Now is the calm before the storm as soon the Bison Activity Dome will be full of drama and excitement as the C-3 District gets kicked off at 4:00 pm. Wrestlers will look to set themselves up for a solid push on Saturday with action beginning at 9:00 am. With schools from Centennial, Central City, Crofton/Bloomfield, Cross County/Osceola, Doniphan-Trumbull, Fairbury, Hastings St. Cecilia, Lincoln Lutheran, Palmyra, South Central Nebraska Unified District #5, St. Paul, Syracuse, Tekamah-Herman, Tri County, Twin River and Yutan there is sure to be some quality action on the mat.

At 106 the Bison will send returning state qualifier Dalton Lovejoy into battle as he looks to work his way through a tough district highlighted by Devin Nuttelman of Cross County/Osceola. Nuttelman is the clear frontrunner in the weight class with Carter Wander of Syracuse and Blayne Williams of Tekamah-Herman looking to make a splash. Layne Baker will also look to punch his ticket to Omaha, as will Kasten Ruether of Centennial. Levi Tramp of Palmyra also will look to hold his own as he and Lovejoy will look to wrestle beyond their seed.

At 113 things are more wide-open then the great Nebraska river bottom. Dylan Lovejoy will take the mat for the Bison with a solid chance of punching his first ticket to the NSAA State Wrestling Championships. Lovejoy will be joined by Janson Pilkington of Yutan, Derrick Ruzicka of St. Paul and Gavin Gerths of Fairbury as solid contenders while Haydan Smith of Doniphan-Trumbull, Ty Strode of Tekamah-Herman, and Caleb Caudill serve as outside contenders.  

The 120 pound weight class is a little more clear when it comes to a top contender as Robbie Fisher of Crofton/Bloomfield is on a mission to repeat as a state champion. Cole Spahr of Tri County has also had an impressive season and will look to challenge for that top spot. Connor Rempe also appears to be in good shape and we like the odds of Central City’s Parker Zikmund to make a splash in his first district meet. Outside contenders include Bryce Kolc of Yutan and Christian Lemburg of St. Paul.

At 126 Trev Arlt of Yutan and Rowan Jarosik of SCNU#5 appear to be the top contenders by a large margin and from there it becomes a tossup. This shapes up well for Central City’s Degan Elton who will need to wrestle at the highest level of his career to sneak into the top four. Zachary Burkey of Doniphan-Trumbull and Garrison Schernikau of Centennial round out the list of wrestlers with winning record so this one could get interesting in the consolation rounds.

At 132 it is Tristan Burbach’s world and the rest of us are just trying to survive it. The Terminator will be back and looking for a district championship as Kaleb Baker will look to finally get a win over Burbach as the two appear to be destined for the finals. On paper this one looks easy to predict with Dalton VanLaningham of Fairbury and Chase Groff of Doniphan-Trumbull battling for the final two spots in the top four, but anything can happen.

Brandon Fye of Central City had a great run at the Central City Invite earlier this year and he will look to capture the same magic in the Bison Dome as he enters into the District meet as one of the frontrunners. Fye will look to hold off guys like Keyden Uhrich of Lincoln Lutheran, Tieran Cox of Syracuse, Zayden Delgado of Doniphan-Trumbull, Braeden Guenther of Crofton/Bloomfield, Max Egr of Yutan and Ashton Johnson of Twin River. This bracket doesn’t feature a lot of elite talent, but there is plenty of overall talent that should make it an entertaining bracket to keep an eye on.

The 145 bracket will be another one for wrestling fans to keep an eye on as Barret Brandt of Syracuse appears to be one of the top contenders along with Owen Sack of St. Paul and Jarrett Dodson of Centennial. Connor Gerths of Fairbury and Austin Breckenridge of Tehamah-Herman will also look for one of the top spots. For the Bison it will be freshman Corbin Kyes entering the tournament. The youngster has shown great promise, but may be too early into his high school career to hold his own in this bracket’s top level.

At 152, Logan Burt of Tekamah-Herman is on a mission to get back to Omaha and improve upon a runner-up finish while Alex Meinecke of St. Paul will be looking to prove that the youngster belongs in that conversation. Brock Jeannoutot of Crofton/Bloomfield, Jesse Kult of Yutan, Keenan Kosek and Tyler Sears will also look to work into the mix. For the Bison it will be senior Grant Nielson taking the mat as he looks to lay it all on the line one final time.

The 160 pound weight class should be another fun one for the Bison faithful that pack into their home facility. Cy Petersen of Syracuse will enter into the tournament with a target on his back as the frontrunner but Bryce Kunz of Central City will be close behind. The duo will be chased by Wyatt Tramp of Crofton/Bloomfield who is certainly talented and will be looking for redemption against Kunz who defeated him at the Central City Invite. Riley Arner of Fairbury will also be looking to get back to Omaha while guys like Alex Braniff of Tekamah-Herman, Breckin Schoepf of Centennial and Rylen Uhrich of Lincoln Lutheran battle for a spot in the top four.

Bison fans will be wishing they had a healthy Conner Erickson at 170 because this weight class is wide open and fairly evenly matched across the board with only one wrestler in the bracket having a losing record. Central City will see Bryan Redmond fill Erickson’s spot and the freshman will do his best to be competitive. Leading the way will be Garret Buschkamp of Crofton/Bloomfield while, Jett Arensburg of Yutan, Gabe Stock of T-H, Konrad Kuzelka of Fairbury, Cooper Stokebrand of Tri County, Spencer Kula of Twin River, and Cyrus Sonster of Centennial all look to punch their ticket.

The 182 pound bracket is not one that is deep overall and that might just shape up well for a guy like Logan Rohloff of Central City who many are overlooking in this bracket. The senior will need a little magic, but we aren’t ruling it out by any means. Derek Wacker of Yutan will lead the charge with Casey Jeannoutot of Crofton/Bloomfield close behind. Jurgen Baker of Tri County and Zander Markvicka of St. Paul will also be looking for a trip to state.

The 195-pound weight class will be another opportunity for someone to steal the show. Tycen Breckner of Doniphan-Trumbull, Cael Washburn of Tri County and Tyson Sanger of Crofton/Bloomfield will be battling to the top spot while Thomas Thomas of Hastings St. Cecilia and Cole Booth of T-H also work into the mix. For the Bison it will be freshman Trey Urban who has shown plenty of upside this season. Urban will need to wrestle at his best to have a shot, but the kid has an outside shot.

The 220 weight class will be highlighted by Evan Bryan-Aldrich of Palmyra, Ty Tramp of Crofton/Bloomfield, Noah Hyson of Fairbury and Jackson Nordhues of Syracuse who are all returning state qualifiers. James Kerns of Tri County will be looking to make a splash and could contend for the top spot while Central City’s Riley Lavene will also have an opportunity to make his name known as he looks to make it to Omaha for the first time in his sophomore season.

At heavyweight there won’t be much excitement for the home crowd as the Bison will not enter a wrestler at 285. That won’t stop the excitement however as Quade Peterson of St. Paul looks to prove that he is still the top dog in the state. Jackson Masek of Lincoln Lutheran and Paxton Bartels of Crofton/Bloomfield are serious contenders while guys like Chance Buchanan of Syracuse, Paul Fehlhafer of Centennial and Harvey Warner of Palmyra have a chance to rock the boat.

Ryan’s Rundown: I like the way things shape up for the Bison in many weight classes leaving them with an outside chance to qualify some guys that people may not expect. I think the team race will also work in their favor as they pick up some points that people may not have expected. Overall, I am going to predict that Central City will land in third place in the team standings with five state qualifiers. Let’s hope that I am undercutting our guys.