Creighton Prep, Skutt Power Their Way to Team Titles; Battle Creek, Burwell Win Team Thrillers
By Dru Kastler – For the Nebraska School Activities Association
The 2025 NSAA State Wrestling Championships in Omaha came to a thrilling finish on Saturday evening with Battle Creek holding on to beat Minden for the Class C team title that came down to the final match of the tournament.
It was all part of a thrilling weekend that saw Omaha Creighton Prep win their first-ever state championship in Class A, while on the other side of the spectrum Class B dynasty Omaha Skutt won their 22nd. Burwell survived a very tight team race in Class D that was not decided until Saturday’s finals.
Individually, Bennington’s Kyler Laurisden (157) and Omaha North’s Tyson Terry (285) became four-time champions, with Terry – a Nebraska football recruit – ending his high school career unbeaten.
Class A: Prep Dynasty Begins; Omaha North’s Tyson Terry Finishes Career Unbeaten at 285
Creighton Prep left no doubt when the dust settled on Saturday as the Junior Jays claimed the Class A state championship by 81 points over runner-up Lincoln East.
Head Coach Andrew Fisher was thrilled with his team’s efforts.
“I feel like we really peaked at the right time this weekend,” Fisher said.
All 13 of their qualifiers won a match, and 12 of them brought home a state medal. Prep had finalists in half of the weight classes (seven) and brought home four gold medals out of the 14 weights. The Jays champions were Cruzer Dominguez (106), Cole Caniglia (113), JT Smith (175) and Adonis Bonar II (190).
“Being able to see Cruzer, Cole, JT and Adonis get titles was amazing.” Fisher said, “Myles, Kam and Roberto wrestled great and had tough finals matches. They will be hungry to get back there and get it done.”
“The guys battling back on the backside like Bodi, Joe, Kieran, Kobi and Mike made a huge difference and showed some character.”
This may just the beginning as the Junior Jays return 12 of their 13 state qualifiers, losing only two-time champ Bonar to graduation. Many of the Creighton Prep wrestlers compete year round, and coach Fisher knows they’re going to stay at it, and even add some new events to their in-season schedule for 2025-26.
“Out of the 13 qualifiers, only graduating Adonis is crazy to think about, with how well we did this weekend,” Fisher said. “There will definitely be offseason improvements made and adjustments to the schedule to continue to push these guys to get better.”
Lincoln East followed up their state dual title with a runner-up trophy in Omaha. They had four state finalists and five additional medalists and are set up well to be the primary challenger to Creighton Prep next season.
Columbus outlasted Grand Island by seven points for the third place spot, capping a great weekend for the Discoverers.
Class A Notebook
Terry completes an unbeaten career at 285
Tyson Terry finished his high school career 169-0 with a pin in the state finals. He survived a semifinal scare Friday night, with an overtime victory. Saturday he left little doubt, building a 6-0 lead over Prep’s Roberto Macias-Sidzyik before getting the fall.
He is the first person ever in Nebraska wrestling history to win a state title at the heaviest weight class every year and owns the Class A consecutive win record (previous was 142). He also revealed after that he wrestled this season with a torn ACL he suffered during the football season. Terry left his shoes on the mat after his match, indicating that he intends to end his wrestling career as he heads to Nebraska to play football for the Cornhuskers.
Glynn wins third gold medal to cap high school career
Logan Glynn won his third gold medal on Saturday. He had a dominant win by technical fall in the finals. Glynn will be wrestling collegiately in NCAA Division 1 for Northern Colorado.
Unle, Meink, Petersen, Bonar and Palmer win their second golds
Abdi Unle (Omaha Bryan), Bonar II (Creighton Prep) and Tony Palmer (South Sioux City) each won their second gold medals to cap their high school wrestling careers. Kiernan Meink (Millard South) and Mason Petersen (Columbus) will each be back next season for a chance at their third state titles.
Dominguez cruises to gold as a freshman
Cruzer Dominguez had two first period pins, and two first period techs to dominate his way to a state title his freshman. He’s now the next possible four-time champion from Class A, as no one from the sophomore or junior classes are in the running.
