 0:18; defeated Kaelynn Prather (LOOM) by fall, 0:29; defeated Keirsten Heinrichs (THCE) by fall, 0:43; defeated Madelynn Zierott (LOUI) by fall, 2:48.

135 - Morgan Kuchta (4th) defeated Charlee McGargill (CRBL) by fall, 1:14; defeated Kendra Porteck by fall, 5:29; was defeated by Kylah Krause (PMYR) by technical fall-1.5, 20-4 5:45; defeated Lainey Jensen (PRCE) by fall, 3:39; was defeated by Savannah Pietrzak (WOOD) by fall, 2:43.