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Six was good Friday night for Grand Island, five was great for Omaha Skutt.

But four is the number Ron Coleman wants Saturday.

Grand Island and Skutt virtually wrapped up their state wrestling title defenses with strong work in the semifinals before 10,199 at Qwest Center Omaha, where the finals begin at 1:30 Saturday.

Grand Island had 10 in the semifinals. But the Islanders' .600 batting average could have been even better.

“It didn't go quite as well as we would have liked,'' Islanders coach Mike Schadwinkel said. “We lost some tough ones.''

Skutt had six in the semifinals, and the SkyHawks won their first five before 285-pounder Jake Hasz lost. With 133 points and 43-point lead over second-place Boys Town, it was enough to put them in control of a 13th consecutive state title that would tie for the fifth-longest all-time nationally in high school wrestling.

“An unbelievable night. That's what we were looking for,'' Skutt coach Brad Hildebrandt said.

Coleman moved one step closer to being the state's 16th four-time champion, and the first from Omaha North, without wrestling in the Class A 285-pound semifinals. Grand Island's Cory Frankenberg, injured in a match against Coleman this season, elected to take an injury default, Schadwinkel said, “to not risk further injury.”

“Ron is a heckuva wrestler,'' the Grand Island coach said.

Madison went ahead of first-day leader Mitchell in Class C. Amherst retained the lead in Class D as it looks for its first state title since 2006.

Grand Island's finalists are Andrew Riedy at 119, Blake Fruchtl at 125, Carlos Rodriguez Bueno at 130, Matthew Rice at 135, Alan Taylor at 189 and Nate Westerby at 215. Riedy, a sophomore, won at 103 last year and Taylor was in the 189 final.

Schadwinkel said the close losses included Treyston Trujillo's 2-0 setback to Kearney freshman James Bamford at 103 and Coleman Westerby's 5-3 loss to defending 171 champion Cody Hobbs of Omaha Creighton Prep.

“We had beaten him both times they wrestled,'' Schadwinkel said. “He's a defending champion, so he's tough, but it is tough to stomach after those earlier wins. We had opportunities to score against Bamford.''

Skutt's finalists are three returning champions — Thomas Gilman at 112, Andy Hollins at 140 and Christian Loges at 145 — and the duo of Zane Sackett at 125 and Grant Randall at 152. Randall pinned once-beaten Jake Johnson of Adams Central late in the third period.

“We got seven guys to place,'' Hildebrandt said. “If you weren't placing down here, you at least had to score points. That's what we were looking for and that's what we got.''

Madison, which is vying for its second C title in three years, has four in the finals: Josh Eisenman at 135, brothers Kyle and Kurt Ruh at 140 and 152, respectively, and Isiah Williams at 215.

“We had a great day,'' Dragons coach Ken Loosvelt said. “We didn't win them all, but our kids came through. It's going to be a battle for sure. It's going to be a battle tomorrow afternoon, but we've put ourselves in a pretty good position.”

Mitchell also has three finalists. They are undefeateds Keagon Blanco at 112 and Jordan Debus at 189, and 43-3 Willie Schwartzkopf at 171.

Amherst stayed ahead of Plainview, which dropped into Class D this season, with two semifinal winners. Returning champion Justin Taubenheim won at 119 and Bryce Dibbern at 152.

“The night ended like we wanted it to,'' Amherst coach Tyler Herman said. “We knew we needed to get a bunch of guys through in that wrestleback round. We got four of the guys in for a medal tomorrow and two of our guys punched into the finals. Those are big points.

“We were close at 140, lost 4-2 (Wyatt Schake against winner Joe Brown of Oakland-Craig), a match we thought we should've won. I think that would've put away the team race. Now we're up by 10, and we need those guys wrestling tomorrow morning in the wrestlebacks to finish the job for us.”

Contact the writer:

444-1041, stu.pospisil@owh.com

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