Class B: Omaha Skutt wins 22nd State Team Championship, Lauridsen fourth gold
The Omaha Skutt Skyhawks crowned five state champions on Saturday and finished the Class B meet with eight total state placers. This is the 22nd team title for Skutt to go with their seven state dual titles. It hasn’t been easy for Skutt after their reign that lasted through 2018, winning 20 out of 21 years. From 2019 through 2024 six different teams won, with Skutt winning in 2023.
Skutt was favored last season, but finished just behind eventual champion Waverly.
Coach Chas DeVetter was thrilled with the effort of his team.
“I’m just so proud of our guys. Just the fight,” DeVetter said. “Every single guy from the guys that won a match, to the guys that just dominated, everybody fought and everybody showed a lot of toughness and grit and I’m just so proud of the guys.”
Coach DeVetter had high praise for his five state champions Cole Welte, Ben Ziola, Tyler Harrill, Riley Johnson and Cade Ziola. But was also quick to credit the rest of his team.
“From the first whistle they were getting after it, scrappin’,” the coach said. “All the way until the last whistle. I think they did a great job of taking it one match at a time, and not looking ahead. Niko and Isaac just battled in the finals and I’m just so incredibly proud of all of the guys.”
Heading into the state tournament, it did look like a race for second. The question was, who would it be between Waverly, Bennington and York? The Vikings of Waverly were able to follow up last year’s state title with a runner-up finish, outlasting Bennington, who were nine points behind, and York who were 16 points behind.
Coach DeVetter was proud that the team let it fly this weekend.
“The cool thing is, I think our guys put on a show and made wrestling exciting and enjoyable for the fans. It’s a joy to watch those guys compete.”
Class B Notebook
Lauridsen wins again; joins brother Kael to become the first brother duo to win four titles
Bennington’s Kyler Lauridsen finished off his high school career with his fourth gold medal. The future Nebraska-Kearney footballer joined the elite ranks of four-time champions Nebraska wrestling history. Kyler was the 37th four-time champion, after his brother Kael accomplished that feat in 2023 to become the 36th. Their names will forever go in the record book next to each other as four-timers, as well as becoming the first brothers to accomplish the feat.
Ziola, Harrill win third titles for Omaha Skutt
Cade Ziola and Tyler Harrill both won their third gold medals on Saturday.
Ziola is likely the most decorated wrestler nationally to ever come out of Nebraska. He ends his career as a four-time finalist and three-time champ. He beat every wrestler by technical fall in 1:18 or less. He was on the mat for less than four minutes total throughout the duration of the tournament.
Harill had three technical falls leading up to the finals, where he collected a first period pin. Harrill will be going for his fourth gold next season.
Two Time Champs: Ziola, Loges, Canoyer, Johnson, Andreasen
Five wrestlers earned their second state titles on Saturday. Ben Ziola (126) is on track for four after winning yet another as a sophomore. Riley Johnson (165) has a chance to become a three timer. Hudson Loges (138) won a second state title after missing last season with an injury recording two techs and two pins. Joe Andreasen (190) won his second gold after overcoming a shoulder injury. Brayden Canoyer (144) ripped through his bracket with two technical falls and two pins.
Two freshmen champions
Ace Schweitzer (106) of Central City and Coy Childers (113) of Alliance are both freshmen state champs. Childers avenged a district loss in the finals and Schweitzer emerged the champ of 106.
Class C: Battle Creek Edges Minden, Cedar Catholic for the Team Title
It came down to the last match of the state tournament, and the team title was out of the hands of Battle Creek. Their two finalists Ryan Stusse, Jr and Ayden Wintz had both picked up pins. Minden’s Robert Nelson had already won a state title. Cedar Catholic had won two of their four finals matchups and were locked into third place, just 11.5 points behind Minden.
The final match of the day was a district rematch between Pierce’s Brenden Bolling and Minden’s 2024 champ Orrin Kuehn. Bolling got a late takedown to avenge a district loss and win the match. That victory sealed the team title for Battle Creek.
“I’m floating, yet, I think. These past two hours have been just crazy.” said Battle Creek head coach Cody Wintz. “We had our best two guys going in the finals and thought it was maybe out of reach, so we told them just go out and get your individual titles. Don’t worry about pins, points and all that.”
