OMAHA As the state's No. 1-rated team in Class C and with eight wrestlers qualified for the state tournament, Sargent/Burwell went to the Qwest Center with high hopes of bringing home a state title.

However, the bid by the Longhorns/Bulldogs came up short Saturday as they finished third in the team race with 84 points. Madison won the Class C title with 97.5 points, while Bennington was second with 91.5.

Sargent/Burwell's opportunity to possibly finish higher was dashed in the championship round as Dakota Holt (119 pounds), Bruce Zurek (135) and Tom Brown (171) all suffered losses and had to settle for second-place finishes.

Darcy Huffman (189) added a third-place finish for Sargent/Burwell, which has now finished among the top six in the state each of the past three years.

Bison bits

Central City managed to tie for a fourth-place finish in Class B, racking up 83 points to pull even with Boys Town. Omaha Skutt captured its 11th consecutive state crown, scoring 256 points to easily outdistance second-place Syracuse (101) and third-place Auburn (86).

No. 3 in the final NSWCA team ratings, the Bison qualified 11 for state and produced four state medalists. Logan Williams, who entered the championship round 37-0, finished second at 119, while Matthew Maresh (125) and Myles Butt (160) both finished third. Kam Lenhart (130) added a sixth-place finish.

Despite not coming out on top in a tournament for the first time this season, the future remains bright for Central City. Of the 11 Bison qualifiers, only three were seniors.

Storm's surge

High Plains scored 69 points to earn a top-10 finish in Class D by placing seventh. The Storm qualified eight wrestlers for state with four of them earning medals.

Tanner Kuhn (140) and Clete Vrbka (189) led the way, each recording runner-up finishes. Kuhn was pinned in 2:52 by Bryan Mejstrik of Howells in his championship match, while Vrbka lost a heart-breaking 6-4 decision in the final 22 seconds to Nebraska Christian's Michael Swanson.

Junior Corbey Grause (130) notched his third career state medal with a third-place finish and Caleb Church (160) ended sixth for coach Norm Manstedt.

End of an era

While things didn't end the way that the Trampe family had hoped Saturday at the Qwest Center, Ord coach Derry Trampe coached one of his sons for the ninth time in a state championship match. This time, senior Sean Trampe lost 8-3 to Madison's Luis Rosales in the 112-pound championship.

Last year, Trampe gave the boys their third combined state title, winning at 103. Derry Trampe's twin sons, Chris and Craig, combined to reach the finals seven times during their high school careers with Chris making it four times and Craig reaching the title match three times, winning twice.

Terry Douglass

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