South Loup saw two athletes qualify for the Nebraska State High School Wrestling Championships in Omaha last week. Both are seniors, and both are returning state qualifiers.

Dawson Mason returned to the big stage at Baxter Arena as the D1 District Champion and the 2024, 4th place medalist in that same weight class. In his opening match Mason faced Trevor Steffen of Guardian Angels Central Catholic, where he won by major decision, 9-1.

With the win, Mason advanced to the quarterfinal against Cole Jensen of Randolph. Though it was not a high-scoring match, Mason did not allow Jensen to score a point against him as Mason took the win 3-0 and advanced to the semifinal.

The semifinal match pitted Mason against Gavin Patterson of Wilcox-Hildreth, a wrestler he had met previously this season. Mason was able to hold on to the lead and secure the victory 4-2 to earn his way to the championship match on Saturday.

He had hoped to better his finish from last year, and Mason certainly did that. The championship match brought another opponent to the floor that was no stranger to Mason - Drew Dawe of Burwell. Though only a sophomore, Dawe was also a returning state qualifier.

Mason scored the first points of the match, but Dawe was able to come back and take the lead. With time winding down, and down by a score of 5-3, Mason fought hard to get additional points. However, Dawe was able to hold on and win the gold, with Mason bringing home the silver and a huge sense of accomplishment.

Mason ended his season with a record of 44-4.

The other qualifier was senior CJ Quandt at 157 pounds. In the opening round on Thursday Quandt met the D2 District Champion, Koltan Ideus of Southern.

With just over a minute left in the match Ideus was able to get Quandt in a pin.

The loss dropped Quandt down to the consolation bracket where he next faced Jason Kraus of Mullen. The hard-fought match came down to the wire, as Quandt was able to come out on top by one point - 7-6 - to advance to the second round of consolation matches.

His next opponent was Jase Roberson of Garden County.

Unfortunately, Roberson was able to get the upper hand on Quandt and get him in a pin 2:41 into the match.

Quandt ended his season with a record of 37-11.