Three Stanton juniors have punched their ticket to the Norfolk Classic.

Kamden Dusatko, Abe Larson and Kolter Van Pelt all have qualified for Thursday's elite meet. The three juniors were erroneously left off of the original qualifying list but have since been added among the area's best.

Van Pelt is sitting fourth in the 1,600 while Dusatko enters the shot put with the sixth-best throw in the area. Larson will compete in the 3,200 with the 12th best time.

Thursday's event will begin at 4:15 p.m. in Norfolk. 

Sidney Mitchell of Stanton has qualified for the Norfolk Classic in both the Unified 100 and the Unified long jump.

​The Norfolk Classic will be on Thursday, April 29, beginning at 4:15 p.m. The Unified 100 will be at 5:40 p.m. The Unified long jump is lated to begin following the girls triple jump at around 6:30 p.m.

Stanton boys basketball player earned all-conference honors from the East Husker Conference. Parker Krusemark was named to the honorable mention team.

The full list of honorees is below.

First Team All-Conference: Dylan Beutler- BRLD, Lucas Vogt- BRLD, Jason Sjuts- HLHF, Blake Sindelar- Howells-Dodge, Jaxon Wietfeld- North Bend Central, Gunnar Ray- Oakland-Craig
Second Team All-Conference: Carter Hanel- Clarkson-Leigh, Jacob Sjuts- HLHF, RJ Bayer- Howells-Dodge, Jakwon Webb- Madison, Brodey Johnson- North Bend Central, Weston Graham- Twin River
Third Team All-Conference: Toriano Bohannon, Jr.- BRLD, Ethan Keller- HLHF, Kyler Hellbusch- North Bend Central, Brock Rogers- Tekamah-Herman, Miguel Perez- West Point-Beemer, Regan Bellar- Wisner-Pilger
Honorable Mention: Eli Hays- Clarkson-Leigh, Kyle Kasik- Clarkson-Leigh, Lance Brester- Howells-Dodge, Breckin Peters- North Bend Central, Coulter Thiele- Oakland-Craig, Jaxon Maise- Pender, Parker Krusemark- Stanton, Jed Hoover- Tekamah-Herman, Ross Hebda- Twin River, Jesus Barragan- West Point- Beemer, Keegan Doggett- West Point- Beemer, Beau Ruskamp- Wisner-Pilger 

Stanton girls basketball players earned all-conference honors from the East Husker Conference. Sylvia Cunningham and Savannah Seibrandt were named to the honorable mention team.

The full list of honorees is below.

First Team All-Conference: Caragan Tietz- BRLD, Addison Schneider- HLHF, Kaitlyn Emanuel- North Bend Central, Sydney Emanuel- North Bend Central, Ashley Ostrand- Pender, Sidney Swanson- West Point-Beemer
Second Team All-Conference: Jordan Snyder- BRLD, Chloe Hanel- Clarkson-Leigh, Cierra Kluthe- North Bend Central, Chaney Nelson- Oakland-Craig, Sadie Nelson- Oakland-Craig, Reece Snodgrass- West Point-Beemer
Third Team All-Conference: Alyssa Buchholz- BRLD, Cassidy Hoffman- Clarkson-Leigh, Kennedy Settje- Clarkson-Leigh, Paige Beller- HLHF Jaedyn Ratzlaff- Howells-Dodge, Zoey Lehmkuhl- Pender
Honorable Mention: Isabel Freemont- BRLD, Alissa Kasik- Clarkson-Leigh, Kayden Schumacher- Clarkson-Leigh, Lexi Frauendorfer- HLHF, Whitney Zessin- Madison, Caitlyn Heise- Pender, Sylvia Cunningham- Stanton, Savannah Siebrandt- Stanton, Maggie Sheets- Tekamah-Herman, Katie Paczosa- Twin River, Rachel Groth- West Point-Beemer, Jadyn Meiergerd- West Point-Beemer, Brooklyn Weddle- West Point-Beemer, Lindsey Kneifl- Wisner-Pilger

The momentum flipped to Stanton as magically as Abe Larson’s pass flew through the arms of the defense and into Brayan Acuna’s hands for the 3-pointer in a heart-stopping 48-47 win Friday.

Down 39-37 with 5:20 to play, the Mustang junior grabbed an offensive rebound, dribbled around the right corner before spotting Acuna open on the other side of the baseline. Larson heaved the dangerous pass through a battlefield of defenders and let his sharpshooter sink the a trey to take a one-point lead.

“It was a little bit of luck,” Larson said with a big smile when asked about his crazy pass. “I saw Brayan on the back side, and I just threw it up. I’m really proud of him. He’s really come a long way, especially for not having a varsity jersey at the beginning. He’s gotten a lot better.”

​While Larson and Acuna combined to win that  battle, the Mustangs didn’t claim the war until several more minutes and several more battles. As the teams matched each other point for point, junior Parker Krusemark was on fire, hitting back-to-back jumpers to keep the Mustangs alive.

Stanton was down 47-46 with 27 seconds left when the Mustangs pulled ahead for good. They stole the ball under their own hoop and watched Kam Dusatko lay it from the left side to take the lead and send the Mustang faithful to their feet.  The steal was textbook Mustang basketball as  Krusemark picked off the pass and flicked it to Adam Arens, who then tossed it to Abe Larson. The assist hero of the night then passed the ball behind his head to Dusatko for the easy lay up.

With 21 seconds still remaining, Tri County tried to force the ball inside on its next possession, but Mustang senior Brennan Wragge got a hand on the ball and forced it away from the Wolfpack. Dusatko pulled the ball inside and was fouled with 6.4 seconds to play. Dusatko missed the front end of the 1-and-1, giving the ball back to Tri County, who called a time out with 4.6 seconds left. The Wolfpack put up a hail Mary from half court and came up short to finally allow the Mustangs a chance to breath and celebrate their one-point victory.

