Today is the day for girls wrestling to take center stage in the Nebraska wrestling world. Girls across the state will enter into battle with the common goal of having their hand raised in victory enough times to secure a spot at the 2023 NSAA State Wrestling Championships in Omaha.

It will be no easy task as girls from communities of all sizes are placed together in only four districts across Nebraska. For the Central City Bison and the High Plains Community Storm, that means that they will be spending their weekend in Fremont for the Girls-1 District. Six area wrestlers will look to make their mark while five of those wrestlers look to become the first state qualifier for their community. The weekend could yield no state qualifiers, but time will only tell as these girls fearlessly enter into battle.

For Central City junior Karlee Seitz that battle will be something like swimming in shark infested waters as she competes in one of, if not the toughest district bracket in the state. The District-1 235 bracket is anchored by the top three ranked wrestlers according to the NSWCA rankings. Melissa De La Torre, Brythany Espino and Darian Earth sit atop the rankings while Julissa Guerro and Amy Sistek also are looking for finish in the top four. Audre Herron and Abbey Dannelly join Seitz in the realm of being an outside contender. It appears that now may not be the time for Seitz, but I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss her as a serious contender. With great growth and determination, Karlee has already seen large strides and significant growth and now could be another one of those moments.

The Bison will also have four others searching for a punch in their ticket to Omaha. Tessa Buller will join the pack as they chase Lousiville's Payton Thiele who is undefeated and looking to dominate the 100-pound weight class. Faith Quintanilla will lay it all out on the line in what could be her final wrestling tournament as she competes in the 110-pound weight class. Maliyah Johnson has also shown great growth, but will need to take it up a few notches as she looks to finish strong in the 120-pound weight class. Also looking to finish strong in the 140-pound weight class is Aaliyah Mason.

High Plains will be represented by Dakota Gress who has served as their lone wrestler this season carrying the torch from Allie Burke. Gress will look to do what Burke did last season as she qualified for the state wrestling tournament. It will be no easy task in a difficult 120-pound division, but Dakota has shown plenty of growth during her freshman season. We wouldn't count her out and certainly look out for Dakota Gress in the future.

Ryan's Rundown: I think we asked Vegas they would call it a longshot, but I can feel the magic in the atmosphere and the earth quaking with excitement. My bold prediction is that Karlee Seitz pins someone that will blow people's minds and Dakota Gress also shocks the world. I say we finish with two state qualifiers. 

*Disclaimer* Ryan's Rundown should not be used as sound advice for gambling or any other life decisions.