Perhaps fate was on Battle Creek’s side, as the pins they weren’t worried about came to fruition and that at least gave them a fighting chance.
“I’ve never had a pin in the finals with any of the champions that I’ve coached,” said coach Wintz. “Both of those matches just kinda fell our way and we got two pins that gave us an opportunity. And then to have a conference school – a ton of respect for Pierce and Bolling – he goes out and gets the job done against the Minden wrestler.”
It wasn’t just Wintz and Stusse getting the job done in the finals.
“Our guys made it happen today,” coach Wintz added. “Brek Thompson’s coming back after a defeat in the quarterfinals, getting a bunch of pins this morning. That’s awesome, when you see the hearts of kids like that.”
Battle Creek finished just one point ahead of Minden in what at one point seemed like a done deal for the Braves. A well-deserved tip of the cap to both Minden and Cedar Catholic for making this Class C team championship one of the better team race’s in recent memory.
Class C Notebook
Bailey wins third gold
Quinn Bailey of Chadron put up 81 points in four matches, which was one higher than Cade Ziola among finalists from all four classes. He won by technical fall over all four opponents and ended his career as a four-time medalist and three-time state champion.
Ornelas continues unbeaten career with third gold
Wilber-Clatonia’s Zaiyahn Ornelas remained unbeaten for his high school career, capturing the Class C state title at 120. He went unscored upon throughout the duration of the state tournament, winning by a collective score of 75-0 over all four opponents.
Multiple Golds
Three seniors ended their careers as two-time champs. Ayden Wintz and Ryan Stusse, Jr. capped remarkable careers and helped Battle Creek bring home the team title. Cal Wells of Broken Bow made his third trip to the finals to capture his second gold.
Class D: Burwell pulls away from Central Valley and Shelby-Rising City to win Class D
Heading into state it was well known that the team title was up for grabs. Burwell went out and earned that trophy over the three-day grind of state wrestling. Not only would the multiple-time defending champs Aquinas not go away easily, but there were several other teams including Central Valley, Shelby-Rising City and Plainview that were in the mix to bring home the trophy.
Coach Luke Gideon realized what was needed out of his team.
“This performance from our kids the last three days, we didn’t have a lot of hiccups and we just did everything right,” Gideon said. “The bottom line is we tell our kids, you gotta show up and they totally showed up this week.”
Burwell crowned two state champions.
Brody Jensen earned his second title as a sophomore. He was heavily favored entering the tournament. Not so heavily favored was sophomore Drew Dawe, who won the title at 132. He was third at districts and had to beat the district champ from his district to win it.
Coach Gideon had high praise for his two sophomore state champs.
“Those two guys deserve everything they got this weekend, because I know how hard they work and more than anything just how good of kids they really are.”
With their state title in Omaha, Burwell tacked that onto their dual state title.
“The dual thing is tough in itself, but to get the kids down here that you need through an extremely tough district is difficult. We came down here and today (Saturday) on the day where you really have to show up, our guys only lost one match today,” said Coach Gideon.
Burwell finished 14 points ahead of Central Valley. Shelby-Rising City, Plainview and Aquinas were third through fifth in that order. Buckle up again next season as these teams all have some great returning talent and should be competing for the top spot again.
Class D Notebook
Coufal wins third gold
Kelby Coufal of Aquinas had three technical falls and a pin to capture his third gold. He only surrendered a single escape point in the state finals on his way to winning 16-1.
Sophomores Jensen, Guzman win second golds
Brody Jensen of Burwell (113) and Uriel Guzman of Palmer (126) both won their second state titles on Saturday. Both wrestlers did not give up a single offensive point.
Freshmen Champions: Stewart, Nekoliczak, Troxel
A trio of freshmen in Class D brought home gold medals. Adryck Stewart (106) of Plainview capped a perfect season at 43-0. Central Valley’s Lincoln Nekoliczak (120) had lost to three wrestlers in his bracket heading into state and finished ahead of all three en route to a state gold. Drake Troxel (144) of Southern defeated two seniors on his way to the gold to go 49-2 on his freshman season.
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.