Creighton Prep and Pierce Win First State Dual Titles; Skutt and Burwell Go Back-to-Back
By Dru Kastler – For the Nebraska School Activities Association
The 2026 NSAA state wrestling duals were contested on Saturday, February 7th at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds.
Creighton Prep (Class A) won after opting out of last season’s event. Pierce (Class C) broke through for their first state title in school history in their fourth trip to Kearney. Omaha Skutt (Class B) won their fourth consecutive title and tied Millard South for most championships all time with eight. Burwell (Class D) won their second straight and third in school history.
Here is a full recap of Saturday’s event.
Class A: Creighton Prep leaves little doubt with a dominant performance for first State Dual title
The Junior Jays of Creighton Prep had a record breaking team performance at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds on Saturday. The team lost only eight matches out of 42 total and never lost more than three in a dual on their way to the Class A state title.
After opting out of state duals last season Creighton Prep head coach Andrew Fisher praised the atmosphere at the event.
“There’s something about a dual tournament at the highest level like this, and something about doing it together as a team,” he said.
Prep wrestled a schedule littered with national opponents, and the Jays were banged up at times throughout the season. They had several out of state duals against nationally ranked teams. But, Fisher mentioned his team is healthy at the right time.
“We’re really grateful for the opportunity to be out here as healthy as we’ve been all year,” he added “It means a lot to see these guys go out here and compete today while putting up a lot of points.”
Their path to the championship dual pitted them against Metro Conference foe Omaha Bryan in the opening round which they won 62-12. In the semifinals they had top-seeded and unbeaten Grand Island. The Jays rolled in that one as well, handing the Islanders their first loss of the season with a 58-13 victory.
In the final dual, Prep dropped the opening match before winning ten in a row, over second-seeded Kearney for a 56-16 championship match win, capping a truly incredible performance by the consensus top team in the state.
“It’s a murderers row from top to bottom, and that’s just a testament to how hard they work,” Fisher said of his lineup. “Once one guy gets it going, the next guy has to up him, They love to compete, and I love seeing it.”
The hometown Bearcats finished in second after two hard fought wins to make the finals. In the opening round they had an exciting win over Papillion-LaVista that was kickstarted by an upset win from Kade Abbey at 165.
The Bearcats’ semifinal dual against Lincoln East might have been the most exciting dual of the entire day. With Kearney down 27-26 to the Spartans, Dylan Johnson (285) needed to avenge a loss from earlier in the season to send the Bearcats to the finals. He was trailing 1-0 heading into the third period, before getting an escape and a lateral drop throw to secure the pin. The hometown crowd went wild and Kearney made their first championship dual since 2018.
Grand Island bounced back from their loss to Creighton Prep with a 35-28 dual win over Lincoln East to earn third place. It came down to the last match with Riley Pedersen (106) getting the fall to clinch it. All three of Lincoln East’s duals on Saturday came down to the last match, winning the opener against Columbus and dropping the other two to Lincoln East and Grand Island.
Class B: Skyhawks roll, win fourth straight title
The Omaha Skutt Skyhawks have been the benchmark in Class B for the better part of the last three decades. On Saturday in Kearney, they put on a dominant performance to win their fourth straight state dual title, and an all-class record tying eighth total.
Skutt won their three duals all by relatively similar scores. In the first round, they topped Waverly, 56-17. It was their fourth straight season they have wrestled Waverly at the state dual tournament. In the semifinals they defeated Syracuse, 55-21.
The Class B championship match came down to Omaha Skutt and Bennington for the second straight season. Skutt won the first three matches, but Bennington made things interesting by winning the next three to get within one. That’s when Omaha Skutt’s string of five straight top-ranked wrestlers from 150-190 (Ben Ziola, Isaac Christo, Tyler Harrill, Niko Rotella and Riley Johnson) did their part and clinched the dual with either pins or technical falls to give the Skyhawks an insurmountable lead and eventually a 50-25 victory.
Skyhawk Coach Chas DeVetter praised the leadership of the upperclassmen on the team.
“We just have an awesome group. We have such great leadership,” he said. “A lot of seniors who have been here a long time, they got their fourth state dual title.
“Those guys are pushing everybody and they know what it takes to get there and to be successful.”
