It has always been an honor and privilege to cover high school sports throughout the KCNI/KBBN coverage area. As we reflect on 2023 one could say it was a year of championships for our coverage area. Central Nebraska’s Sports Source had the honor of witnessing and covering (live) six state team championships.
The championship parade began in February when the Broken Bow wrestling team showed that they were the best in Class C. The Indians won the state duals championship on February 4th. Broken Bow claimed its third state duals championship in Class C. After winning the championship in 2018 and 2019, the Indians added a third championship trophy in 2023. Broken Bow then claimed the 2023 Class C state wrestling tournament team championship on February 18th. It was Broken Bow’s first state tournament team title. The Indians were state runners up in 2019. The Indians won the title with 119 points. Broken Bow had two individual state champions. Connor Wells at 182 lbs. and Cal Wells at 220 lbs.
Entering the 2023 fall sport season, the Broken Bow girls golf team was looking to claim its fourth consecutive Class C state team title and adopted the motto “Back 4 more”. Claim their 4th in a row they did. Broken Bow became the first Class C team to win the NSAA girls state golf tournament four years in a row. Broken Bow entered the final day of competition with a six shot lead over Minden. Minden came out strong on the opening nine holes of the final round finishing with a 159 team score on the front nine while Broken Bow’s opening nine hole team score was a 168. Through 27 holes, Minden had taken the team lead with a score of 509 compared to Broken Bow’s 512. The Lady Indians would regroup and put together an amazing back nine to win the team title by nine strokes. Broken Bow had three individual medalists led by Camryn Johnson who sank a putt on the final hole of the tournament to win the individual gold. Taylor Schaaf placed ninth and Molly Custer was 15th.
Not very often do schools win a volleyball and football state championship in the same season but that is exactly what SEM did. SEM claimed the Class D1 state volleyball championship with a 3-1 win over Amherst. It was the fifth meeting of the season between the two Fort Kearny Conference programs. Amherst won the first two meetings and SEM the following two. The rubber match went the way of the Mustangs as SEM claimed its second state volleyball championship in school history. SEM claimed the Class D title back in 1981. Senior Mikah O’Neill concluded an amazing season and career with a match high 33 kills including the game winner on championship point. The SEM Mustangs claimed their first state football championship by edging Hay Springs for the Class D6 (six man) championship. It was a thrilling game with Hay Springs scoring with under a minute remaining to get to within 21-20 but their two point kick to take the lead was blocked by SEM’s Ryan Arbuthnot and allowed the Mustangs to hoist the championship trophy. SEM’s Maddox Jones finished with 170 yards rushing on 23 carries and had 2 touchdowns.
Sandhills/Thedford played for the Class D2 state football championship for the third time in the last four seasons. After falling just short the previous two times in the championship game, the Knights would not come up short in 2023. After surviving an all area semifinal against South Loup, who defeated S/T in the regular season, the Knights would face Wynot for the state title. It was a dominating performance by Sandhills/Thedford and a record setting day for quarter back Kyle Cox. Sandhills/Thedford finished with 493 total yards of offense (all on the ground) and 486 of those were gained by Cox which set a new Class D2 record for most rushing yards in a state playoff game. Final score S/T 50, Wynot 12.
These were just some of the highlights of an outstanding sports year for area athletes. Central Nebraska’s Sports Source looks forward to covering more exciting moments in 2024. Happy New Year!
Broken Bow wins state wrestling duals championship
Broken Bow wins state wrestling tournament team title
Broken Bow wins 4th straight girls golf team title
SEM wins Class D1 state volleyball championship
