WILTON

The time was finally at hand for state dreams to be realized this past Saturday and for Lone Tree’s Brock Nebergall he made sure a new way for him to be addressed is as a two-time state qualifier.

Making it two-for-two when tickets to state are on the line, Nebergall (120 lbs) earned a runner-up finish at 1A Districts in Wilton last Saturday to extend his sophomore season to the state tournament.

“It feels great. I’m happy to be back,” Nebergall said about qualifying for state for the second time in his career. “I’ve worked all season to get here again. Now, I just need to focus and hopefully place, that’s the ultimate goal.”

After a quarterfinal win, Nebergall advanced to the semifinals against Louisa-Muscatine’s Eddie Hoopes, an opponent who had defeated him earlier in the season. Flipping the script, Nebergall won a hard-fought match by 14-12 decision to put himself on the doorstep to state.

“[Hoopes] had beat me before, so I knew it was gonna be a tough match, but I was focused,” Nebergall said about his mindset going into his semifinal match, “I warmed up good, and just trusted my abilities and came out on top.”

In the first-place match, Wilton’s Liam Adlfinger defeated Nebergall by fall (0:39), but with no wrestlingback in his bracket, Nebergall ended his district run at the runner-up spot to punch his ticket to state for the second straight year.

“Knowing what to expect,” Nebergall said about how he can use his previous state experience to help him prepare. “It’s gonna be on the big stage now. There’s gonna be a lot of people watching. You just gotta be ready and train.”

With a season hampered by a hand injury which limited the amount of matches he competed in, Nebergall proved his talent and hard work can overcome those types of adversities. His presence alone in the practice room is a big boost to the team and the sophomore is one of the leaders of a Lone Tree wrestling program on the rise.

“It’s one of those where it is really neat to see Brock kind of turn it on at the end of the season,” Lone Tree coach Brent Nelson said about Nebergall. “To be a two-time state qualifier at this point in his career. He’s a true competitor, a natural athlete.”

As a team the Lions scored 21 to place 11th in the team standings. The effort was never in question for Lone Tree and while the wins were in short supply, the foundation being built by their efforts will no doubt pay off in the future.

“I was very pleased with the way we wrestled. Is this one of those where we went out there we wrestled to win. Sometimes it went our way, but other times it didn’t,” coach Nelson said about his team’s performance at districts. “I’ve always been impressed with the way all of our guys are able to handle the wins and also handle the losses.”

Up next for Nebergall (16-10) is competing in the State Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines which takes place from Feb. 19-22.