Three years ago, as freshmen,
Centennial's Doyle Trout and
Jason Hansen of
Tekamah-Herman took to the mat to settle an unknown dispute.
The quandary in question? Which varsity wrestling newcomer would eventually become Nebraska's 25th four-time state champion? Of course, the best the other wrestler could do is win three individual grappling championships.
State championship scheduleTrout won the 2012 Class C 106-pound match 4-3 in overtime, but Hansen has done as well as could be expected since that epic battle, winning back-to-back 106 and 113-pound titles in 2013 and 2014 respectively. He is now in line to become Nebraska's 105th three-time state champion.
"I try to treat each match, at state, as if it were any regular match," Hansen said of his 2015 game plan. "I want to wrestle a smart match. I want to be aggressive, but I don't want to get myself into a bad spot. When you're at the state meet, you can't do anything to put yourself in danger."
As Hansen prepares for state meet battle one last time, he has four Tiger teammates that he hopes wrestle deep into their brackets as well, including his twin brother
Justin Hansen, a Class C 138-pound qualifier. Justin qualified as a freshman (126), and took sixth (126) and fourth (132) as a sophomore and as a junior, respectively.
Jason Hansen said he would do everything in his power to put a pair of Hansens in the championship rounds.
"Hopefully we'll get (Justin) into the finals for the first time," Jason said. "I tell the guys all of the time that you have to take it one match at a time, especially at state. You can't look further than the match in front of you. You win that match and then you look at who you have coming up next."
Returning state medalistsWhile Hansen likes the "take-no-prisoners" approach to grappling, he realizes he has to be smart about it. The Class C 120-pounder sets out to score a lot of points to help his team out, and also stay defensive minded.
Hansen, who takes a 37-2 record into this weekend's action, received a wake up call during the first match of his senior season.
"I've only been taken down three times this year," he said. "I had to wrestle the top-ranked kid (
Zac Charity,
Millard South) in Class A, and he took me down three times. I was not ready for him. I like to think I'm a smart wrestler and that I don't give up easy points. I'm a quick wrestler, and I'm tough whether I'm on top or on the bottom."
O'Neill's Walters broke through with championship win a year ago
After falling short in championship matches as a freshman and as a sophomore, all of
O'Neill wrestler Blake Walters' hard work began to pay off as he claimed the championship hardware a year ago. Walters upended
Oakland-Craig contender
Nick Arlt 4-2 for the 2014 Class C 152-pound title.
Just like any other state champion wrestler, Walters has raked in his share of pins. But he realizes the importance of remaining calm and cautious, especially in big matches at the state meet.
"I try to come off at the beginning as a physical person," Walters said. "But I also wrestle to score points for my team. If I feel I'm not out of position, I'll go for it. But I don't want to do anything that would take myself out of position. That's when you lose matches."
Although he is a three-time finalist already, Walters (33-1) discussed the role of underdogs at the state meet, and how real they are.
"Some guys are out for the sake of being out," Walters said of some of the regular season competition he has faced in his nearly four years of varsity wrestling. "They aren't set for wrestling at the state meet. But some guys find another level at districts. That's why it's so important to stay in the moment and not look ahead. You just have to find it in yourself to keep going."
Clark can extend Nebraska record for consecutive pins
The way
Syracuse's Matthew Clark is pinning his opposition these days, it's hard to imagine an upset of epic proportions in the Class B heavyweight bracket.
Going back to last season, Clark (38-0) has pinned a Nebraska record 69 straight opponents, second nationally to Montana prep wrestler Ben Stroh's 101 straight fall streak. If Clark, the top-ranked wrestler in Nebraska's second largest classification, is to go on and win his third straight title, his high school career would end with a streak of 73 pins in a row.
Patriot undefeated trifecta
Millard South coach Doug Denson has a trio of wrestlers that are money in the bank on a wrestling mat. Sophomore Charity (120), junior
Isaac DeLoa (138) and senior
Terry Jeub (220) not only are ranked No. 1 in their respective weight classes, but they all sport 45-0 records.
Skutt Catholic and Amherst hope to build on team momentum
Following a runner-up finish to
Howells by a 141-122.5 count in 2009,
Amherst has reeled off five straight Class D team titles.
Skutt Catholic (Omaha), on the other hand, has won the last three Class B team state championships, and 16 of the last 17 Class B team titles.
Omaha North and Skutt Catholic lead the way in individual successOmaha North and Skutt Catholic have been two of Nebraska's top programs over the years, so it's no surprise that the Vikings and the SkyHawks lead the way in three and four-time individual champions.
Omaha North edged Omaha Central and Omaha South by steering eight individual wrestlers into the winner's circle three times each. Central and South have produced seven and six three-time state champions respectively.
When it comes to four-time individual champions, Skutt leads the way with four. Eight different SkyHawk wrestlers have competed in the championship match of their respective classification four times.
Individual perfectionIn all,
24 wrestlers will take to the state wrestling mats with perfect records still intact.