Bennington made their fourth Class B Championship final with two hard fought victories over Beatrice (42-27) and York (40-28). The dual against York came down to the last match, with freshman Mason Mostek (285) getting a big pin to send the Badgers to the finals.
York would recover from the semifinal loss to Bennington and go on to secure third place with a 40-26 win over Syracuse, which marked back-to-back third place finishes for the Dukes.
Class C: After thrilling semifinal, Pierce finally on top
The Pierce Bluejays won their first state dual championship in school history on Saturday.
Coming in as the top seed, expectations were high for Pierce to get it done this season and improve upon their previous school best runner-up finish in 2020.
The Bluejays opening round 53-17 win over Gibbon, who made their first dual tournament in 11 years, set up a classic semifinal matchup between rival and reigning Class C dual champion Battle Creek.
Just 17 miles separate Pierce and Battle Creek. They dualed during the season, and are in the same conference. They are familiar, they are friendly rivals, that is until the first whistle blows.
Battle Creek opened the dual up with a forfeit win at 106, but Pierce picked up some huge wins early in the dual that started at 113.
Andrik Sorrells was trailing 8-1 in his match, but was able to get a takedown and fall to flip the script early in Pierce’s favor. In the very next match at 120, Kolten Wragge won a season rubber match against the Braves that put Pierce in control.
After some close wins, and a few late pins, the Bluejays clinched their spot in the finals with a 37-29 victory.
Before the championship dual, coach Legate told his team to “leave a legacy,” and they did just that. The championship dual saw Pierce win five out of the first six matches, setting the tone early and never looking back on their way to a decisive 55-21 win over Central City.
After a decade at the helm, Coach Legate mentioned the kids and the support they receive to help make something like a state championship possible.
“They mean a lot. A lot of those guys I’ve had since they were young in youth wrestling. I love those guys, they work hard, they’re great leaders and just good people overall.” Legate said. “Our parents and administration have been very supportive. When everything aligns, you can do good things.”
Central City made the finals as the seventh seed in Class C. They got hot in the opening round against No. 2 St. Paul, winning eight of the first ten matches en route to a 58-23 win in what was looking like it would be a much closer dual. They made the finals by knocking off returning runner-up David City in the semifinals 48-29.
Battle Creek would go on to beat David City in an exciting third place dual. Tied at 33 with two bouts left, the Braves secured pins from Connor Heiderman and Kael Stusse to win 45-33.
Class D: Burwell goes back-to-back with three comeback wins
Top-seeded Burwell defended their Class D State Dual Championship on Saturday at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds, but it wasn’t easy. The team had to fight for each win.
And, the Longhorns found themselves trailing after five or more matches in every dual on their way to the title.
In the opening round against Ravenna, they trailed 18-12 after five matches, but went on to win eight of the last nine for a 57-21 victory.
In the semifinals against a very good Plainview team things were magnified even further. After five matches the scoreboard read 25-0 in favor of the Pirates. Once again, the Longhorns doubled down and won eight of the final nine matches to advance 44-31.
The championship dual against Aquinas was a repeat of the 2025 state semifinals won 37-33 by Burwell. Aquinas jumped out to a 21-12 lead at the halfway point of the dual. In familiar territory at this point, the Longhorns rallied with five straight pins and an eventual 42-33 championship victory.
Burwell head coach Evan Gideon knew they’d have to battle some adversity on Saturday.
“We knew we were going to have to weather the storm right off the bat, and find a way to not give up some bonus points,” he said. “
But, you can definitely tell momentum drives these boys and they thrive off of it, and it showed today.”
Aquinas survived a small but mighty Central Valley team with a 42-38 opening round win. In the semifinals they defeated Shelby-Rising City 48-35 on the strength of seven straight wins to start the dual.
Plainview would defeat Shelby-Rising City in the third place dual in a 40-39 thriller.
Dru Kastler was a two-time state champion wrestler for Ord High School in 2004 and 2005. He was part of a group that founded NEWrestle in 2016. It has since become Nebraska’s most in-depth source for wrestling coverage in the state.
Editor Tony Chapman is a freelance writer based in Grand Island. He has written for multiple Nebraska daily and weekly newspapers. His weekly Harvest Sports Newsletter covers a wide variety of Nebraska prep sports.