Blaze get Casey into state wrestling tournament

OAKLAND — The Quad County Northeast wrestling team came away with one state qualifier for this week’s state wrestling tournament after competing in a challenging C-3 district meet over the weekend at Oakland-Craig High School.

Kolby Casey will represent the Blaze in Class C action after coming away with a fourth-place finish at 195 pounds. Casey was pinned late in the first period in the semifinals, but came back with a second-period pin over Rylan Weaver of Wakefield/Allen to reach the consolation finals. Taylor Weber of Boone Central pinned Casey (32-14) in the match for third place.

The Blaze had three other wrestlers make it to the heartbreak round before suffering defeats. Tie Hollandsworth reached the semifinals before suffering two losses at 145 pounds to end the season with a 31-14 record. Nolan Ohlrich came through two matches after losing in the quarterfinals at 152 pounds, then lost in the consolation semifinals to end the season with a 34-18 record.

Colby Wathor lost in the quarterfinals and won a match in the consolations before being pinned in the consolation semifinals to end the year 24-21 at 170 pounds.

Casey will compete in the Class C action on Thursday starting at 9:30 a.m. at the CHI Health Center in Omaha.

C-3 District at Oakland-Craig Team Standings

Aquinas 232, Milford 148.5, Conestoga 144, Wilber-Clatonia 127, Raymond Central 98, Boone Central/Newman Grove 96, Oakland-Craig 70, Crofton/Bloomfield 62.5, Wisner-Pilger 61, Sutton 47, Quad County Northeast 44, Madison 30, Tekamah-Herman 22, B-R/L-D 20, Wakefield/ Allen 17, Centura 10.

Area State Qualifiers

195: 3. Taylor Weber, BC/NG, pinned Kolby Casey, QCNE, 2:01.