By Terry Douglass
terry.douglass@theindependent.com

Northwest's Jeff Mills recorded a pair of dominant wins at the Qwest Center to lock up a state medal and join Cooksley in Friday's 6 p.m. semifinal round. Mills (30-7 at 160) recorded a first-round pin of Kevin Humphrey of Boys Town in 5:40 before posting a 13-2 major decision victory over Chadron's Wil Brown.

Mills will now face 32-2 Justin Allen of Platteview with a spot in Saturday's championship match on the line.

"We knew Jeff's quarterfinal match was going to be a really tough match, so for Jeff to come through and earn another state medal, that's just huge," Sybrandts said.

"He's right up there working hard with Hadley. He's up in the weight room and he's always doing everything it takes to be a champion and I really hope it pays off for Jeff.

"I don't want to be greedy, but I'd love to have two in the finals."

Cooksley, who is now assured of finishing his high school career with three state medals, continued his mastery over opponents. Now 32-0 on the season, the senior extended his Class B state record for consecutive pins to 32 he has 34 straight pins going back to last season with a 32-second pin of Plattsmouth's Brent Tincher and a 1:08 pin of Gering's Steven Brown.

That sets up a semifinal rematch between Cooksley and No. 2-rated Sandi Stanback of Boys Town. Stanback is 30-1 with his only loss coming to Cooksley a pin in 3:16.

"It's going to be one heck of a match," Sybrandts said of the Cooksley-Stanback rematch. "It was a tough match the first time they wrestled and I feel sorry for the guy that loses that match because they deserve to be in the finals."

That said, Sybrandts would argue that no one has worked harder to get to the state finals than Cooksley.

"Hadley does everything it takes to be a champion and that's why I hope it pays off for him," Sybrandts said. "He lives in that weight room and he's gotten himself so strong. He's just an animal."

Northwest still has f0ur other wrestlers alive in the consolation rounds Friday. Vikings Nicholas Helmer (28-6 at 103) and Calvin Fye (26-10 at 130) both won first-round matches, but lost in the quarterfinals to fall into the second round of consolation matches.

GINW's Ben Paige (28-12 at 145) and Dana Haines (23-9) both suffered first-round losses. They will resume wrestling in Friday's first round of consolation matches.

The Vikings ended day one seventh in the Class B team standings with 28 points.

"I thought we wrestled really well for the first day," Sybrandts said. "Calvin Fye came down here and got a win in his first state match and we've got some kids that are going to have to battle back, but I expect guys like Nick Helmer to rebound (Friday) and be ready to go and Dana Haines and Ben Paige had really tough matchups in the first round.

"I'm very pleased with our first-day effort."

Ten-time defending Class B state champion Omaha Skutt left everyone else battling for second, putting up 114.5 points to take an overwhelming lead.

Central City is the top team in pursuit, standing second with 44 points after an up-and-down opening day.

"You always lose some matches you thought you could've gotten and vice versa," Central City coach Darin Garfield said. "The effort was there. That's all we've asked out of our kids all year long.

"We tell them all the time that if we get their best effort, good things are going to happen."

Central City advanced four wrestlers into the semifinals. Logan Williams (36-0 at 119), Matthew Maresh (43-1 at 125), Kam Lenhart (34-5 at 130) and Myles Butt (35-5 at 160) all clinched medals with two victories and moved one win from the finals.

"The common theme was that they didn't quit," Garfield said. "We had a couple of matches that could've gone either way, but whether they're on the winning end or the losing end, there's no quit in these guys. That's what makes them so much fun to coach."

To come home with a runner-up trophy, Garfield said the Bison need big performances from their seven wrestlers in the consolation rounds.

"One good thing we have is that we still have a lot of those bodies wrestling back through in the consolation rounds and those guys all understand that they're a part of things, too," Garfield said.

"Hopefully, they'll score a lot of points for us (Friday) and the next day and that's our main focus is bringing as many of those guys through as we can."

Hastings finished day one ninth with 26.5 points. The Tigers gained two semifinalists in David Gonzalez (39-3 at 135) and Ethan Rundle (31-10 at 189).

Aurora is 11th with 22.5 points. Jerry Lobeda (27-11 at 152) is the lone semifinalist for the Huskies.

Adams Central's Nick Lonowski (33-7 at 145) also won twice to reach the semifinals. The Patriots are 18th with 13.5 points.