It was a members only type of Saturday at the state dual tournament.
All four winners were already part of the champions club — two regulars and two back on the scene at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds in Kearney.
Millard South won its fourth-straight duals title in Class A, Broken Bow looked right at home in taking a third Class C championship in its last five appearances, and David City Aquinas made it a three-peat with a Class D title.
The top-ranked teams in each of their respective classes — and heavy favorites on Saturday — they combined to outscore tourney opponents by a combined 507-142, an average of more than 40 points per dual.
And then there was the revival of one of the state’s most historically dominant programs.
Second-ranked Omaha Skutt did its heavy lifting early and late, beating No. 5 Waverly in the opening round and third-ranked Blair 39-25 in the final for the Class B championship.
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It was the fifth duals title for the SkyHawks, and first since 2018. After Skutt had won the event in each of its first three seasons, there had been six different champions in the last six Class B tournaments.
“I think it means a lot to them,” SkyHawk coach Chas DeVetter said. “They wrestled well.”
Skutt’s edge in the championship dual came in bonus points. Six of eight wins came with more than three, including four pins. Seven SkyHawks went 3-0 on the day.
“I think the fun part about duals is that it’s a lot about match-ups,” DeVetter said. “In each dual we had some different guys step up and do well.”
It brought an end to a magical day for Blair, which won each of its first two duals of the day in final match victories by Thomas Chikos.
The sophomore won a decision at 195 to break a tie and give the Bears a 31-28 opening-round win over seventh-ranked Hastings.
A Chikos reversal in the final seconds of the 220-pound match gave him a stunning 6-5 decision and handed Blair a 33-30 dual victory over top-ranked Bennington in the semifinals, a rematch of last year’s championship.
Millard South scored a program-record 167 points en route to another Class A title. The Patriots followed a 71-4 opening-round win over crosstown rival Millard North in the opening round with a 54-18 victory over fourth-ranked Papillion-La Vista in the semifinals.
The beat went on in the championship, as Millard South again won nine of 14 matches in a dual against second-ranked Lincoln East, this time a 42-19 final that was eerily similar to the regular-season meeting between the two sides last month. Nine of 14 Patriots won all three matches. Caeden Olin and Henry Reilly each had three pins for Millard South.
East had reached the finals with behind a 73-3 victory over Omaha Central to start the day, and a 40-31 win against conference rival and third-ranked Norfolk in the semifinal.
A return to Class C meant a return to the top of the podium for Broken Bow. The Indians — who had been in Class B for the last two seasons — were definitive in a run to a third title since 2018.
Broken Bow opened with a 61-9 win over Logan View, then routed defending champion Sutherland 51-25 in the semifinals.
But they may have saved their best for last.
A forfeit put Broken Bow in an early hole, but seven pins were part of a dominating stretch that ended with a 56-15 win over Battle Creek for Class C supremacy.
Aquinas flexed its muscle in three wins on the way to the Class D crown. The Monarchs beat defending champion Sutherland 54-15 in the semifinals, then won the first eight matches as part of a 47-0 run to begin a finals runaway over Twin Loup.
Both Aquinas and Broken Bow won 11 of 14 matches in the finals.
“I thought we actually got a little stronger as the day went on,” Aquinas coach Roy Emory said of his team. “We’re starting to peak.”
Emory pointed to the core of the Monarch lineup when it came to success on Saturday.
“Our middle weights wrestled really, really well,” he said. “We’re really strong through the middle, and they came out and wrestled well.”
After replacing a handful from the last two championship teams, Emory said the third might be his favorite.
“The kids have done a lot of work,” Emory said. “This one is a special one.”
Class A
FIRST ROUND
Millard South 71, Millard North 4
Papillion-LaVista 54, North Platte 9
Norfolk 51, Elkhorn South 27
Lincoln East 73, Omaha Central 3
CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS
North Platte 49, Millard North 27
Elkhorn South 59, Omaha Central 21
SEMIFINALS
Millard South 54, Papillion-La Vista 18
Lincoln East 40, Norfolk 31
FIFTH PLACE
Elkhorn South 46, North Platte 27
THIRD PLACE
Papillion-La Vista 34, Norfolk 32
CHAMPIONSHIP
Millard South 42, Lincoln East 19
CLASS B
Cozad 57, Schuyler 18
Omaha Skutt 41, Waverly 20
Blair 31, Hastings 28
Bennington 50, Grand Island NW 24
CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS
Waverly 56, Schuyler 18
Grand Island NW 36, Hastings 29
SEMIFINALS
Omaha Skutt 50, Cozad 24
Blair 33, Bennington 30
FIFTH PLACE
Waverly 54, Grand Island NW 18
THIRD PLACE
Bennington 38, Cozad 36
CHAMPIONSHIP
Omaha Skutt 39, Blair 25
CLASS C
FIRST ROUND
St. Paul 52, Wilber-Clatonia 17
Battle Creek 39, Raymond Central 31
Fillmore Central 33, Pierce 31
Broken Bow 61, Logan View 9
CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS
Raymond Central 42, Wilber-Clatonia 27
Logan View 50, Pierce 24
SEMIFINALS
Battle Creek 51, St. Paul 24
Broken Bow 51, Fillmore Central 25
FIFTH PLACE
Raymond Central 42, Logan View 38
THIRD PLACE
St. Paul 48, Fillmore Central 22
CHAMPIONSHIP
Broken Bow 56, Battle Creek 15
CLASS D
FIRST ROUND
David City Aquinas 53, Cambridge 23
Sutherland 45, Burwell 30
Twin Loup 38, Thayer Central 36
Shelby-Rising City 45, Anselmo-Merna 31
CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS
Cambridge 48, Burwell 29
Thayer Central 42, Anselmo-Merna 36
SEMIFINALS
David City Aquinas 54, Sutherland 15
Twin Loup 42, Shelby-Rising City 39
FIFTH PLACE
Cambridge 54, Thayer Central 27
THIRD PLACE
Sutherland 36, Shelby-Rising City 34
CHAMPIONSHIP
David City Aquinas 54, Twin Loup 15
