On February 13th, the Discoverers hosted the A1 Districts and saw as much success as they had last year, once again sending eleven wrestlers to the state wrestling meet at the CHI Center in Omaha. While the venue and atmosphere were a little different due to COVID restrictions, the Discoverer wrestlers put forth a phenomenal effort on the mat and made huge strides towards future success at the event.

Making his state debut at 106 pounds was Freshman Breydn Delano. In the first round, Delano lost 6-2 to No. 1 ranked Gabe Turman from Lincoln East. In his series of wrestle backs to become a contender for a medal, he pinned North Platte’s Kole Weigel in the second period, won 6-2 over Joiash Leslie from Omaha Northwest, won 9-7 against Lincoln Southwest’s Hunter Jacobsen, and won 10-3 over Mohamud Abdi from Omaha Bryan. In the match for the bronze, Delano lost 6-3 against Omaha Westside’s Logan W. Edwards. However, Delano won his first-ever state medal as a fourth-place victor.

Hoping to earn a state title after being denied one last year was Sophomore Adrian Bice wrestling this time at 113 pounds. In the first round, Bice pinned Ethan Hallett of Lincoln North Star within the first minute of the match. In the quarterfinals, Bice won 11-4 against Norfolk’s Gavin Van Driel. However, at the semifinals, Bice was denied the chance to return to the final match as he was pinned by No. 3 Archer Heelan from Kearney at the beginning of the second period. Bice was able to get the bronze medal by pinning Papillion La-Vista’s Joseph Campbell in the second quarter.

Wrestling in the 120 weight class, the weight class that his senior brother wrestled in the year prior, was Junior Blake Cerny. In the first round, Cerny lost in a major decision to Kevin Smith from Lincoln East, Smith being the man who beat Bice in the title match last season.  Cerny was able to stay alive for a round, winning 2-1 over Omaha Westside’s Kooper Brandle, but was later eliminated in a 6-3 decision to Quentin Donald from Omaha Benson. Even though he was denied a medal, Cerny did achieve breaking a school record of most escapes in a season with 61 escapes.

Returning to the state mat after going 0-2 at last year’s event was Sophomore Cadyn Kucera wrestling in at 126 pounds. In the first round, Kucera pinned Papillion La-Vista’s Jordan Bobier in the second period. However, in the quarterfinals, Kucera was sent to the loser’s bracket when he was pinned by No. 2 Blake Cushing of Grand Island in the second period. In his wrestle-back matches, Kucera pinned all of his opponents to get to the 5th/6th place match. First, he pinned Creighton Prep’s Nate Sanchez thirty-three seconds into the match. Then, Kucera pinned Kash Bates of Lincoln Southwest with a minute and nineteen seconds into the match and followed with a pin of North Platte’s Brock Little at the start of the third period. For the medal round, Kucera was on the right side of a sudden 8-6 victory in a rematch with Bobier earning him his first career medal at fifth place.

Making his third and final trip to state was Senior Alex Korte. Sadly, Korte didn’t have much luck with his matches as he was pinned by his maroon opponent, Jacob Licking from Norfolk in the first round and lost in a 9-3 decision over Papillion La-Vista’s Jack Hamilton. Overall, Korte ends his high school career with three state appearances and 104 total career wins.

Another wrestler who made his first state appearance was Junior Carter Braun. Braun started out with securing a pin in the final ten seconds of the match against opponent Jayden Looney from Omaha Burke. However, Braun faced two back-to-back losses as he was pinned by the undefeated Nick Hamilton from Papillion La-Vista in the first period of the quarterfinals and lost 8-2 in his wrestle back against Lincoln Pius X’s Ryan Mazour.

Being one of two seniors to make it to state for the first time on their last chance was Drew Loosvelt. In the first round, Loosvelt pinned North Platte’s Cash Arensdorf in the second period. In the quarterfinals, Loosvelt was sent to the wrestle backs after losing a 10-0 major decision to No. 2 Joshua Licking from Norfolk. Loosvelt was able to stay alive in the wrestle backs for one round by pinning Creighton Prep’s Dominic Fate towards the start of the second quarter but was eliminated in a 4-0 shutout by Coleton Haggin from Papillion La-Vista.

Making his fourth and final appearance at state was Senior Blayze Standley wrestling at state again at 170 pounds. For his first round and quarterfinals, Standley pinned both of his opponents - Kearney’s Tate Kuchera in the second period of the first round and Omaha Burke’s Blaine Miller in the second period at quarterfinals. For the semifinals, Standley was able to win a sudden 7-5 victory over No. 1 Cole Price from Papillion-La Vista. In the finals against Norfolk’s Austin Miller, Standley was able to win 5-2 and take the title as the Class A State Champion at 170 pounds. Standley ends his high school career with an even 150 wins, being the seventh one to do so in school history and three state medals (4th, 2nd, 1st).

Heading to the state mat for the second time at 182 pounds was Junior Rylee Iburg. In the first round, Iburg won in a 14-4 major decision over Malachi Alley from Lincoln Northeast. However, Iburg faced back-to-back losses with losing 10-3 to Lincoln Pius X’s Dontae Thomas in the quarterfinals and was pinned by Lincoln Southwest’s Max McClatchey in the second period.

Making his first appearance at state at 195 pounds was Sophomore Liam Blaser. Blaser faced two consecutive pins in the second period through the likes of Omaha Westside’s Cole D. Haberman and Omaha Bryant’s Jacob Scheonauer respectively and on one of those pins, lost 14-1 lead.

Lastly, the other senior wrestler to make it to state for the first time on the last chance was Justin Gaston wrestling in at 220 pounds. Gaston also faced a similar fate to Blaser receiving two pins in the first periods by Elkhorn South’s Ben Uhl and Omaha Westside’s Ryan D. Zatechka. 

Overall, the team placed 11th at state and had four out of a possible eleven state medalists (Delano, Bice, Kucera, and Standley). CHS Anchor News would like to congratulate the team and the seniors for their hard work. The six seniors on the team were part of three district championships and were part of the 2019 squad that finished as state runner-ups.

As the spring season returns after being canceled last year due to COVID-19, be sure to follow CHS Anchor News on Twitter and Instagram along with checking out our Fusfoo page. I’m Libby Wurdeman, CHS Anchor News.

Above: Senior Blayze Standley becomes the Class A 170 pound State Champion. Photo courtesy of Omaha World-Herald.