The first day of the Nebraska State Wrestling Tournament went pretty well for the Panhandle in Class B, not so well in Class C, and not well at all in Class D.

Only 4 of the region’s 35 qualifiers in Class D reached the semifinals, while 2 of the 10 in Class C made it. Class B, though, has 11 of 29 competitors unbeaten through two rounds.

Scottsbluff has 5 wrestlers in the semifinals tonight…Juan Delacruz at 106, Keegan Hessler 113, Joseph Flores-Ybarra 120, 2-time defending state champ Colton Adams at 132, and Andrew Aratani 285

Alliance has 4 semifinalist  Devin Ushio 120, Walker Johnson 126, undefeated and now 27-0 Tyson Dowler 152, and Dawson Johnson at 160.

Chadron has two wrestlers in the semifinals. Colby Riesen…a 2-time medalist… at 160 and undefeated (36-0) Chance Bila at 170.

The two Panhandle wrestlers in the Class C semifinals 170-pound Brendan Swanson of Mitchell and Bridgeport’s Brandon Nichols at 138.

The four Class D Panhandle wrestlers in the semifinals are Allen Denton of Bayard at 160, his 195-pound teammate Tanney Willey, and at 220 both Steve Horrocks of Hay Springs and Banner County’s David Gifford.

Three Panhandle teams sit in the Top 10 after the first day. Scottsbluff is 3rd with 45 points, just a point and a half behind Plattsmouth and 7-1/2 behind leader Omaha Skutt, Alliance is tied for 4th with 35.5 points, and Chadron is tied for 10th with 29 points.

Bayard is 6th in Class D with 28-points…just 7 out of 4th but a whopping 53 points behind leader Amherst, which has a 22-lead over #2 Pender.

The Class A team race couldn’t be much closer as Omaha Burke has 67 points and leads Grand Island by 2 and Kearney by 3. It’s very close in Class C as well…with O`Neill at 49.5 and Central City at 47.5.

Eliminations start this morning with the first consolation round at 8:30 MT for Class A& D…followed immediately by the 2nd round of eliminations. Wrestlers in B&C start consolation action at 11:30 MT…with the semifinals for all classes getting underway at 4:00 MT.

Tomorrow’ schedule begins with the consolation semifinals for all classes at 8:30 MT, followed by the 3rd and 5th place matches. The finals…with all 4 classes going at the same time and broadcast statewide on NET…begin at 2:00 MT.