 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  Stanton has a deep bench and showed Friday that it isn’t afraid to keep fresh legs in the game. The Mustangs opened the season with a 71-29 loss on the road against Howells-Dodge. The Jaguars already had a game after falling to Class C1 Pierce 54-31 on Thursday. Mustang coach Cole Beebe, who is in his first year at the helm, said the depth will bode well for Stanton this year. “We were deeper on the bench than we have been in previous years, so we had more experience going in,” Beebe said. “I liked how the kids were working so well together.” View more photos from the game here.  Howells-Dodge jumped out to a 16-0 lead over Stanton before Owen Vogel dropped a 3-pointer to put the Mustangs on the board late in the first quarter. The Jaguars’ hot hand continued in the second half with a big 25-9 third quarter over Stanton.
Abe Larson and Parker Krusemark led the Mustangs with eight points each. Blake Sindelar put up a game-high 21 points for the Jaguars. Bebe said the Jaguars were more hungry for the win after their opening loss, but that means the Mustangs will have the same hunger Saturday as they look to bounce back. “I, as are the kids, am relieved to get the first game out of the way,” Bebbe said. “Now we can get back into the season and play Tekamah. We’re in the same position Howells was — we’re hungry for a win.” The Mustangs (0-1) will open at home on Saturday afternoon against Tekamah-Herman (1-0). Full stats and more comments will be in next week's Stanton Register. Purchase a subscription here. Stanton 3 9 9 7 — 28 Howells-Dodge 19 14 25 13 — 71 Stanton: Abe Larson 8, Parker Krusemark 8, Matt Reese 2, Joe Butterfield 5, Owen Vogel 5. Howells-Dodge: Lance Brester 5, Aiden Meyer 3, Jacob Tomack 14, Gavin Nelson 10, Brittin Sindelar 2, Colton Kloson 4. RJ Bayer 12, Blake Sindelar 21.  Just one game in and the Mustangs already are showing improvement on the court, according to Stanton coach Greg Wegner. After a tight first half, the Mustangs stumbled in the second half Thursday as they opened the girls basketball season on the road in Dodge. The Mustangs dropped a 64-32 decision to Howells-Dodge after hanging with the Jaguars 31-22 in the first half. “I thought we came out and played well in the first half,” Wegner said after the game. “We did a lot of good things in that first half, and I am impressed with how they played. I see a lot of improvement from last year.” View more photos from the game here.  Sylvia Cunningham hit double figures with 10 points to lead the Mustangs. Jaedyn Ratzlaff of Howells-Dodge dropped in 14 for the Jaguars. “We posted up better than we have in the past and had some good looks down low,” Wegner said. “Overall, I saw improvement. We just need to be more consistent in the second half. We can’t let halftime come out and bite us in the tail.” The Mustangs (0-1) will open at home on Saturday afternoon against Tekamah-Herman (1-0). Full stats and more comments will be in next week's Stanton Register. Purchase a subscription here. Stanton 12 10 2 8 — 32 Howells-Dodge 19 12 9 21 — 64 Stanton: Olivia Cunningham 3, Madison Wragge 3, Bridgett Jensen 5, Kinley Pohlman 4, Arynn Spence 1, Sylvia Cunningham 10. Howells-Dodge: Abbey Pieper 5, Morgan Gall 6, Cassie Pieper 3, Riley Pokorny 3, Janessa Schmidt 8, Brooklyn Macholan 6, Lilly Praest 4, Jaedyn Ratzlaff 14, Blair Fiala 8, Natalie Pieper 7.  After leading Stanton to an 8-2 record and the Class D1 quarterfinals, Stanton coach David Stoddard has been recognized with the Mike Behrens Coaching Award.
Huskerland Prep announced Stoddard as the Class D1 recipient of the award. The Mike Behrens Coaching Award was designated to recognize a coach’s ability to bring out the best in his team, creating a sense of overachievement. Coach Behrens was a coach at Omaha Roncalli in 2003 who despite having a roster of 20 in Class B reached the state finals with an undefeated record. We had a successful season in so many ways. We had so much support from families and the community of Stanton," Stoddard said. "Coaching awards are nice, but I'm more concerned about the kids. I'm proud of them." Read more from Stoddard on the award in this week's Stanton Register.  He only needed three yards, but Sutton Pohlman made it look easy Friday night as he sprinted 51 yards on his first carry, easily surpassing 1,000 yards rushing for the season. All smiles following the 56-14 win, the Mustang senior wasted little time shifting the credit to the linemen opening up the holes for him to fly through. “It’s our line. They’re amazing,” Pohlman said after the game. “We have so many great players, who are working their butts off every day. They don’t get the credit they deserve, and they make this team what it is. It’s not me, Parker (Krusemark) or any of the backs.” Pohlman finished the night with 110 yards rushing and now has 1,107 yards on the season, which puts the Mustang at No. 14 in eight man. He’s averaging 9.0 yards per carry and 123 yards per game this season. Pohlman said he’s excited to move onto the Class D1 quarterfinals, which is a first for the team since 2008. The Mustangs will travel to Dundy County Stratton on Friday. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m. central/ 2 p.m. mountain time. “We’re taking it one game at a time,” he said. “We’re going to keep pounding and working hard and see what this team can do.”  Two upsets Thursday wreaked havoc on Stanton's bid for a second-straight home game. The No. 5 Mustangs will now travel to No. 12 Arcadia-Loup City in Friday. The Mustangs dominated Exeter-Milligan/Friend 81-28 on Thursday night to advance to the second round, which has been reseeded statewide with the top 16 teams. Arcadia-Loup City was a minor upset with a No. 9 beating No. 8 Amherst 70-23. The other upset that disrupted Stanton hosting was No. 11 Laurel-Concord/Coleridge topping No. 6 Thayer Central 76-46. The kickoff time for Friday's game at Arcadia-Loup City has not been set.   The Stanton football team has earned the third seed in the Class D1 bracket for football playoffs. The Mustangs (6-1) will host No. 14 Exeter-Milligan Friend (4-3) on Thursday, Oct. 22. The teams will be reseeded for the second round with the top 16 teams in the state. The eight highest seeds will host second-round games.  |
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