OMAHA — A great night of wrestling action Friday saw five area wrestlers secure medals at the Nebraska State Wrestling Championships at the CHI Center.
Highlighting the area medal haul was South Sioux City senior Tony Palmer, who cruised to the championship finals with a 21-3 technical fall over Ryan Boehle of Grand Island to claim a spot in Saturday’s championship finals.
Palmer has been dominant in his quest for a second state title on the Class A mats. After winning the Class B title a year ago, he’s one match away after posting his second technical fall in three matches.
The top-ranked 215-pounder in Class A will face the No. 2 wrestler in the state, Norfolk’s Jaeden Thompson (35-4) in Saturday’s championship finals.
Four other wrestlers will compete in Saturday morning’s consolation semifinals and are guaranteed medals for their weekend’s work.
The highlight of those wrestlers is Tri County Northeast senior Byran Isom, who overcame a first-round loss on Thursday to win three tough matches and claim a spot in the Class C 157-pound consolation semifinals.
Isom started the day with a major decision, then won an overtime decision over Aidan Markham of Broken Bow before shutting out Kanin Heath of Minden 4-0 in Friday night’s “heartbreak round.”
The win puts the 34-9 Wolfpack senior in position to bring home the school’s first medal in boys wrestling and second of the weekend, following Kiya Tornez’ sixth-place medal in the girls tournament earlier in the week.
Also battling back through the consolations was Cardinal junior Adrian Curiel, who bounced back from a quarterfinal loss on Thursday with a pin and a major decision to lock up a medal in Class A 190-pound action. The 44-4 junior will give the Cardinal boys two medals for the weekend.
Homer had both of its wrestlers in the semifinals and both came up short.
At 138 pounds in Class D, Josue Munoz gave up a reversal in the second period and had several opportunities to get a match-winning takedown, but couldn’t close the deal as he lost a 2-0 heartbreaker to Briggs Hill of Arapahoe.
The 39-7 Knight senior, ranked fifth in the state, will try to rebound in the consolation semifinals on Saturday.
Also looking to rebound will be 157-pound junior Austin Pelster. He got caught in a spladle late in the first period and was pinned by Aquinas senior Kelby Coufal late in the first period.
A two-time defending state champion, Coufal dropped Pelster into the consolation semifinals where he will hope to add two wins to his 41-5 record.
Consolation semifinals begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, with the third- and fifth-place matches to follow. The championships will start at 3 p.m.
Area Day 2 Results
SOUTH SIOUX CITY
A106: Kenny Malavong (14-15)
— pinned by Haidr Al-Azawy, Lincoln North Star, :42. (eliminated)
A138: Erick Moreno (24-20)
— pinned by Enzo Manzitto, Elkhorn South, (eliminated)
A190: Adrian Curiel (44-4)
— pinned Damien Scherer, Millard South, 2:20.
— maj. dec. Ahmir Hyche, Omaha Bryan, 13-2.
Advances to consolation semifinals.
A215: Tony Palmer (51-1)
— tech. fall Ryan Boehle, Grand Island, 21-3.
In finals Saturday.
A285: DJ Helms (45-8)
— pinned Cole Nelson, Lincoln Southwest, 3:42.
— pinned by Noah Ferguson-Naranjo, Norfolk, 4:21 (eliminated)
HOMER
D138: Josue Munoz (39-7)
— dec. by Briggs Hill, Arapahoe, 2-0.
Falls to consolation semifinals.
D157: Austin Pelster (41-5)
— pinned by Kelby Coufal, Aquinas, 1:53.
Falls to consolation semifinals.
TRI COUNTY NE
C120: Landon Newton (22-12)
— def. Kellen Lovitt, Milford, medical forfeit.
— pinned by Riley Bishop, Doniphan-Trumbull, 4:00. (eliminated)
C157: Bryan Isom (34-9)
— maj. dec. Sebastian Lautenshclager, Bishop Neumann, 11-0.
— won tie-breaker 1 over Aidan Markham, Broken Bow, 4-0.
— dec. Kanin Heath, Minden, 4-0.
Advances to consolation semifinals.
