ARCADIA/LOUP CITY WRESTLING
The Arcadia/Loup City Rebels had some big goals for the postseason on the wrestling mat, but the caliber of competition at last week’s district tournament was a large barrier to scale.
Last Friday and Saturday, the Rebels joined twenty-four other teams at the District D-3 Tournament held at Central Valley High School in Greeley. From that fray, one member of Arcadia/ Loup City’s squad—junior Wyatt Stieb—managed to battle through the bracket and punch his ticket to Omaha.
Stieb, who entered the tournament ranked fifth at 190-pounds, pinned his first two opponents— Kwyntin Kampa of Lyons-Decatur and Isaac Fanta of Creighton. Against the Cougar, the Rebel won the match in ninety-seven seconds. Opposite the Bulldog, Stieb picked up the win in the second period.
In the championship match, Stieb met up with the weight’s third-ranked wrestler, Grady Kelly of Central Valley.
The Rebel took the Cougar all three periods, but Kelly won the match 3-2, leaving Stieb sitting in second place.
Joining Stieb on the mats in Greeley last week were Logan Spotanski, Austin Conner, Joseph Ducker, and Markus Bester.
Spotanski and Ducker both ended up one victory shy of earning some hardware and a ticket to Omaha.
At 144-pounds, Spotanski opened the meet with a 10-0 major decision over Parker Lewis of North Central. The Rebel then beat Caelen Wipf of Weeping Water 8-7 to advance to the semifinals. On Saturday, Spotanski met up with a familiar foe in Grady Rasmussen of Ravenna. The Bluejay beat the Rebel with a 16-1 tech fall, relegating Spotanski to the consolation bracket.
In the heartbreak round, Spotanski got pinned by Jaxon Vinson of Osmond-Wausa, ending his season with a 30-17 record.
Ducker had five matches last week, including wins against Ben Johnson of Creighton, Cash Wickersham of Niobrara/ Verdigre, and Tyler Archer of Lyons Decatur. In that mix, Ducker lost 9-6 in the quarterfinals to Valen Searight of Lutheran High Northeast, while he also dropped a match to Landyn Veik of Elgin in the heartbreak round. The Wolfpack wrester beat the Rebel 1-0.
Conner and Bester lost both of their matches last week.
Even with a lone medalist, the Rebels still managed to finish the meet sitting in the middle of the pack. Arcadia/ Loup City scored thirty- five points in Greeley to end up in seventeenth place.
Central Valley dominated the District D-3 competition. The Cougars amassed 198.5 points, beating the runners- up from Ravenna by more than 100 points. The Bluejays scored ninety-four, while West Holt came in third with 91.5. Teams from Wisner- Pilger and Creighton rounded out the top five last week.