“We had some trouble waking up in the first quarter, and that’s how we warmed up,”  Mustang coach Cole Beebe said. “We got our poop in a group and were able to show face on who we are as a basketball team.”

Larson led the Mustangs with 13 points, but he was quick to credit the rest of his team, especially Krusemark for finding him when he was open.

“It was Parker who got me most of my shots. He’s the main reason I scored,” Larson said. “I think this game is big for everyone, but especially Kam, who hit the game-winning layup, and Brayan, who scored a lot.”

Beebe said his team played really smart situational basketball and executed the game plan to shut down the Wolfpack’s key scorers. That, he said, gave the team confidence heading into Tuesday night’s subdistrict against Howells-Dodge.

“They know we can come back from a deficit and pull it off,” Beebe said. “They just have to be really focused and keep their head in the game.”

Stanton Boys
Stanton        9    10    15    14    —    48
Tri-County        10    17    6    14    —    47
Adam Arens 1p, 5p; Abe Larson 13p, 5r, 1s; Brennan Wragge 3p, 1r; Parker Krusemark 6p, 3r, 1s; Kam Dusatko 10p, 4r, 2s; Brayan Acuna 6p, 2r, 1s; Mason Bruggeman 6p, 3r; Owen Vogel 3p.

This past week was a rollercoaster ride for the Mustang wrestlers.

Both Damien Erickson and Sutton Pohlman competed at the 2021 Nebraska  State Wrestling Tournament at the CHI Health Center in Omaha where both wrestlers came just one match shy of medaling in their respective weight classes.

Erickson competed in the 138 weight where he picked up two wins. Erickson surprised the arena in the first round of the tournament by beating Colton Pouk from Garden County by pin in just the second period to send him to the quarterfinals.

During his second round matchup, Erickson took on one of the top-ranked wrestlers in Class D with Garrett Latimer from Southwest where he fell in the first period to send him to the consolation bracket.

In his first consolation bracket match, Erickson found himself in a tight match with Reece Jones from Sumner-Eddyville-Miller. Late in the third period Erickson held a one point lead over Jones and held onto it to take the match 3-2 to send him to the heartbreak round.

In Erickson’s heartbreak he took on Clinch Kiger from Overton. In the tight match, Erickson came up just short of getting a medal, falling 4-2.

“Damien came up two points short of getting a state medal and I couldn’t be happier with him,” head coach Randy Hansen said. “He has improved so much over the past year and you can tell that just by watching him wrestle. He has another year to try and get that state medal so we just have to keep working with him to try and get there.”

Pohlman competed in the 170 weight class where he also made the heartbreak round.

In his first round matchup, Pohlman competed against Slate Micheel from Twin Loup where he was able to pick up the win with a decision and move on into the quarter finals where faced returning state champion Alizae Mejia from Plainview.

During Pohlman’s matchup against Mejia, he was unable to grab the win and fell into the consolation bracket.

In his first consolation match he took on familiar foe Sam Vortherms from Creighton. All tied up heading into the last 10 seconds of the third period, neither wrestler could gain an advantage and sent the match into overtime.

After the first overtime and neither wrestler scored, Pohlman had to ride out Vortherms. He did just that, keeping him from gaining a point which sent it into a third overtime. Pohlman escaped from Vortherms with five second left and covered him for an extra two points to send him to the heartbreak round.

In his heartbreak match, Pohlman was unable to grab the win over Christian Leonard from Bayard, falling 13-5 to end the senior’s season.

“It was really heartbreaking to have Sutton end his career without a medal,” Hansen said. “He has been a tremendous leader on and off the mat this entire season and has really brought this team together as a family. He has been great to have in the wrestling room and we are really going to miss him next year and I want to wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors at Chadron.”

Erickson finished his season with a record of 30-15 while Pohlman ended his season with a record of 38-13.

D138 - Damien Erickson (30-15), Champ. Round 1 - won by fall over Colton Pouk (Perkins County) 22-9 (Fall 3:08), Quarterfinal - Lost to Garrett Latimer (Southwest) Fall 0:28), Cons. Round 2 - won by decision over Reece Jones (Sumner-Eddyville-Miller) 30-23 (Dec 3-2), Cons. Round 3 - Lost to Cinch Kiger (Overton) (Dec 4-2)
D170 - Sutton Pohlman (38-13), Champ. Round 1 - won by decision over Slate Micheel (Twin Loup) 42-13 (Dec 6-2), Quarterfinal - Lost to Alizae Mejia (Plainview) (Fall 3:35), Cons. Round 2 - won in tie breaker - 1 over Sam Vortherms (Creighton) 37-11 (TB-1 4-1), Cons. Round 3 - Lost to Christian Leonard (Bayard) (MD 13-5)

Stanton earned the fourth seed in the Class C2-6 girls basketball subdistrict.

The Mustangs (7-13) will take on No. 5 Madison (3-14) at 6 p.m. Monday in Clarkson. With a win, Stanton will move into the subdistrict semifinals to face top-seed Clarkson/Leigh (18-1) at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.  

Area students involved in fall extra-curricular activities have been recognized for their academic success.
The Nebraska School Activities Association announced student recipients of the Academic All-State awards on Thursday.
Stanton recipients are:

Boys Cross Country: Abraham Larson

Football: Jordan Gartner, Sutton Pohlman

Girls Golf: Shelby Jenkinson, Aryana Wurdinger

Play Production: Devyn Farrier, Bridgett Jensen

​Volleyball: Sylvia Cunningham, Bridgett Jensen