NSWCA Class B Ratings-PreSeason

NSWCA Ratings
Class B-Preseason

NSWCA Class B Tournament Rankings

1. Beatrice
2. Gering
3. Broken Bow
4. Aurora
5. Bennington
6. Ralston
7. Blair
8. Pierce
9. Waverly
10. Ogallala

Beatrice claims the pre-season #1 spot based on its depth of quality wrestlers and potential state medalists. This ranking does include anticipating one of their injured wrestles will return by the end of the season. If not, the top teams are so close that if he does not return that could knock Beatrice down to at least 3^rd.

Gering returns a lot of top end points. Returning multiple state champions and finalists is great but they also cannot score many more points this year than last year. I still see them the favorite if Beatrice does not get healthy.

Broken Bow brings in a lot of state medals from class C and a couple class D transfers. Broken Bow has been in class B in the past, so they know what class B is like. They look the part of a top 2 or 3 team.

Aurora has a solid group of individuals. They have 3 potential state champions in their line up the way the weights are looking this time of year with who is returning where. There is not a lot of difference between the top 4 teams so it may come down to who stays healthy and has the best state tournament.

Bennington is young with only 2 seniors on the team. There is a lot of potential from some young inexperienced wrestlers and incoming freshmen. We know what their top 3 guys can do. How they finish will depend on the rest of the team develops.

Ralston has 4 returning state medalists from last year’s top 10 team. They have a couple other kids in the lineup that can help them finish higher this year.

Blair has had some great dual teams the past couple of years but outside of a couple studs they could not get enough state medalists to make noise in the individual state tournaments top 10. This year that looks to change. They have both a very good dual team and individual state team. Their biggest problem is too many studs in the lower weights that may not crack the lineup.

Pierce surprised class B last year in the state duals by finishing state runners-up but their youth could not come through at the individual tournament. I look for them to be even better this year as a team and fresh off a football state championship they will have confidence.

Waverly was decimated by injuries last year and if they stay healthy, they look to be very tough with 2 super studs leading the way, Evan Canoyer and Trevor Brown. Plus, they have some freshmen coming in that can help the team right away.

Ogallala comes in the #10 spot based on the strength of a couple tough kids in the lower weights and 2 in the middle weights. They may not have depth but do have guys that can score points at state.

Teams on the bubble are Hastings this is a surprise, but with the point system I use puts them just outside the top 10 mostly because of graduation and their returning studs fall into some tough weights, that may change as the season progresses. Skutt is another surprise given their history, but graduation hurt, however, they still have some tough kids and a lot will depend on the incoming freshmen. York, Northwest, Sidney, and Columbus Lakeview are all on the verge of a top 10 team. This goes to show how much parity there is in class B right now. One bad state tournament can take you from a top 5 team to out of the top 10 or the opposite, a great tournament can take an unranked team straight to the top of class B.

NSWCA Class B Dual Rankings

1. Bennington
2. Beatrice
3. Pierce
4. Gering
5. Broken Bow
6. Aurora
7. Hastings
8. Blair
9. Waverly
10. Platteview

Unfortunately, with the cancellation of the state duals this year these rankings will not have a chance to prove themselves out on the mat. Bennington starts out at #1 because of their high finish last year at the state duals and returning most of that firepower and replacing much of what they lost with young talented kids.

I felt last year Beatrice was one of the best teams to not qualify to the state dual tournament and with what they return plus a few add on’s they look like one of the top dual teams in class B this year. December 22^nd look for a potential #1 vs. #2 dual to determine bragging rights for the best dual team in the state as Beatrice travels to Bennington for a dual.

Pierce surprised everyone, but themselves, as they finish state runners-up in the state dual tournament. There is no surprising anyone this year. They may actually look even better this year. Too bad we do not have a state dual tournament to figure this out.

Gering has 7 or 8 studs and then it drops off a little from that. Those 7 or 8 studs will score a lot of team points in any dual that makes it tough to overcome.

Broken Bow has a lot of quality individuals and state medalists from last year in class C and D. Some question that if they can handle class B. I say they can and will.

Aurora has a solid team and really any team in at least the top 6 could potentially win the state dual tournament if they got hot that weekend. There is no team, in class B, that really stands out like Hastings did last year.

Speaking of Hastings don’t count them out. They are the returning state champions. Surprisingly they did not crack the top 10 individual team rankings partly because of graduations and partly because their best kids fall into some deep weight classes. They still are a very good dual team either way and will be tough.

Blair has become a top 10 dual team year after year and is back again. They have a solid line up and will continue to get better with their youth when they can get them all in the lineup.

Waverly is a team on the rise. We saw this coming a few years ago with their youth program making some noise. They are looking like a top 10 team this year with them returning just about their entire lineup from last year’s district tournament and adding a few studs.

Platteview finishes out the top 10 with their depth. They return 11 starters from the district tournament and 8 had winning records. They should be a year older and a year better.

Some teams on the bubble are Columbus Lakeview always has a solid lineup, Northwest returns a lot of starters so they will be a better dual team this year, Ralston is tough with their studs, Adams Central always has a solid dual team, and Nebraska City is another team you never count out with a lot of returners.