The St. Paul Wildcats may not be the most popular choice when it comes predicting who will pace the Class C field at the 2024 NSAA State Wrestling Championships, but with the start of the state tournament just hours away, anything is possible.

In fact, for the Wildcats, who won the NSAA Class C State Dual Championship two weeks ago as the seventh seed in the tournament, pre-meet prognostication means nothing at all.

When St. Paul’s nine state qualifiers hit the mats at the CHI Health Center in Omaha on Thursday morning, their goal will be the same as that of the other fifty-five teams that will be represented in the Class C field: to bring home a state title.

“I hope so,” said St. Paul Head Wrestling Coach Connor Bolling when asked earlier this week about whether he believes his team will be in state title contention in Omaha. “I think the kids have big goals for themselves.”

Since November, Coach Bolling has stressed his team’s goal of hanging two banners by season’s end. The Wildcats’ championship at the NSAA State Dual Wrestling Championships earlier this month accomplished the first half of that goal; however, even in the wake of the Wildcats bringing home a district title from the District C-2 tournament last Saturday, St. Paul’s head coach sidestepped making any predictions about the possibility of his team winning a title at the state meet.

“I am not going to say, ‘We’re going to be in the title picture,’ ‘We’re not going to be in the title picture,’” Bolling said, “but I think we’re going to give it a go.

“I believe our kids are going to be right in the mix.”

Broken Bow has emerged as a favorite to finish atop the Class C leaderboard, with the Nebraska Scholastic Wrestling Coaches Association also hinting that teams from O’Neill and Battle Creek could buoy the Class C team race.

Coach Bolling said that no matter the chatter concerning how the tournament may shake out, only one thing should be top of mind for the nine Wildcats who qualified for this week’s state meet.

“I believe in [the wrestlers] and they believe in themselves, and I think that’s what matters,” he said.