By Marisa Dawson

Bennington High School’s wrestling team delivered a strong performance on Day 1 of the 2026 NSAA Nebraska State Wrestling Championships at the CHI Health Center in Omaha. With 12 boys qualifying for the individual state tournament, the squad advanced 10 through the first round and placed five in the semifinals, exceeding expectations and positioning them solidly in the team race.

In the championship first round (pre-quarterfinals), Bennington went 10-2. Standout results included:

– Lane Welchert pinned Aden Ternus (Northwest) in 2:48.

– Colton Archer won by decision over Ledger Bernasek (Blair), 7-5.

– Elijah McCrery dominated with a technical fall over Tyson Philbrick (Elkhorn North), 19-4.

– Brodee Scobee pinned his way forward by major decision over Jackson Maybee (Lincoln Northwest) with a 12-2 victory.

– Brayden Kreikemeier secured a quick pin, taking down Zane Wesely (Wahoo) by fall in 1:50.

– Paxton Morgan dominated with a pin over Brayton Holding (Douglas County West) in 3:11.

– Kellen Mann battled to a 13-6 decision win over Bennett Kush (Ashland-Greenwood).

– Ty Bouaphakeo advanced with a first-round victory with a quick 0:47 pin of Jayse Styskal (Wahoo).

– Ty Thomsen wasted no time, pinning Parker Lienemann (Wahoo) by fall in just 0:55.

– Mason Mostek earned a decision victory over Gavyn Rhoden (Beatrice), 12-9.

The two first-round losses were Evan Warner and Dominic Gillett, ending their runs early. However, they will be wrestling again tomorrow in the consolation rounds with the hopes of securing a placing.

Head Coach Alan Pokorny was pleased after the first rounds. “I thought we wrestled better than expected,” Pokorny said. “We lost only two matches, so we have 10 in the quarterfinals. We thought we would get nine at least, so we’re really happy. We’re doing as good or better than expected right now.”

He had some words to share with the team as quarterfinals kicked into gear: “Just focus on one match at a time. We have some very tough matches, but we have to wrestle that match and then worry about the next one later… Just keep rushing hard and see what happens.”

The quarterfinals followed, with Bennington going 5-5 among the 10 advancers to reach the semifinals: Brodee Scobee, Brayden Kreikemeier, Paxton Morgan, Ty Bouaphakeo, and Ty Thomsen. Several others fell in tight or competitive bouts, and will go on to wrestle in the consolation rounds again tomorrow. 

– Brodee Scobee dominated with a technical fall over Anthony Morales (Gering), winning 18-3.

– Brayden Kreikemeier controlled the match for a major decision victory over Austin Lingen (Plattsmouth), 16-4.

– Paxton Morgan ended it early with a pin over Marcus Wacker (Norris) in just 1:49.

– Ty Bouaphakeo grinded out a hard-fought decision win over Rylan Schoenbeck, 8-4.

– Ty Thomsen exploded for a lightning-fast pin over Brody Mattox (Crete) in only 0:38.

After the quarterfinals wrapped Day 1, Pokorny was optimistic about the five in semis.

“Feeling real good about that,” he said. “Going into the tournament, we thought maybe three, four, but now we have five going. We lost the lightweights, but we knew those were tough matches… We battled them tough and I like how they wrestled. They’re wrestling well right now, wrestling with confidence.”

He praised the effort, especially in gritty wins: “They’re going out there hard and aggressive and battling through some tough things… Ty Bouaphakeo got into a tough battle in this last match and he was in a bad situation for a while, but he fought out of that and got the win.”

For tomorrow, Pokorny emphasized mindset for his team: “I’m telling them that they need to put what happened today in the past and just wrestle one match at a time because several of those guys can come back through and get medals… If we go out there and wrestle our best, we can get two or three in the finals. That’d be fantastic.”

All 12 Bennington wrestlers will compete on Day 2. Consolation rounds start at 9:30 a.m., with semifinals at 6 p.m.

Team-wise, Bennington sits strong in second place with 64.0 points, trailing leader Omaha Skutt Catholic at 103.5. This sets up an intriguing chase as the tournament continues.

The Bennington boys have built momentum through aggressive wrestling and key pins/tech falls, setting the stage for potential medals and a high team finish. Action resumes tomorrow at the CHI Health Center- fans can follow live via FloWrestling and stay tuned for a recap here following the end of day two.

Additional quarterfinal wrestlers included:

Colton Archer

Lane Welchert

Elijah McCrery

Kellen Mann

Mason Mostek