AURORA- Despite the cold weather, the Cozad wrestling team traveled east to participate in the Aurora Quadrangular Tuesday afternoon.

 The Haymakers proved feisty and eventually wound up taking second place overall.

 Cozad had eight of their varsity wrestlers reach the finals, where four would become champion.

 ”I think we are about right where I thought we were,” Hammerlun said. “We had some really good workouts over Christmas break, we knocked the rust off and we wrestled really well.”

 The first champion came at the 112-pound weight class, where Logan Hunke pinned Rondale Oliver of Omaha South at :48 seconds of the first period. Hunke continues his successful season, as he wins his second straight gold, after taking gold at the Sidney Invite on Dec. 19. With the win, Hunke improves his season record to 16-2 overall.

 At 125 pounds, Nick Cullers advanced through the bracket, taking down Mitchell Petzel of Boone Central by pin at 1:58 in the first period. Cullers would be unsuccessful in trying to obtain a gold, as he lost by tech fall to Dillon Denney of Aurora 16-1.

 Colton Derr has placed himself as one of the dark horses for Head coach Derek Hammerlun’s Makers this season. Derr faced off with Logan Kent of Aurora, where the two would battle the entire match, where Kent would come out on top 7-4 at 130 pounds.

 Kyle Carlson has missed a goal medal in the Cozad and Sidney Invites by the slimmest of margins. Tuesday Carlson would finally reach the top. Carlson advanced to his third straight finals appearance, winning by major decision over Antonio Zillafuerte of Omaha South 12-3 in the 135 pound weight class. Carlson took on Sam Wiarda of Aurora, where Carlson earned his first gold medal of the season, winning by an 11-5 decision. The gold medal now joins two silver medals that Carlson has received so far this season.

 Hammerlun might have found a diamond in the rough at 140 pounds as he saw another one of his wrestlers cruise to a gold medal.

 Derrick Kuasnicka reached the championship match after defeating Cody Maricke of Boone Central by pin at 3:49. Kuasnicka took on another Husky wrestler  in Logan Geiger. Kuasnicka wasted no time going to work, pinning the Aurora opponent in 1:30 in the first period to take the title in the 140 pound weight class.

 At 145, Bernardo Revelo has seen his shares of ups and downs this season. This meet was a step in the right direction. Bernardo became the third straight Cozad wrestler to reach the finals, after pinning Jesse Ortiz of Omaha South at :50 seconds in the first period, the second-highest of the meet. Revelo advanced to the finals, facing Andrew McDonald of Aurora. McDonald would Aurora’s fifth straight wrestler to reach the finals. Revelo came up short though, after he was pinned in :58 seconds by McDonald.

 The next weight class for Cozad to compete was at 189 lbs., where Tanner Sturgeon made his return after sitting out the Sidney Invite, and Sturgeon returned with a bang.

 Sturgeon took out Dan Janzen of Boone Central, pinning him in at 1:28 in the first period, advancing to the final. Sturgeon waited patiently, as Kevin Ousey of Aurora advanced to take on Sturgeon and try to derail him from the ranks of the unbeaten.

 Ousey couldn’t stop the train in its tracks.

 Sturgeon took home his second straight championship as he pinned Ousey at 3:14. Sturgeon remains undefeated on the season and looks to make a run at a state title this season. Sturgeon currently remains at the top spot in Class B at 189, also improving his record to 16-0 on the season.

 Daniel Shacon also advanced to the finals, as he pinned Jordan Hendrickson of Omaha South one minute into the final period. He took on Kyle McCarthy, another Aurora wrestler. McCarthy got the best of Shacon, pinning him at 3:40.

 Finally, junior Pedro Garcia moved on to another final, winning his first match at heavyweight, pinning Curtis Pribnow of Boone Central, at :38 seconds in the first period, the fastest pin of the meet. Garcia faced off with Garrett Johns of Aurora, where Garcia lost by decision 6-1.

 Cozad finished second overall in points, with 120 total. Aurora took the team title as they racked up 153.5 team points, including eight first-place finishers.

 The Haymaker wrestling team will travel to Kansas over the weekend to take part in the Norton Invite. The meet is set to start at 9:30 a.m.

• Cozad Haymakers
• Cozad Wrestling

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