As winter sports were coming to a close, athletes were reflecting on the highs and lows of their seasons. From fast-paced games of basketball to the fierce matches on the wrestling mats, swimmers cutting through water, and the thrill of hitting a strike in bowling, it was a season marked by athletic accomplishment.
Boys net a new title
Starting with boys basketball, they won the Metro tournament for the first time in school history, beating Omaha Westside, 60-59, with sophomore Levi Webb scoring 27 points and senior Bryson Bahl scoring 21 points and 10 rebounds. After that win, the Titans won 13 of the next 15 games and were looking to make a big run for the state championship. Seniors Reece Kircher and Jayden Herrera talked about how important the Metro win was for the basketball team.
“To be able to beat a really good team like Westside to win our first is a really special moment for our team,” Kircher said.
Omaha Westside at the time of the Titans’ first matchup had a 9-0 record and was ranked as the No. 1 team in Class A.
“We haven’t done it in school history, it felt really good to get to the tournament and finally win,” Herrera said.
After the Metro win against Westside, the Titans faced the team again in a second matchup where they would win 70-52 with Bahl once again leading the team with 25 points and 15 rebounds.
Kircher credited the Metro win for the Titans continuing to dominate on the court and racking up a 21-3 record heading into districts March 1.
“It gave us hope and power to make that last run towards the end of the game. It made us work better as a team and brought us together more,” Kircher said.
Herrera agreed: “It just feels like, every game, we get stronger and stronger as a team, and it brings us closer. It gets us ready for the state tournament in districts.”
There were key moments in the Metro matchup against Westside that helped the Titans realize they were going to win.
“We had a layup late in the game,” Herrera said. “We knocked down a couple of free throws. Levi (Webb) got hot scoring all those points for us. I felt that we were pretty good on defense and did enough to win the game.”
Both Kircher and Herrera talked about the team’s goal for the rest of the season and state.
“Our goal is to win the state championship,” Kircher said. “I believe that we have a great shot of winning the whole thing. I believe we’re the favorites to win it. We just have to play as a team like we have been, and I think we’ll win this thing for sure.”
Herrera said his main focus was finishing the season strong: “I’m a senior, so I just want to enjoy the last few games we have together, practices, film and the games.”
The girls varsity team faced significant challenges this season, primarily due to a series of injuries that plagued the roster. Coach Andy Gerlecz shared, “We battled a lot of injuries. That was one of the things that has setbacks which dictate how your season goes. We dealt with injuries early and in the middle of the season. That was an unfortunate recurring theme for our girls.”
These setbacks inevitably affected the team’s performance and dictated how the regular season unfolded in which they went 8-14. The team surged back for a district win against Omaha Central on Feb. 26, 80-76. They were set to meet Bellevue East Chieftains on Feb. 28.
Despite the season’s obstacles, the team pushed forward, making the most of a difficult situation.
One of the key ways that the team overcame challenges was by focusing on positives and using adversity as an opportunity for growth.
Gerlecz emphasized, “What we try to do is take whatever’s going on and attempt to look at it from a positive standpoint. Some of those injuries allowed other people to get some experience that they probably wouldn’t have gotten otherwise playing.”
That experience of stepping up into more prominent roles was valuable for the players.
“There’s a big difference between being relied upon versus not being relied upon,” Gerlecz said. “A lot of times if you’re a role player, you’re not being relied on. We have some injuries and other things happen, and then you’re being relied upon. I think that’s a good lesson for our young people to be able to experience. Hopefully that makes us better at practice, and then it makes us better at this time of year.”
Throughout the course of the season, the team made noticeable strides in their development, largely due to roster depth.
“A lot of people got a lot of opportunities,” Gerlecz said. “I think we’re the only team in Class A that had nine or 10 players that averaged around 10 minutes or more per game, which is really hard to do.”
History on the mat
State wrestling ended and history was made with girls wrestling. Senior Emilie Burki and junior Aubrey Loehr both qualified for state, and Loehr placed 5th, earning the school’s first state medal in girls wrestling history.
