This photo was taken after the Hastings High Wrestling Team walked out of the tunnel to receive their award. Tigers who wrestled in Omaha stood on the podium numbers of which placed they got.
This past weekend, state wrestling occurred at the CHI Health Center in Omaha. Nine wrestlers qualified to compete in the state championships. The days of wrestling were Thursday, February 17, Friday, February 18, and Saturday, February 19.
The Tigers received the champion plaque at Districts in Minden on Saturday, February 12. Five out of the 9 wrestlers who qualified for the state championships were district champions of their weight division. Junior Landon Weidner was the state champion of his weight division at state, and he is well-known for wrestling the longest on the team.
“I started wrestling ever since I could walk,” Weidner said.
Three tiger wrestlers appeared in the championship matches. Braiden Kort and Jett Samuelson received runner-up for their weight divisions, and both of their matches were by decision in overtime. Landon Weidner’s match was also by decision, and he knew exactly what he needed to do out on the mat.
“I wrestled for Hastings Force when I was younger until my dad started his own program titled 2 Tuff Gym,” Weidner said.
The first two days of state wrestling featured 10 mats. Thursday’s rounds and Friday morning split the classes up into B and C, and then A and D. On Friday night and Saturday morning, all classes wrestled, with each class having 2 mats. Finals were Saturday afternoon at 3 pm, and only 4 mats were present- one for each class. Wrestlers walked out of a tunnel after hyping themselves up, and they all breathed heavily due to nerves.
“I have handled nerves pretty well considering I’ve traveled the country just to improve my wrestling skills,” Weidner said.
The CHI Health Center seats were almost completely full, and tickets to the semifinals and championship matches were sold out. A volleyball tournament was held in another section of the health center, so the CHI Health Center was filled with a mix of volleyball fans and wrestling fans. Concessions were extremely busy, and some wrestlers were seen purchasing water and other snacks during the event.
“I typically drink Clear American Waters to give me energy for my matches,” Weidner said.
Numerous other Tiger wrestlers were seen on the podium for their weight divisions. Senior Hunter Anderson got 3rd place, Cameron Brumbaugh got 4th place, Elijah Johnson got 5th place, and senior Oaklyn Smith and Tucker Adams got 6th place.
“It felt good being up on the podium. I felt like I accomplished a life-long dream,” Weidner said.
