Perez, Toner heading back to state

by Diane Stamm

Grant tribune-sentinel

Perkins County juniors Juan Perez and Mason Toner qualified for the state wrestling championships with second and fourth place finishes, respectively, at district wrestling Friday and Saturday in Sutherland.

Both wrestled in Omaha last year.

Perez entered the tournament in Class D No. 3 at 285 lbs. Although Perez finished second at districts, his only loss was to Class D No. 1 Isaac Welch (33-1) of Mullen by a 5-1 decision.

After a first round win at 126 lbs., Toner lost in the semifinals to Class D No. 1 Eli Paxton (35-1) of Mullen. With a win in the heartbreak round, Toner lost to Hitchcock County’s Tanner McLain (7-5) in sudden victory.

PCS Head Coach Tanner Collins said he’s excited for the pair to go back to Omaha.

“It is nice that they both have been there before and know what to expect,” he added.

Perez is matched up with Jacob Stromberg (33-18) of Palmer in the first. Perez’s possible second round opponent is No. 4 Josiah Brezina (37-3) of Aquinas Catholic.

Toner’s first match will be against Braxton Siebrandt (39-2) of Wisner Pilger and Class D’s No. 3 ranked wrestler. Either No. 7 Jaxon Smith of Elm Creek or Michael Stritt of Southwest will be Toner’s second round opponent.

“I think their bracket draws are good. Obviously have some tough opponents, but are both very doable if they come out and wrestle hard. Anything can happen in Omaha,” Collins said.

State meet schedule.

Classes A and D will start off the tournament Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m. CT. Quarterfinals will also happen Thursday.

Starting Friday at 9 a.m. CT will be two rounds of consolation matches. Semifinals and third round consolation matches will be that evening starting at 6:30 p.m. CT.

All classes will be on the mat Saturday morning for consolation semifinals, followed by third and fifth place matches. Championship matches will begin at 3 p.m. CT.

District results

Collins said districts went about as he had expected.

“I was really hoping Brient Wood was going to pull off a big win and punch his ticket, but unfortunately, it didn’t go his way,” Collins said.

Wood won his first two matches, including a first round win over teammate Preston Schwanebeck, but lost to No. 3 Chase Gracey (30-6) of Mullen in the semifinals. Wood lost his heartbreak round match to Maxwell’s Cyrrus Messersmith (35-14).

Domanic Williams, 113 lbs., and Schwanebeck, 170 lbs., went 1-2.

Trevor Laber, 160 lbs.; Issiah Dunn, 220 lbs.; and Brecken Uehling, 285 lbs., who lost to Perez in the first round, went 0-2.

“I thought all the kids did some of their best wrestling over the weekend and will learn from it moving forward,” Collins said.

District D4, Feb. 10-11, 2023

Team Scores—1. Sutherland, 174.5; 2. Hitchcock County, 169.0; 3. Mullen, 140.0; 4. Maxwell, 101.5; 5. NPSP, 71.0; 6. Kimball, 68.0; 7. Bridgeport, 63.5; 8. Hemingford, 63.0; 9. Garden County, 58.0; 10.Bayard, 54.0; 10. Hay Springs, 54.0; 12. Crawford, 50.0; 13.PCS, 36.0; 14. Hyannis, 23.0; 15. Wauneta-Palisade, 20.0; 16. Dundy County Stratton, 19.0; 17. Banner County, 18.0; 18. Medicine Valley, 9.0; 19. Minatare, 7.0; 20. Sioux County, 6.21. South Platte, 5.0; 22. Paxton, 4.0.

Individual results

113—Domanic Williams (13-20) lost by major decision to Jarhett Anderson (Hay Springs), MD 12-0; won by fall over Ladik Husted (NPSP), fall 1:24; lost by decision to Paker Wellnitz (Hay Springs), dec 7-5.

126—Mason Toner (25-14)  won by fall over Jonathan Fritzler (Hemingford), fall 2:37; lost by tech fall to Eli Paxton (Mullen), TF-1.5 3:45 (15-0);  won by fall over Jayden Klein (NPSP), fall 2:45; 3rd Place Match - lost by sudden victory to Tanner McLain (Hitchcock County), SV-1 7-5.

160—Trevor Laber (2-20) lost by fall to Tanner O’Brien (Hitchcock County), fall 0:55; lost by fall to Hayden Anderson (Sutherland), fall 1:37.

170—Preston Schwanebeck (13-18) lost by fall to Brient Wood (PCS), fall 5:20; won by decision over Josh Gage (Medicine Valley), dec 6-2; lost by fall to Cyrrus Messersmith (Maxwell) fall 0:48.

170—Brient Wood (20-16) won by fall over Preston Schwanebeck (PCS0, fall 5:20; won by fall over Curtis Jackson (Bridgeport), fall 4:19; lost by fall to Chase Gracey (Mullen), fall 2:56; lost by fall to Cyrrus Messersmith (Maxwell), fall 3:17.

220-—Issiah Dunn (10-16) lost by fall to Braxton Richards (NPSP), fall 1:21; lost by fall to Tristin Jacob (Crawford), fall 1:23.

285—Brecken Uehling (9-19) lost by fall to Juan Perez (PCS), fall 1:08; lost by fall to John Fricke (Paxton), fall 1:49.

285—Juan Perez (32-4) won by fall over Brecken Uehling (PCS), fall 1:08; won by fall over Ben Melton (NPSP), fall 4:58; 1st Place Match - lost by decision to Isaac Welch (Mullen), dec 5-1.