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MAY 2001 HUSKERLAND NEWSLETTER UPDATE
Read our last Newsletter here

Huskerland Update From Craig Hellwege

Special congratulations to Craig Brester of Fremont and Josh Nelson of KWAA on being the first ever six time Champion of Champions.  This was the eighth year Champion of Champion matches have been conducted, thus just the third year that wrestlers were able win it six times.  Chris Dostal of Fremont just missed being the first six-time Champion of Champion two years ago when he lost in the Champion of Champion match.  Last year for the first time since 1992 we failed to have a six-time champion.  Craig and Josh became just the 13^th and 14^th wrestlers to become six time Huskerland State Meet champions.

The Champion of Champions match for brackets A13 & A 14 ended being extra special for me.  Matt Oliver of Auburn/Peru defeated A. J. Spanel of Norfolk.  Both their father’s are teachers and coaches.  Both their father’s wrestled for me.  Mark Oliver was my first state champion way back in 1979 when I was at Shelton.  Jim Spanel was a state meet qualifier for me at GICC in 1981.  I missed the match and only figured it out after talking with the two very proud dads.

The team champions saw three 2000 team champions repeat in 2001.  Fremont won Class A again for the fourth straight year.  Millard South dropped a class and won Class C.  Plattsmouth also dropped a class and won Class D.  Lincoln Wrestling Club won Class B for their first ever Huskerland team plaque.

The two day format was a big hit and plan to use it again next year.  The Omaha Central Holiday Inn Convention Center turned out to be great venue for our event and we will look at going back to it in the near future.  Other sites under consideration include the new Tri-City Arena at Kearney, Ag Park at Columbus, and the Sapp Field House at Omaha.  We are shooting for April 6-7, 2000 to have Huskerland 17 but will consider March 29-30 and April 13-14 to get a favorable facility.  We would like to get our numbers back to the 1750 wrestlers we drew at Kearney last year.  Our numbers went down to 1250 wrestlers making it the smallest Huskerland since 1987.

The Huskerland Duals III was a big hit for the teams that attended.  Almost all the teams wrestled four duals on seven mats in the brand new Tri-City Arena at Kearney on April 7^th.   Millard South won both Grades 3-5 and 6-8 in Class A.  Gothenburg won Grades   3-5 and Wilber won Grades 6-8 in Class B.  The arena is home to their hockey team, the Storm, and their football team, the Diesel.  Insulation sheathing and the football surface were placed over the ice and the glass was removed for the duals.  The facility can handle up to ten mats and has excellent seating for the fans.  We are looking to run the duals on March 17^th at a site that will handle eight mats.

We were forced to cancel the Huskerland Freestyle Classic after getting just 25 wrestlers to send entries.  I doubt if we will attempt to have to have it next year.  We might look at letting a Huskerland club host and run it if they want to buy the medals from us.   

We plan to use Camp Team to insure our State Meet and Dual Meet again next year.  The $300 club minimum has been eliminated.  That was the big drawback this year.  Next year wrestler’s and coach’s cards will both cost $5.  To insure your club, all your wrestlers and coaches must hold a current Camp Team card and pay a $25 club fee.  To insure your tournament, all wrestlers and coaches must hold a current Camp Team card and pay a $25 tournament fee.  We plan to require all wrestlers and coaches to hold a current card for both the 2002 State Meet and 2002 Dual Meet.

We are planning a board meeting in June.  Hopefully dates and sites for 2002 Huskerland State Meet and Duals will be finalized then or soon there after.  The next mailing won’t be till December but we will use our web page to announce all updates till then.  Next up for me are the State Games at Waverly on July 21-22.  This event is run on six mats is always loaded with outstanding wrestlers from ages 7 to masters.  More information on Nebraska’s only four style wrestling event can be found at www.cornhuskerstategames.com .

Craig
craigh@huskerland.org 

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