By Terry Douglass
terry.douglass@theindependent.com

After watching their athletes sweat and sacrifice since November, every wrestler who makes it to the state tournament brings elation. At the same time, every competitor who sees their season stopped short of a trip to Omaha causes a little heartbreak for each coach.

That range of emotions is something Grand Island Senior High coach Mike Schadwinkel didn't have to deal with. Not this year.

The Islanders qualified all 14 of their wrestlers for the state tournament, which starts its three-day run Thursday in the Qwest Center. It marks the first time Grand Island taken its entire lineup to state since Kurt Frohling's 1990 team accomplished the feat when there were 13 weight classes.

"It really has been a pretty cool deal," Schadwinkel said. "I'm pretty pumped about it.

"Before we ever went into the district, we felt like it could happen. We felt like it was a possibility, but didn't realize how close it was to happening until got finished with the seeding meeting and we were walking out thinking we could do it."

The Islanders made it a reality, sending eight wrestlers to the finals on their way to winning the Class A, District 3 title at Norfolk. Grand Island scored 204 points for a 24-point margin of victory over second-place Omaha Creighton-Prep.

"Our kids are extremely excited about it and our parents are excited about it," Schadwinkel said. "There's just sort of a buzz going on around the school and all around. Everywhere I go, there are people congratulating us and everybody's really excited about the possibility of what we can do."

Grand Island's list of qualifiers includes two district champions in freshman Billy Smith-Leetch (20-12 at 145 pounds) and senior Jason Brisbin (29-11 at 160). Other Islander qualifiers are freshman Ty Chanthapatheth (17-11 at 103), senior Isaiah Aguilar (31-5 at 112), freshman Michael Boland (29-9 at 119), sophomore Alec Chanthapatheth (32-11 at 125), sophomore Mathew Rice (24-17 at 130), senior Tyler Glover (16-7 at 135), junior Riley Allen (32-8 at 140), sophomore Beau Jepson (22-21 at 152), sophomore Alan Taylor (26-9 at 171), sophomore Nate Westerby (30-6 at 189), sophomore Jesse Janulewicz (21-10 at 215) and sophomore Tyler Swanson (12-18 at 285).

Yes, it's a long list.

"It does feel a little strange in that we're going into the state tournament and there's nobody from our lineup that has been eliminated," Schadwinkel said. "It's really a feather in the kids' cap because they've worked so hard all year long and they've really, really pulled together and jelled, especially these last few weeks."

Among Grand Island's qualifiers, Aguilar (sixth at 103 in 2006), Alec Chanthapatheth (sixth at 125 in 2007), Allen (fifth at 130 in 2007), Brisbin (sixth at 160 in 2007) and Westerby (fifth at 189 in 2007) are returning state medallists.

Islanders ranked by the NWSCA include Aguilar (third at 112), Janulewicz (third at 285), Allen (fourth at 140), Bolan (fifth at 119), Alec Chanthapatheth (fifth at 125), Brisbin (fifth at 160) and Taylor (sixth at 171).

Grand Island heads to state having won four consecutive tournaments, including the Heartland Athletic Conference and district championships. That accomplishment has impressed Schadwinkel, especially considering that his team faced some adversity along the way.

"We've won the last four tournaments that we've entered and we've had to do it with kids sick and with kids hurt and with a kid not making weight," Schadwinkel said. "We've battled a lot of different things, but yet our team has really continued to come together as a unit and as team.

"It's really pretty special."

Despite Grand Island's numbers, Schadwinkel said Millard South and Kearney are the teams to beat in the Class A team race.

"I feel like that if we wrestle really, really well and perform as well as we can, I could see us getting up there as high as third, hopefully," Schadwinkel said. "I really think we've got a shot at the top three, but realistically, I think a top-five finish would be pretty pleasing this year for this group."

And the good thing for the Islanders is that most of them have a chance to come back next year. Grand Island's 14 qualifiers include three seniors and just one junior.

But even with a group of 10 freshmen and sophomores, Schadwinkel said he doesn't think inexperience should be an issue.

"Even though they're young, they're kids who have been wrestling for a while and kids that have been going to tournaments since they were in elementary school," Schadwinkel said. "A good portion of these kids are very well-seasoned, have a lot of experience and they're ready to wrestle at this level. It's really fun to watch."