The St. Paul Wildcats found themselves on a roller coaster during the first two rounds of the NSAA State Wrestling Championships on Thursday morning.

St. Paul, who qualified nine wrestlers for this year’s state meet, saw two competitors—seniors Bryson Thomsen and Ashton Meinecke—punch their tickets to Friday night’s semifinal round.

Thomsen earned his spot in the Friday night showcase with a second-period pin against Trevis Halsey of Elkhorn Valley in the quarterfinals at 165-pounds. Heading into the tournament, Halsey was rated third by the Nebraska Scholastic Wrestling Coaches Association (NSWCA); Thomsen was ranked fourth.

Earlier in the meet, the senior had pinned Alex Braniff of Tekamah-Herman in just over two minutes.

Meinecke also logged a pair of victories in the tournament’s opening rounds. The senior, who entered the tournament was the top-rated wrestler at 175 according to the NSWCA, pinned Trent McCain of Ord in the opening round and then erased a 5-4 deficit in the quarterfinals by pinning Kaiden Friz of Pierce.

St. Paul’s other three wrestlers in the quarterfinals all ended up falling to the backside of the bracket following losses.

At 106, Layne Baker lost a 2-1 decision to Jace Martin of Wood River. Alex Meinecke also was bested by a LouPlatte Conference foe, with the Wildcat losing to Bryce Kunz of Central City 7-5 in the first tie-breaker.

Cody Kuszak was pinned in the quarterfinals by Jackson Turner of Fillmore Central. The Panther, who is rated fourth at 190, took down Kuszak in the first minute of the match.

Baker, Alex Meinecke, and Kuszak will join Rylan Rasmussen, Derrick Ruzicka, Mason Majerus, and Ryder Anderson in Friday morning’s consolation rounds.

St. Paul finished the opening day of the tournament sitting in fourth place in the team race. The Wildcats, who benefited from a series of pins in the opening round, scored thirty-three points in the first two rounds of the tournament. Battle Creek is leading the field after the first day with fifty-two points. Amherst, who qualified four wrestlers for the meet and didn’t drop a single match on Thursday morning, is sitting in second place with thirty-seven points, while Broken Bow currently is in third place with thirty-five points.

Minden rounds out the top five with the Whippets scoring thirty-one points.