NHSCA Nationals at Virginia Beach have concluded their semifinals portion for all four high school grade levels, and two nationally ranked Iowans have reached the finals of their respective weight classes.
#20 Brody Teske has made the finals in the freshman division at 106 pounds. The Fort Dodge wrestler opened tournament with back-to-back second period falls to put him within five wins of his first NHSCA title. Teske followed that with a 19-6 win over Adam Bender (KY) and then picked up yet another fall in 1:15 over Colin Linder (CT). Teske then picked up a 6-3 decision over Matt Kazmir (OH) to reach the semifinals to secure a top six finish at the tournament. A 3-0 win over Ty Mills (IN) set up an all ranked finals against #3 Roman Bravo-Young of Arizona. Teske will come in the underdog, but the freshman will have an opportunity to shoot up the rankings against Bravo-Young.
Also reaching the finals is #6 ranked senior Dayton Racer of Bettendorf who opened his tournament with a first period fall and followed that up with back-to-back major decisions of 18-6 and 14-2. The top 100 senior recruit then picked up a 3-1 over Cody Hughes (ME) to set up a finals showdown with Sheldon Wright (VA).
Freshman Billy Higgins of Skutt Catholic has secured a top six finish at 145 pounds. Higgins opened with a first period fall and then technical fall to reach the quarterfinals of his weight. There he won 5-1 to lock up top six in his bracket by beating Kyle Homet (PA). Jared Lough (VA) blanked Higgins 7-0 and gave the first Iowan a loss on the weekend.
Action resumes tomorrow at 7 AM on Flowrestling where Higgins will look to wrestle back to third. Teske’s finals match is scheduled to start around noon, with the seniors’ (Racer’s) finals starting two hours after that.