Alliance wrestlers Devin Ushio, DJ Weare, Walker Johnson, and Cameron Nagaki competed in the State Wrestling Tournament this past weekend.

After competing in the B-4 District Tournament in Cozad, the four wrestlers headed to state with a “go big or go home” mind set.

Senior Devin Ushio at 120 pounds, junior DJ Weare at 132 pounds, junior Walker Johnson at 138 pounds, and junior Cameron Nagaki at 170 pounds, wrestled for the Bulldogs.. The Bulldogs started off Thursday strong, with all four wrestlers gaining a win in the first round. Ushio pinned Peyton Brodrick of Adams Central in the second period. Weare won by decision (8-2) over Karson Sok of Grand Island Northwest. Johnson pinned Michael Curzon of Bennington in the second period, and Nagaki pinned Ty Johnson of Grand Island Northwest in the third period.

As the matches started Friday, the boys knew the second round would be one of the hardest rounds at the tournament. Devin won by decision (11-7) over Jake Cluxton of Bennington. DJ lost by decision (2-4) to Collin Weins of Beatrice. Walker was pinned in the third period by returning state champion at 138, Joseph Hayek of Seward. Cameron was pinned by undefeated Chance Helmick, a returning state champion of Beatrice, in the first period.

The consolation round brought hope and sadness for the Bulldogs. With DJ winning by decision (2-0) over Blake O’Connell of Bennington, and Walker winning by a tech fall over Wayne’s Michael Cliff (15-0). Cameron lost by decision (4-5) to Colton Spangler of Wahoo-Cedar Bluffs, eliminating him from the tournament.

Devin Ushio won in the semi-finals by major decision (19-8) over West Point- Beemer’s Hunter Schroeder.

Round three of consolations were just around the corner but Johnson and Weare came in prepared, but for Weare, the odds were not in his favor. Weare lost by decision (2-4) to Neil Damme of Syracuse. Johnson won by decision (1-0) over Nebraska City’s Darin Sornson.

In the fourth round consolation semi-final match, Walker Johnson lost to Clay Trejo of Cozad (4-1), sending him to the 5th and 6th place match.

With only two wrestlers left, the Bulldogs knew they needed to finish strong. With Walker Johnson going for 5^th and 6^th place, and Devin Ushio in the finals, the Bulldogs had high hopes for the outcome of the final matches for the tournament. Walker Johnson finished the tournament strong with a 5^th place finish over Michael Curzon of Bennington (5-2).

Senior Devin Ushio, wrestling at 120 pounds, was in the finals against Brian Peska of Omaha Skutt Catholic. Peska was the state champion at 106 pounds in 2013. After battling back and forth for a long time, the match came to a very intense ending, but sadly not in Alliance’s favor with Ushio losing 8-9.

Congratulations to all of the wrestlers who competed in the NSAA State Wrestling Championships this past weekend and an excellent season for Bulldog Wrestling.