Tigers, Bruins set sights on regional postseason

The Princeton Tigers reached one goal by finishing atop the NCIC Lincoln schools in Saturday’s NCIC King of the Hill wrestling tournament. Now they are setting their sights on the postseason.

The Princeton grapplers will head to the Sterling Newman Regional looking to take the next step down the state tournament trail to sectional. The Newman Sectional is considered one of the toughest in the state.

The St. Bede Bruins will put their postseason hopes on the line at the Eureka Regional.

At Sterling: PHS qualified seven sectional qualifiers from last year’s squad that placed third in the Princeton Regional in Steve Amy’s first year as head coach. Four of them return, including:

• Junior Reiter Bird, who placed second in the NCIC finals, seeks his third straight sectional advancement. He won regional at 125 a year ago, stepping up to 130 where he stands 26-12. Amy said the move to 130 “has opened things up” for Bird, who thought he was losing too much strength making the cut to 125.

• Another returning regional champion for the Tigers is sophomore Earl Towne, who claimed the 135-pound regional title as a freshman last year. Towne currently boasts a record of 23-15 wrestling at 145. He is nursing a sore hip that took him out of the finals round in the NCIC, but Amy said he “is a tough kid and will do what it takes to wrestle.”

• Returning regional runner-up at 160 pounds, Dylan Olson, who holds a 23-9 record, the best on the team, also moved up in weight this season and is currently competing at 171. Amy said Olson has the athletic ability to make it all the way to state. “If he uses that technique we work on every day, he’ll be fine,” Amy said.

• Cody Cumpton, who placed third at last year’s regional at 130, will look to improve on his place competing at 135 in his junior campaign. Currently 22-15 this season, Cumpton “has a great chance to make it to sectional,” Amy said.

Other best bets for first-time sectional qualifiers include junior Eric Bickett (119, 18-15), sophomore Reese Bird at 103 (20-15), senior Ted Bartoli at 152 (21-18), and junior Colton Pate (13-11), who made his way into the Tiger lineup at 160 midway through the season.