Stephanie Croston

    The Seward wrestling team finished 10th in the District B-1 field and will send two wrestlers to the state tournament in Omaha Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 14 through 16.
     Mark Fiala continued his quest for a state title by winning the district title at 152 pounds. He pinned Troy Hinrichsen of Humboldt/Table Rock-Steinauer/Pawnee City in 39 seconds to start the tournament. He then defeated Joshua Walker of Crete 14-5 in the semifinals and shut out Nathan Kimball of Syracuse 10-0 in the finals.
     Fiala is currently 40-0 on the season and has 98 career wins, Coach Bob Core said.
     Caleb Krenk is Seward's other qualifier after recovering from a shoulder injury suffered earlier in the season. He opened the 112-pound bracket with a loss to Lucas Drevo of Crete by pin in 3:09. The match was Krenk's first of the season, Core said.
     In the consolation bracket, Krenk came back to defeat Dylan Betz, Nebraska City, 4-2 in overtime and Brandon Bodfield of Waverly 7-5 in the consolation semifinals. In the consolation finals, Krenk faced Drevo again and was able to pull out a 10-9 victory.
     Matt Fehlhafer and Garrett Adamek each advanced to the consolation semifinals but were unable to win those matches and earn places in the state field.
     Fehlhafer opened with a pin of Steven Francois of Nebraska City in 1:05 in the 135-pound bracket. He then defeated Ethan Shunkweiler of Crete 7-3 before being pinned by Darren Haynes of Auburn in 3:05. In the consolation semifinals, Fehlhafer lost to Nathan Cepuran of Falls City 7-0.
     "It was bad luck that he got stuck on that side of the bracket," Core said, adding that Fehlhafer wrestled well after recovering from knee surgery in January.
     At 140 pounds, Adamek opened with a loss to Keifer Coatney of Auburn, 7-6. He then defeated Lance Moyer, Nebraska City, 11-1 and Andrew Granatowicz, Norris, 19-4, before losing to Jerry Rhoden of Beatrice, 4-2 in the consolation semifinals.
     Sam Dierberger, seeded 10th at 145 pounds, pinned Chris Balding of Nebraska City, the No. 7 seed, in 1:15 to start his tournament, but was pinned by Jacob Manley, Syracuse, in 5:21 and by Cody Wendelin, Crete, in 3:15 to finish his day.
     Calen Storjohn, 125 pounds, and Matt Johnson, 189 pounds, were each 0-2 for the tournament.
     "We didn't win the close matches like we needed to," Core said.
    Upcoming action
     The state tournament will begin Thursday, Feb. 14, at the Qwest Center in Omaha. Krenk will meet Shane Cole of O'Neill in the opening round, and Fiala will wrestle Justin Shadle of Platteview.
     "I think both will do well," Core said. "We have some little things to work on. We'll see what happens."