Bartlett makes history at district wrestling

Bartlett finished third place in the 100-pound division of the District 1 in Nebraska City. The top three finishers in each weight class qualify for state.

She received a first round bye before defeating the No. 2 seed to advance to the semifinals. After a 10-3 loss in the semifinals, she bounced back with a pinfall win in the consolation semifinals and a 9-5 win in her third place match to qualify.

Beatrice Coach Corey Wells said it was a historic day not just for the Lady O, but the entire state of Nebraska.

“To be part of the first sanctioned NSAA Girls district wrestling competition and to have our first Lady O qualify for state is a great feeling and a great accomplishment,” Wells said.

District 1 was the largest of the four Class B districts and was a very competitive district. Beatrice had five other girls competing and Wells said the coaching staff is proud of how all of them came out and competed.

Morgan Maschmann came up just short in her bid for state, finishing four in the 114-pound division.

“Morgan showed a lot of toughness on the mat,” Wells said. “She fought through the consolation bracket to make it to the medal round and for a chance to advance to state. Unfortunately, she came up just short in her third place match.”

Olivia Hatzenbuehler was able to advance to day two of districts, but came up short of earning a medal.

“Olivia is a great example of the progress our girls showed this year,” Wells said. “Prior to this year, she had zero experience in wrestling and at districts, her only losses were to state qualifiers.”

Jordyn Kleveland was the first Lady O wrestler on the mat on Friday and picked up a 10-8 upset over the No. 4 seed in the 100-pound division.

“Jordyn getting that win really set the tone for our girls and we ended up having a great first round,” Wells said.

Megan Powers and Ashton Hofeling also competed for the Lady O at districts, but fell short of advancing to Saturday’s rounds.

Senior Raquel Moore was unable to wrestle at districts due to an injury, but Wells said her presence was still felt.

“Raquel was a great leader for the other girls as she was one of our two returning wrestlers,” Wells said. “She really helped set the tone for our girls program.”

In District 3, hosted by Gothenburg, Fairbury’s Makena Schramm qualified for state by winning the 185-pound division. She won both her matches by pinfall. 

Johnson County Central had two qualifiers for state. Jocelyn Prado finished first in the 100-pound division of District 4 and Lucie Rougean finished third in the same division.

The NSAA Girls State Wrestling Meet will take place alongside the boys state meet Feb. 17-19 at the CHI Health Center in Omaha.

The Beatrice boys won the Fairbury Invite on Friday. They scored 207 points, which beat out runner-up Milford’s 196 and third place Fairbury’s 108.

The Orangemen got first place finishes from Ian Roschewski in the 106-pound division, Bryce Karlin in the 126-pound division, Kruse Williamson in the 145-pound division, Cole Maschmann in the 160-pound division, Torrance Keehn in the 170-pound division, Deegan Nelson in the 182-pound division and Brock Ostdiek in the 220-pound division.

They got runner-up finishes from Tristain Reinke in the 120-pound division and Brett Powers in the 152-pound division.

Fairbury got an individual championship from Kazz Hyson in the 285-pound division and runner-up finishes from Hayden Bear at 106, Connor Gerths at 138 and Domenic Hyson at 195.

The Beatrice wrestling team will be in action again on Friday and Saturday when they travel to districts in Sidney.