“It means a lot because I worked so hard for it,” Loehr said after the state tournament. “Going into it knowing that all that hard work in the early mornings actually meant something in the end – I’m very happy with the outcome.”
Emotions were high in a very tough state matchup.
“It was really exciting because you know you have to go into the match thinking it’s a regular match, but in the end when the realization hits that you actually placed and medaled is very cool,” Loehr said.
It took disicipline and focus for Loehr to overcome challenges: “Going in, having a mindset of saying, ‘I can do this,’ ‘Am I good enough to be here?’ You just have to brush that aside and go out and do what you know, which is pretty difficult to do.”
Loehr said the support she received from teammates and coaches throughout the season brought her far.
“[It’s] amazing. All the athletes … are so welcoming and supportive. They’re always friendly, and they’re there for me. The coaches are the same: If you mess up, it’s not a big deal, we just go back to the wrestling room and redo it. It’s just a super healthy relationship with everyone.”
Loehr was already looking ahead to next year and beyond: “I’m hoping next year, I want to get at least Top 3 in state, and looking further into it, I would like to go to college for wrestling as well.”
The longer-running boys wrestling team also had a strong showing at state, with nine wrestlers qualifying: Oz and Leo Kriegler, Landon Rosenthal, Reece Santamaria, Chase and Carter Gable, Jack Sherrell, Barrett Gourley, and Mason Hamby.
Rosenthal, a freshman, earned an impressive 3rd place finish at 126 pounds, while also setting a new single-season win record of 49 wins. Junior Oz Kriegler finished 6th at 113 pounds, and junior Santamaria took 5th at 144 pounds.
This remarkable performance highlighted the depth and talent of a team that earlier in the season took 1st place overall at the Millard West tournament, making it clear that their success was rooted in both determination and a strategic approach.
Regarding the Millard West win, Sherrell said, “The boys got it done, scoring those extra points, getting pins instead of going by points.”
In the end, it was a collective effort from all the wrestlers that led to a well-earned victory.
The team also scored a strong 6th place finish overall at the Metro tournament.
The competition at Metros was intense, but the wrestlers proved their resilience.
“It was a good placement match,” Sherrrell said. “I beat the person that beat me earlier in the season.”
Sherrell said he himself significantly improved this year in his ability to take opponents down.
“A lot of offseason work and conditioning helped me a lot,” he said.
Sherrell focused on conditioning and refining techniques, which were key to his growth on the mat.
Diving into gold
Senior diver Lily Sherman earmed a gold medal at the NSAA State Diving Championships on Feb. 27. She credited off-season training and repetition for her performance, saying, “It’s muscle memory at this point, so I don’t get quite as nervous, because I know I can do the dives pretty easily.”
In swimming, the team experienced a season of growth and improvement, with high finishes at invitationals and strong performances in dual meets.
Senior swimmer Olivia Hadaway noted that her team’s support for one another played a key role in their success.
“I think all of us cheering each other on and just being really supportive of each other’s motivation and all just working together as a team has been a big motivation to win,” Hadaway said.
The team had goals to improve their standings from last season. “We can always make sure that we’re always putting our best efforts. It can be tough with a lot of hard practice, so just making sure we’re putting all of our effort in every day to make sure we improve,” Hadaway said.
Striking into success
For the varsity bowling team, the biggest hurdle was dwelling on previous mistakes during the season, which led to some disappointments, according to two-time state competitor Brennan Heck, who won the individual championship last year.
Heck, a senior, reflected on how this mental hurdle cost the team in the state tournament this year, despite having strong performances in earlier events such as the Lincoln tournament.
“We had it in the beginning, but easy misfires, dwelling on past shots, cost us the state tournament. Even though we got fifth … in the tournament, we still had many misfires,” Heck said.
The team did make significant improvements in their morale and shot making throughout the season, Heck said.
“I’m glad I saw that improvement,” he said. “For underclassmen, it’s really important for them to get out there and bowl some tournaments and improve their experience for next year.”
