Falcons Earn District Runner-Up, Send Seven To State

Elkhorn Valley entered the day with eight wrestlers with a shot at the state tournament. At the end of the day, seven Falcons had punched their ticket.

As a team, the Falcons finished second to Burwell at the D2 district meet, taking home the runner-up plaque.

At 113, Dillon Stewart qualified for his second-straight state tournament by taking home the district championship. After pinning his only opponent on Friday, he repeated the feat twice on Saturday, pinning both Dustin Klingsporn of Axtell and Tate Phillipps of Burwell to secure first place.

At 120, Alejandro Martinez qualified for his third state tournament by taking first place. He started the day with a 12-0 victory over Elgin Public/Pope John's Logan Henn. He then edged out Burwell's Coy Gideon 3-0 to take the district championship.

At 132, Darren Stewart earned his second trip to state with the Falcons' third first-place finish. He pinned Harvard's Kale Fishler in his first match of the day and took down Oakland-Craig's Jefferson McNeill in sudden victory to earn gold.

Freshman Prestin Vondra earned a trip to state at 138 by taking fourth in the meet. He entered the day just one loss away from elimination, but earned two straight victories to punch his ticket. He topped Derek Gurnsey of Clarkson-Leigh 7-0 to start the day. He then beat out Tim Hughes of Burwell in the heartbreak round. In the third-place match, he fell to Michael Stackpole of Weeping Water to take fourth.

Josh McFarland will make his second trip to state after taking fourth at 145. He lost to West Holt's Jake Judge in a tight match to start the day, losing 1-0. He battled back to secure his spot at state in the heartbreak round, pinning Logan Coleman of South Loup. He then lost to Twin Loups Colby Coons in the third-place match to end the day.

Brock Schaecher will also represent Elkhorn Valley at state after placing fourth at 160 pounds. He fell to Breydon Mlady of West Holt to start the day, but edged Nebraska Christian's Andrew Feely in the heartbreaks to punch his ticket. He then fell in the third-place match to Axtell's Braiden Gomez.

The final state qualifier for the Falcons was Shawn Klinetobe at 182. With just four wrestlers in the D2 182-pound bracket, he was guaranteed a spot at state from the start, but still had to battle for a better seed on Saturday. He started the day with a tech fall loss to Burwell's Tori Huffman but came back with a 5-4 victory in the third place match over Guardian Angels Central Catholic's Gage Herbert.

Mitchell Petersen just missed punching his ticket to state at 126, falling in the heartbreak round. He started the day with an 8-3 victory over Elgin Public/Pope John's Luke Henn but then fell to Winside's Sean Mann.

NSAA - Class D - District 2 Results for Elkhorn Valley
113 - Dillon Stewart (36-1) placed 1st and scored 26.00 team points.
    Champ. Round 1 - Dillon Stewart (Elkhorn Valley) 36-1 received a bye () (Bye)
    Quarterfinal - Dillon Stewart (Elkhorn Valley) 36-1 won by fall over Dalton Donegan (South Loup) 9-16 (Fall 2:50)
    Semifinal - Dillon Stewart (Elkhorn Valley) 36-1 won by fall over Dustin Klingsporn (Axtell) 26-11 (Fall 1:30)
    1st Place Match - Dillon Stewart (Elkhorn Valley) 36-1 won by fall over Tate Phillipps (Burwell) 23-14 (Fall 2:55)

120 - Alejandro Martinez (32-2) placed 1st and scored 25.00 team points.
    Champ. Round 1 - Alejandro Martinez (Elkhorn Valley) 32-2 won by fall over Matthew Frederick (Winside) 11-22 (Fall 1:58)
    Quarterfinal - Alejandro Martinez (Elkhorn Valley) 32-2 won by fall over Gavin Saxton (Oakland-Craig) 12-17 (Fall 2:31)
    Semifinal - Alejandro Martinez (Elkhorn Valley) 32-2 won by major decision over Logan Henn (Elgin Public/Pope John) 20-5 (MD 12-0)
    1st Place Match - Alejandro Martinez (Elkhorn Valley) 32-2 won by decision over Coy Gideon (Burwell) 24-7 (Dec 3-0)

126 - Mitchell Petersen (23-15) place is unknown and scored 7.00 team points.
    Champ. Round 1 - Mitchell Petersen (Elkhorn Valley) 23-15 won by major decision over Garrett Sharman (High Plains Community) 15-21 (MD 14-3)
    Quarterfinal - Dylan Swenson (Oakland-Craig) 35-7 won by fall over Mitchell Petersen (Elkhorn Valley) 23-15 (Fall 3:34)
    Cons. Round 2 - Mitchell Petersen (Elkhorn Valley) 23-15 won by fall over Chase Tate (Nebraska Christian) 7-23 (Fall 3:18)
    Cons. Round 3 - Mitchell Petersen (Elkhorn Valley) 23-15 won by decision over Luke Henn (Elgin Public/Pope John) 22-16 (Dec 8-3)
    Cons. Semi - Sean Mann (Winside) 14-8 won by fall over Mitchell Petersen (Elkhorn Valley) 23-15 (Fall 2:09)

