| Bearcats’ Nation scores third state title, second for Adams |
 2012-02-24 By Terry Gaston news@geringcitizen.com |
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 | Scottsbluff senior Tyler Nation and Gering senior Francisco Garcia battled it out for the state championship, with Nation coming out on top. Nation earned his third consecutive Class B state wrestling championship, while another Bearcat, sophomore Colton Adams, also brought home a championship title in the 126 class. The Bearcats placed fifth in the overall Class B team rankings. | |
| Tyler Nation has that type of name that sounds like it should stand head and shoulders among others. And after winning his third consecutive Class B state wrestling championship, Nation is indeed in a class all his own at Scottsbluff High School. Nation completed his stellar high school career Saturday by scoring a 3-2 decision over a familiar opponent in Francisco Garcia of Gering to win Class B’s 138-pound class. Combine Nation’s title with sophomore teammate Colton Adams and his state championship at 126 pounds along with two other state medalists, the Bearcats finished fifth in the Class B team rankings with 85.5 points, just eight points behind Gretna’s third-place total. Skutt Catholic of Omaha amassed 133 points while Central City was second with 104. Nation and Garcia had met six times before state, including the finals of the District B-4 meet in Gothenburg. His one-point decision over Garcia, whom Nation said he considers a good friend and competitor, put Nation in the SHS record books. As a sophomore, he won state at 125 and earned his second gold last year at 135. Adams defeated Connor Bolling of Central City 4-3 to win the 126 championship. Adams finished his freshman season atop the 112-pound podium. Scottsbluff’s two other medalists both fell in their final matches but still earned top-six placements. Senior Kolby Aulick won his first two matches at 195 pounds before he lost in the semifinals. He scored a pin in the consolation semifinals and then lost by pin to Matthew DeGarmo of Seward to place fourth. Bearcat heavyweight Andrew Aratani rallied back after a second-round loss with two wins to make the consolation semifinals before he lost by pin fall to Gothenburg’s Dane Ehlers, the eventual third-place finisher. In the fifth-place match, Aratani lost by pin to Fairbury’s J.B. Barnett. Garcia’s runner-up finish to Nation led the Bulldogs’ effort among four qualifiers. Other area wrestlers who scored medal placements included three in Class C. Mitchell senior Bryce Wiedeman scored two pins and a decision on his way to the 152-pound championship match, in which he lost by technical fall to Jed Fenske of Sargent/Burwell, 25-10. Bridgeport also had a finalist at 220 in Brent Hoerler, who was dealt a 10-5 decision loss by Gordon-Rushville’s Tanner Johnson. Josh Hoxworth gave the Bulldogs a third-place medal with a 9-3 decision over Chris Svoboda of St. Paul. | ||
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