Three Wildcats Still in the Hunt for Hardware

Three members of the St. Paul High School wrestling team are slated to represent the Wildcats during Friday night’s blood round of the NSAA State Wrestling Championships.

Kaleb Baker, Alex Meinecke, and Quade Peterson are all still in the running for medals, with Baker being the only member of the Wildcats’ team who still has a shot at earning the gold.

Baker, who enters Friday night’s semifinal round with a 32-10 record, will face off with Colton Kelley of Broken Bow in the semifinal round at 132-pounds. Kelley, who is sitting at 45-4 on the season, ended up winning a 5-4 victory over Baker in the semifinal round of the Broken Bow Invite during the first week of the 2022-2023 season.

Alex Meinecke won his lone consolation match on Friday afternoon. The freshman beat Dakota Baum of Broken Bow 6-5, bringing his mark this season to 46-6.

Peterson, who lost in the final seconds of his quarterfinal match on Thursday night, needed only twenty-three seconds to pin Crofton/Bloomfield’s Paxton Bartels in his first consolation match. Peterson enters Friday night’s third round of the consolation bracket with a 43-10 record.

Four members of the Wildcats’ team – Layne Baker, Derrick Ruzicka, Owen Sack, and Jack Kaslon – lost in the consolation rounds Friday afternoon and ended their seasons on the mats at the CHI Health Center.

The semifinal round of the tournament, which is billed as the best night in Nebraska high school sports, is scheduled to get underway at 6:30 p.m.

Stay with the Phonograph-Herald for complete coverage of the 2023 NSAA State Wrestling Championships.