By Dale Miller
dale.miller@theindependent.com

That was the case at the Class C, District 4 meet Saturday.

Class C No. 1 Sargent/Burwell qualified more wrestlers than it had expected for the state tournament while rolling to the district championship by over 20 points.

The Horns-Dogs will take eight to Omaha's Qwest Center and finished with 151 points.

Mitchell came in second with 129.5.

"We did a little better than we had hoped," said Craig Mauler, who was named district coach of the year along with fellow Sargent/Burwell co-coach Luke Gideon. "Coming into today, we hoped to have six state qualifiers and we ended up with eight.

"I couldn't be more proud of the kids. We've had a tough schedule, and that prepared us for (districts). Now I hope this prepares us for the next round."

Sargent/Burwell used its depth to amass points for the district championship. Only Dakota Holt won his weight class.

He took a 7-1 win over Ravenna's Josh Albright in the 119-pound final.

Sargent/Burwell added second-place finishes by Bruce Zurek (135), Jarrod Swett (140), Darcy Huffman (189) and Clayton Olcutt (285).

Zurek, ranked No. 1 in the state, fell to No. 2 Dayne Reddy of Gordon-Rushville 9-4 in one of the feature matches of the meet.

Other Sargent/Burwell qualifiers were Brandon Morse (third, 103), Josh Johnson (fourth, 145) and Tom Brown (third, 171).

Mauler said his team doesn't feel any extra pressure due to its top ranking.

"We try to downplay it as much as possible," he said. "(The wrestlers) hear things and they read things. We know anybody can be beat on any given day. We have a bull's eye on us. But it's something we downplay."

This marks the third year of the wrestling co-op between Sargent and Burwell. It was a success from the start and continues to move up the ranks in Class C.

"Our first year we were third at districts and last year runner-up," Mauler said. "This year we hope to add to the trophy we got as (state) runner-up two years ago."

Sargent/Burwell now turns its focus to state, and that's something that's a relief to the team.

"We'll see the brackets when they come out (Saturday night), and then we'll get together (Sunday) and refocus on next week," Mauler said. "This week is over. We have bigger fish to fry."

The other two area teams in the 16-team district each qualified two wrestlers for state.

Ord came in seventh with 96 points.

The Chanticleers got district championships from Sean Trampe (112) and Braden Orent (125) and a runner-up finish by Blake Augustyn (152).

"I feel like our kids wrestled our best all year," Ord coach Derry Trampe said. "We got the kids down (to state) that we thought we would. The others that were question marks got beat in overtime. It was a good day."

The coach was especially pleased with the gold medals brought back by Sean Trampe and Orent.

"It's always nice to have district champions," he said. "It makes for an easier draw at state. It's something you work for all year."

Ravenna finished ninth with 67 points and had one champion (Noah Steele, 189) and a pair of runner-ups (Kyle Markvicka at 112 and Josh Albright at 119).

"With the injuries and sickness we've had, we did the best we could," Bluejay coach Dom Reicks said. "But we were hoping for a couple more (state qualifiers)."

The highlight for the home crowd was Steele's 7-3 win over Huffman in the championship.

"It was a well-wrestled match by both wrestlers," Reicks said. "It was very competitive and Noah came out on top.

"He's got an instinctive feel for where his body is and where his opponent is at."