132 - Darren Stewart (26-6) placed 1st and scored 24.00 team points.
    Champ. Round 1 - Darren Stewart (Elkhorn Valley) 26-6 received a bye () (Bye)
    Quarterfinal - Darren Stewart (Elkhorn Valley) 26-6 won by fall over Geoffrey Carr (Elgin Public/Pope John) 12-19 (Fall 0:45)
    Semifinal - Darren Stewart (Elkhorn Valley) 26-6 won by fall over Kale Fishler (Harvard) 31-16 (Fall 3:53)
    1st Place Match - Darren Stewart (Elkhorn Valley) 26-6 won in sudden victory - 1 over Jefferson McNeill (Oakland-Craig) 37-9 (SV-1 6-4)

138 - Prestin Vondra (30-20) placed 4th and scored 7.00 team points.
    Champ. Round 1 - Prestin Vondra (Elkhorn Valley) 30-20 received a bye () (Bye)
    Quarterfinal - Dylan Soule (High Plains Community) 34-16 won by fall over Prestin Vondra (Elkhorn Valley) 30-20 (Fall 3:42)
    Cons. Round 2 - Prestin Vondra (Elkhorn Valley) 30-20 received a bye () (Bye)
    Cons. Round 3 - Prestin Vondra (Elkhorn Valley) 30-20 won by decision over Derek Gurnsey (Clarkson-Leigh) 25-18 (Dec 7-0)
    Cons. Semi - Prestin Vondra (Elkhorn Valley) 30-20 won by decision over Tim Hughes (Burwell) 19-11 (Dec 5-2)
    3rd Place Match - Michael Stackpole (Weeping Water) 38-16 won by decision over Prestin Vondra (Elkhorn Valley) 30-20 (Dec 7-2)

145 - Joshua McFarland (41-13) placed 4th and scored 14.50 team points.
    Champ. Round 1 - Joshua McFarland (Elkhorn Valley) 41-13 won by fall over Jason Whitt (High Plains Community) 3-29 (Fall 0:26)
    Quarterfinal - Joshua McFarland (Elkhorn Valley) 41-13 won by tech fall over Shayden Jones (Weeping Water) 14-26 (TF-1.5 5:45 (16-1))
    Semifinal - Jake Judge (West Holt) 33-8 won by decision over Joshua McFarland (Elkhorn Valley) 41-13 (Dec 1-0)
    Cons. Semi - Joshua McFarland (Elkhorn Valley) 41-13 won by fall over Logan Coleman (South Loup) 17-15 (Fall 3:34)
    3rd Place Match - Colby Coons (Twin Loup) 35-7 won by fall over Joshua McFarland (Elkhorn Valley) 41-13 (Fall 4:58)

152 - Tyler Miller (4-8) place is unknown and scored 4.00 team points.
    Champ. Round 1 - Tyler Miller (Elkhorn Valley) 4-8 won by fall over Tom Peterson (Axtell) 15-25 (Fall 0:55)
    Quarterfinal - Riley Racicky (Pleasanton) 31-5 won by fall over Tyler Miller (Elkhorn Valley) 4-8 (Fall 3:25)
    Cons. Round 2 - Tom Maline (Oakland-Craig) 5-21 won by decision over Tyler Miller (Elkhorn Valley) 4-8 (Dec 7-6)

160 - Brock Schaecher (26-17) placed 4th and scored 11.00 team points.
    Champ. Round 1 - Brock Schaecher (Elkhorn Valley) 26-17 received a bye () (Bye)
    Quarterfinal - Brock Schaecher (Elkhorn Valley) 26-17 won by fall over Gavin Robertson (South Loup) 17-16 (Fall 4:59)
    Semifinal - Breydon Mlady (West Holt) 34-2 won by fall over Brock Schaecher (Elkhorn Valley) 26-17 (Fall 3:06)
    Cons. Semi - Brock Schaecher (Elkhorn Valley) 26-17 won by decision over Andrew Feely (Nebraska Christian) 5-15 (Dec 4-3)
    3rd Place Match - Braiden Gomez (Axtell) 31-9 won by fall over Brock Schaecher (Elkhorn Valley) 26-17 (Fall 0:43)

182 - Shawn Klinetobe (13-9) placed 3rd and scored 8.00 team points.
    Champ. Round 1 - Shawn Klinetobe (Elkhorn Valley) 13-9 received a bye () (Bye)
    Quarterfinal - Shawn Klinetobe (Elkhorn Valley) 13-9 received a bye () (Bye)
    Semifinal - Tori Huffman (Burwell) 34-0 won by tech fall over Shawn Klinetobe (Elkhorn Valley) 13-9 (TF-1.5 5:19 (18-1))
    Cons. Semi - Shawn Klinetobe (Elkhorn Valley) 13-9 received a bye () (Bye)
    3rd Place Match - Shawn Klinetobe (Elkhorn Valley) 13-9 won by decision over Gage Herbert (Guardian Angels Central Catholic) 25-11 (Dec 5-4)

195 - Xavier Antuna (6-22) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
    Champ. Round 1 - CJ Pickrel (Fullerton) 22-25 won by fall over Xavier Antuna (Elkhorn Valley) 6-22 (Fall 0:33)
    Cons. Round 1 - Xavier Antuna (Elkhorn Valley) 6-22 received a bye () (Bye)
    Cons. Round 2 - Spencer Bloomer (South Loup) 14-18 won by fall over Xavier Antuna (Elkhorn Valley) 6-22 (Fall 0:35)