Class B Ratings-12/6/19

Class B Tournament Team Rankings

1. Omaha Skutt Catholic
2. Hastings
3. Gering
4. Arlington
5. Northwest
6. Beatrice
7. York
8. Bennington
9. Blair
10. Ralston

 

Omaha Skutt Catholic looks to regain the spot on top with the strength of their big point scorers. They could potentially put 5 wrestlers in the finals and come away with 3-5 State Champions.

 

Hastings is a very deep team returning 9 state qualifiers and picking up some quality additions this year in transfers and incoming freshman that could impact the team. Hastings will make it interesting and if Skutt slips up anywhere Hastings could win it all.

 

Gering returns some quality points but get a big boost from state medalist and state qualifier transfers from Alliance and Morrill.

 

Arlington may be the surprise of class B this year with them moving up from class C. Arlington will pick up a lot of points from their 3 best wrestlers who may all make the finals. They will also have a couple other wrestlers score some points for them.

 

Northwest coming off a state championship season is still loaded with top end talent. Their top 3 wrestlers should score a lot of points and if they can get help out of a couple other guys they can easily move up in the rankings.

 

Beatrice is another team with some top end talent. They may get 1 or 2 of their top wrestlers in the finals and with a little help from the others they should be a top 10 team.

 

York is a team with depth in 5 returning state qualifiers. A couple of those have the potential to finish in the top 3 which can boost their ranking.

 

Bennington is a young team with a mix of seniors ready to make the jump. They can make a big jump in the rankings if they can prove themselves.

 

Blair was the state dual champions last year but finished 15^th in the individual state tournament. That showed their depth and youth. Even though they lost their super stud from last year to graduation, they may actually be better this year in the individual tournament with some of those young guys maturing.

 

Ralston gets the nod for the 10^th spot based on their depth. They were also a young team last year and return 5 state qualifiers this year. With one more year of maturity they should make some noise at the state tournament.

 

I use a point system to rank the teams based on how their individuals are ranked 1^st through 12^th place. Waverly was actually tied with Ralston in points, but I gave Ralston the edge because they had one more ranked wrestler in my top 12 individual rankings. Wahoo, Ogallala, and Aurora also were extremely close to the top 10 and Central City was not far behind those teams. I can see any one of those teams jumping into the top 10 at some point of the season depending on the development of their kids or unexpected newcomers.

 

Class B Dual Team Rankings

1. Hastings
2. Omaha Skutt Catholic
3. Blair
4. Gering
5. Wahoo
6. Bennington
7. York
8. Northwest
9. Beatrice
10. Ralston

 

Hastings is by far the deepest team in class B as far as talent goes. In fact, it may be tough getting all of their studs into the lineup. In a dual, Skutt can do some damage with their studs but I believe Hastings would come out on top in the end with their depth.

 

Omaha Skutt Catholic has 7 studs that will be tough to beat. When you have 7 studs like that, and they are scoring bonus points it is tough to overcome in a dual. Their biggest problem may be the limited number of duals they compete in. With 4 duals and 1 dual tournament the maximum number of duals they can compete in is 9. With the point system the way it is now, if they have some illnesses or injuries that cost them a dual that they should have won that could keep them out of the state dual tournament.

 

Blair is the returning class B state dual champions and their team looks very similar to last year. They have a lot of depth. They can certainly give Skutt a good run for their money in a dual and may push Hastings.

 

Gering’s transfers really boosted their dual team by adding depth to their team. The top 3 teams will be tough to beat but Gering looks like a team that is next in line.

 

Wahoo has a lot of depth with 6 returning state qualifiers and another quality wrestler coming off an injury that cost him the season last year.

 

Bennington is a very young team but put a decent wrestler in just about every weight class. They may be a couple years away from challenging some of the top teams, but their seniors may have something to say about this year’s team.

 

York also has some depth with 5 returning qualifiers and 6 wrestlers ranked in my top 12.

 

Northwest has three studs and a few other very good wrestlers. I would not be surprised if they jump a couple of these teams in the rankings before the season is over.

 

Beatrice was a young team last year and all of their starters at Districts return but one. They wrestle Bennington the first dual of the season. By the time these rankings actually come out they may have settled who should be ranked higher.

 

Ralston again takes the 10^th spot based on their depth of their team with 5 returning qualifiers and 6 wrestlers ranked in my top 12.

 

A few other teams under consideration for the top 10 rankings are Arlington and Pierce. Both have 5 wrestlers ranked in the top 12. Aurora is another team getting consideration with 4 top 12 wrestlers. A lot will depend on the development of the rest of their teams.