B-3 Districts

B-3 District Tournament Recap

The Dragons competed at the B-3 District Championships, finishing 6th as a team with 119 points, a major improvement from last season’s 8th-place finish and 70 points. The team also qualified five wrestlers for the State Tournament (top four qualify), up from four qualifiers last year, while competing without their only returning state medalist, Cayson Schlotfeld, who is out for the season due to injury. Despite that setback, the team showed depth, toughness, and continued growth across the lineup.

State Qualifiers & Top Finishers

120 – Jackson Grebe (1st Place, 21.5 Points) – State Qualifier

Jackson Grebe had a championship performance, winning the district title with a dominant and composed tournament. He opened with a technical fall over Owen Erickson (Boys Town, 13-13), followed by a semifinal decision over Caleb Kempf (Milford, 32-16).
In the finals, Grebe secured a huge win, defeating Carsen Hanshaw (Beatrice, 38-5) by decision, 9-5. Hanshaw is ranked #2, and Grebe avenged an earlier loss where he had previously been defeated by 14 points, showing significant growth at the right time of the season.

113 – Gage Rupiper (2nd Place, 18.5 Points) – State Qualifier

Gage Rupiper put together a strong run to the finals. He earned a technical fall over Tobias Schweitzer (Milford, 18-17) in the quarterfinals and followed that with a major decision over Owen Sledge (Elkhorn North, 32-15) in the semifinals.
In the championship match, Rupiper battled tough but fell to Oscar Brown (Scottsbluff, 42-4) by decision, 13-9, against the number-one ranked wrestler in the state.

175 – Jaden Peters (2nd Place, 18.0 Points) – State Qualifier

Jaden Peters advanced to the finals with a strong showing, including a fall over Wyatt Dike (Beatrice, 18-28) and a semifinal decision over Bennett Kush (Ashland-Greenwood, 14-4).
In the finals, Peters faced Grady Meyer (Wahoo, 29-1) and finished as district runner-up after a technical fall loss. His performance still secured a state berth and key team points.

190 – Brody Sliva (2nd Place, 19.0 Points) – State Qualifier

Brody Sliva had an impressive tournament run, earning a pin over Jayden Bowen (Platteview, 12-20) and a major decision over Jerry Rodriguez (Scottsbluff, 20-21) in the semifinals.
He finished 2nd after falling in the finals to Merrick Johnson (Beatrice, 42-1) by fall, capping off a strong district showing and punching his ticket to state.

132 – Bryce Lawler (4th Place, 12.5 Points) – State Qualifier

Bryce Lawler battled through the backside of the bracket after an early loss. He opened with a technical fall over Carsen Bunnell (Sidney, 2-11), then fought back with a decision over Jayden Heedum (Elkhorn North, 13-13) and a pin against Aiden Hanshaw (Beatrice, 21-11) in the consolation semifinals.
Lawler finished 4th after a close 7-4 loss to Kellen Lovitt (Milford, 21-6), securing the final qualifying spot for state.

Other Varsity Performances

106 – Dalton Dehart (7-21)

After receiving a first-round bye, Dehart dropped a quarterfinal match to Edison Omar (Beatrice, 36-8) by fall, and later fell in consolations to Ryan Gurnsey (Milford, 11-32).

126 – Caleb Meckna (15-21)

Meckna opened strong with a fall over Grayson Styskal (Wahoo, 26-13) before running into tough competition, losing to Jonny Kohout (Milford, 25-11) and Kaine Hill (Sidney, 21-20).

138 – Adam Eusterwiemann (14-21)

Eusterwiemann responded well after an opening loss to Martin Carrizales (Boys Town, 14-12), picking up a major decision over Grant Beranek (Ashland-Greenwood, 13-21) and a decision over Sawyer Maloney (Elkhorn North, 18-18) before falling to Carson Lucius (Scottsbluff, 24-10) in the consolation semifinals.

144 – Abdul Noorzai (15-16)

Noorzai started the tournament with a fall over Mason Mangimelli (Douglas County West, 0-11), then faced losses to Matthew McConnell (Ashland-Greenwood, 27-14) and Darren Wengler (Lincoln Northwest, 21-28).

157 – Parker Petrigash (10-25)

Petrigash earned a key pin over Quinten Stein (Ashland-Greenwood, 1-17) in consolations before being eliminated by Keagan Vande Hoef (Boys Town, 4-4) in a tiebreaker match.

165 – Daniel Schafer (16-22)

Schafer rebounded after a quarterfinal loss to Cory Langenberg (Milford, 47-7) with a fall over Coy Beetison (Ashland-Greenwood, 19-9) before dropping a decision to Kaden Schneider (Scottsbluff, 14-13).

215 – Braxton Bruggeman (20-21)

Bruggeman battled through consolations, picking up a fall over Chase Trautman (Elkhorn North, 22-24) before being eliminated by Parker Lienemann (Wahoo, 29-20).

285 – Mason Boyce (16-24)

Boyce had a strong consolation run with back-to-back pins over Evan Inada (Boys Town, 14-10) and Joseph Johnson (Sidney, 17-17) before falling to Garrett Schoen (Milford, 39-4) in the consolation semifinals.

Team Takeaway

Finishing 6th with 119 points, the Dragons made a significant jump from last year’s 70-point, 8th-place finish while qualifying five wrestlers for the State Tournament despite missing returning state medalist Cayson Schlotfeld due to injury.

With a district champion in Jackson Grebe, three runner-up finishes, and multiple wrestlers battling deep into the consolation rounds, the team showed resilience, depth, and continued progression at the most important point of the season as they now prepare for the State Championships.