Class D Preseason Rankings

Tournament Team Rankings

1. Burwell
2. Mullen
3. Archbishop Bergan
4. Elkhorn Valley
5. Plainview
6. Amherst
7. Neligh-Oakdale
8. Palmer
9. Morrill
10. North Central

Contenders

Clearwater/Orchard

Central Valley

High Plains

Tri County

 

1. Burwell

RM – Tate Phillipps (5^th), Joel Ostrom (3^rd), Bode Jensen (2^nd), Corey Dawe (5^th)

SQ – Colten Dawe, Coy Gideon, Jace Ostrom

Burwell looks to be the favorite to repeat as 3-time State Champions with a lot of athleticism and state medal potential. Upon first look, they will have to qualify as many as they can out of one of the potentially toughest districts I’ve seen in D in order to hold off some other challengers.

2. Mullen

RM – Teven Marshall (4^th), Bradey Gracey (6^th), Jade Lovitt (5^th), Ty Kvanvig (6^th), Clayton Hassett (5^th)

SQ – Zachary Sweet, Josh Cox

Biggest threat to challenge looks like Mullen. Quality depth throughout the whole line-up and a lot of recent success in the Fall season as well could carry over. Should qualify a lot of their roster and will need those extra scorers at state to keep pace with Burwell.

3. Archbishop Bergan

RM – Zach Hamilton (1^st)

SQ – Jacob Johnson, Ethan Villwok, Peyton Cone, Eli Simonson

Archbishop Bergan has a favorable district in D3 as hosts and could potentially qualify a lot of weapons to get them extra points down in Omaha.

4. Elkhorn Valley

RM – Josh McFarland (1^st),

SQ – Hunter Bennett, Adam Miller, Brock Schaecher, Shawn Klientobe

Elkhorn Valley has a lot of wrestlers with valuable state tournament experience. Will meet Burwell, Plainview, and Neligh-Oakdale in the very competitive D1 district.

5. Plainview

RM – Eli Lanham (4^th), Nate Christensen (2^nd)

SQ – Collin Gale

Plainview always brings a tough, aggressive style of wrestling to tournaments. They have a strong youth movement coming up and will look to them to help get extra points in Omaha.

6. Amherst

RM – Isaiah Shields (4^th)

SQ – Sam Florell, Drew Bogard

Amherst is similar to Plainview in a lot of ways. Quality wrestlers throughout the line-up and a strong youth movement will help them to be the favorite in D2. Could qualify several more wrestlers to help them as well.

7. Neligh-Oakdale

RM – Brock Kester (5^th), Andrew Herley (4^th)

SQ – Cameron Wilkinson, Caleb Payne, Kaleb Pofahl

N-O could make a nice run with the returners they have coming back this year. They will need to wrestle well in the D1 district to make it happen.

8. Palmer

RM – Ruger Reimers (3^rd)

SQ – Garett Jensen, Justin Kuta

Palmer is a team that could also make some noise at the state tournament this year. With the depth they have and they will be right in the running to compete with Bergan for the D2 district.

9. Morrill

RM – Tyler Nagel (2^nd), Austin Garcia (1^st)

SQ – Nathaniel Murillo, Holden Schleve

Morrill will rely on their two returning, big point scorers from last season. Without a lot of depth in the line-up, they will need last year’s qualifiers and maybe a few others to wrestle well in order break into the top 5.

10. North Central

RM – James Polen (5^th)

SQ – Thomas Klemesrud, Zak Palmer, Jared Shaw, Trace Ebert

North Central was a very young team last season and returns almost everyone. Lots of potential for this team if they can compete well against Amherst and others at the D2 district.

Dual Team Rankings

1. Burwell
2. Archbishop Bergan
3. Mullen
4. Elkhorn Valley
5. Neligh-Oakdale
6. Plainview
7. Amherst
8. High Plains
9. Clearwater/Orchard
10. Tri County

In order to qualify for the State Duals this season, they are no longer using the 4 district champions and 4 wild cards format. The duals date has changed to the Saturday before the district tournaments so they won’t factor in anymore. The qualifying method for the duals are through a wildcard system that is now based on regular season dual results. Each team must wrestle at least six duals to be eligible for the tournament. Teams also have to be able to fill at least 10 weights. With this new system, regular season duals are much more impactful. These preseason dual ratings are my best guess at who will be successful with fuller line-ups and out of class dual bonuses. All these teams should fill at least to 10 weights. Teams like Burwell, Archbishop Bergan, and Mullen all have excellent depth. Will be fun to see the dual results each week and follow the new wild card format. Good luck to all Class D wrestlers and coaches! Excited to get the wrestling season going, best time of year!