Duda repeats as Champion
Despite a move up from Class C to Class B in 20202021, the Broken Bow wrestling team didn’t change anything about their schedule and preparation. This is because the Indians were already prepared for the transition with the tough Class A, B, and C competition they wrestle consistently.
“We wrestled well this year and that’s a testament to our kids and a testament to that work they put in,” BB Coach Ed Schaaf said. “We moved up in class, but we never changed our schedule, because we had already been wrestling Class A, B, and C competition.”
It showed throughout the season as the Indians compiled a dual record of 25-6 on the year. All six of those losses were to quality opponents in Class A State Champions Millard South, Class A Runner-Up North Platte, Class B Champion Gering, and Class C State Runner-Up David City Aquinas.
At districts, Broken Bow was thrown into a loaded competition field out in Gering. From that meet, they sent nine wrestlers to the Class B State Meet and finished with a District Runner-Up plaque.
The success from districts carried over to state where each Indian wrestler ended up winning at least one match, and they finished with four medalists. They were Cyrus Wells at 126 pounds, Connor Wells at 145 pounds, Lathan Duda at 195 pounds, and Sawyer Bumgarner at 285 pounds.
“We felt our preparation was good enough to get us up here,” Schaaf said. “We put ourselves in situations where we had tough matches and then when it comes to the state tournament they are not afraid to wrestle. You could kinda see that throughout the tournament where we had matches we weren’t supposed to win and we just found a way to come through. It’s a testament to what our wrestlers do and they work hard.”
Of those four wrestlers, Duda was the lone State Champion. It was his second straight title and he also capped off his second straight undefeated season.
Looking ahead to next year, Broken Bow loses Duda and Trey Garey and return their other seven state qualifiers. Congratulations Indians on another successful year of wrestling throughout the 2020-2021 campaign.