Manhattan High wrestling traveled all the way to Grand Island, Nebraska, to compete in a tournament with 28 other teams this past weekend, taking fourth overall.

The Indians went undefeated the first day, starting the weekend strong. They took down Omaha Burke 45-18 and Grand Island 41-16, then received a bye in their third match of the day. They went on to defeat Lincoln Northeast and Battle Creek, 58-15 and 54-18. Multiple wrestlers went undefeated in these matches, giving them a boost moving forward.

“We had a lot of people wrestle really well,” senior Jalin Harper said. “They competed and even won some matches that they maybe shouldn’t have. So it really meant a lot and we were really confident going into the second day, into bracket play because we were clicking.”

After their 6-0 start in pool play, the team advanced into the championship bracket the next day. Manhattan faced a familiar opponent in the semifinals, Gretna Nebraska, who they played their last year. In a similar fashion, the Indians lost to Gretna, putting them out of the running for the championship.

“We don’t like [Gretna] that much just because they beat us, but they had really good wrestlers so you have to give credit where it’s due,” Harper said.

They were put into the consolation finals against 37th nationally ranked Lincoln East, and was ultimately defeated by them also. Their two losses in bracket play resulted in a fourth place finish, just one spot shy of where they finished last year.

“We’re a lot younger this year,” Harper said. “So we had some young guys going out there and competing their butts off and did really well, our coaches were really excited about what they saw,”

The Indians will enter break optimistic and prepared to have few off days, ready to get back on the mats as soon as they can. Their next meet will be at a tournament in Norton on Jan. 6.

“[We want to] just keep rolling how we are, we’ve been doing pretty good,” Harper said. “So nothing new, just keep coming in, working hard, and getting it done.”