North Platte – This year’s annual Blitzy awards were a little less than usual with the leaving of one sports director and the arrival of a new one. Rest assured area sports fans that next year will be the biggest and best Blitzy’s yet! The North Platte Post and ESPN Radio 1410 want to thank Wyman and Sons welding for providing the trophies as well as our two sponsors: Natural Nutrition House and Jack Morris-State Farm Insurance. Without local contributions we wouldnt be able to bring you the coverage that we do!
That being said we still did have two winners, our Female and Male Athlete of the year!
Female Athlete of the Year: Baylee Steele
Baylee is now a Sophmore at North Platte High School. During her Freshman year, she had an impressive run as part of the NPHS Girls Golf team that took 4th place in the State Tournament. Baylee also had previously played basketball and softball but
Baylee herself had a fantastic season coming in third overall in A-1 district play which was followed up by third overall in State Championship play:
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
| Yards | 455 | 353 | 300 | 150 | 330 | 410 | 112 | 337 | 340 | 2787 | 290 | 460 | 317 | 329 | 155 | 330 | 300 | 122 | 469 | 2772 | 5559 |
| Par | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 36 | 72 |
| Round 1 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 48 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 41 | 89 |
| Status | +5 | +7 | +8 | +9 | +11 | +13 | +14 | +15 | +17 | E | E | +1 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +4 | +5 | +17 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
| Yards | 455 | 353 | 300 | 150 | 330 | 410 | 112 | 337 | 340 | 2787 | 290 | 460 | 317 | 329 | 155 | 330 | 300 | 122 | 469 | 2772 | 5559 |
| Par | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 36 | 72 |
| Round 2 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 44 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 39 | 83 |
| Status | +19 | +20 | +20 | +20 | +22 | +24 | +24 | +25 | +25 | +25 | +24 | +25 | +26 | +25 | +26 | +26 | +27 | +28 | +28 |
| Statistics | Eagles | Birdies | Pars | Bogeys | Dbl. Bogeys | Others | Par 3s | Par 4s | Par 5s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 0 | +3 | +11 | +3 |
| Round 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 0 | E | +7 | +4 |
| Total | 0 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 8 | 0 | +3 | +18 | +7 |
You can hear Baylee chatting with Kyle and Scotty C on the blitz here:
Male Athlete of the Year: Cameron Riggs
Cameron is an outgoing senior wrestler who spent three years at North Platte St. Pat’s before transferring to Maxwell. He was selected as a USA Wrestling honorable mention All-American this year after going undefeated in his entire high school career (204-0) and winning four straight state championships. He will be attending St. Cloud State University this fall as a freshman and hopes to add to his championship pedigree by joining a program that is fresh off a D2 National Championship.
Here is his final State Championship run as a senior:
Championship Finals
- 1st Place Match – Cameron Riggs (Maxwell) 57-0 won by fall over Darren Stewart (Elkhorn Valley) 37-6 (Fall 2:33)
3rd and 5th Place
- 3rd Place Match – Ryley Spatz (East Butler) 50-5 won by major decision over Seth Simants (Stapleton) 44-9 (MD 14-4)
- 5th Place Match – Jefferson Mcneill (Oakland-Craig) 43-10 won by fall over Blake Racicky (Ansley/Litchfield) 39-12 (Fall 1:54)
4th Wrestleback (16 Man)
- Cons. Semi – Seth Simants (Stapleton) 44-9 won by decision over Jefferson Mcneill (Oakland-Craig) 43-10 (Dec 13-7)
- Cons. Semi – Ryley Spatz (East Butler) 50-5 won by major decision over Blake Racicky (Ansley/Litchfield) 39-12 (MD 11-2)
Semis & 3rd WB (16 Man)
- Semifinal – Cameron Riggs (Maxwell) 57-0 won by fall over Jefferson Mcneill (Oakland-Craig) 43-10 (Fall 3:29)
- Semifinal – Darren Stewart (Elkhorn Valley) 37-6 won by fall over Blake Racicky (Ansley/Litchfield) 39-12 (Fall 2:38)
- Cons. Round 3 – Seth Simants (Stapleton) 44-9 won by major decision over Trigger Pokorny (Central Valley) 38-17 (MD 14-5)
- Cons. Round 3 – Ryley Spatz (East Butler) 50-5 won by major decision over Alex Schmit (Randolph) 37-13 (MD 12-0)
Quarterfinals
- Quarterfinal – Cameron Riggs (Maxwell) 57-0 won by decision over Ryley Spatz (East Butler) 50-5 (Dec 7-4)
- Quarterfinal – Jefferson Mcneill (Oakland-Craig) 43-10 won by decision over Michael Stackpole (Weeping Water) 43-11 (Dec 7-5)
- Quarterfinal – Darren Stewart (Elkhorn Valley) 37-6 won by fall over Zachary Sweet (Mullen) 13-9 (Fall 4:28)
- Quarterfinal – Blake Racicky (Ansley/Litchfield) 39-12 won by decision over Seth Simants (Stapleton) 44-9 (Dec 11-8)
Round 1 (16 Man)
- Champ. Round 1 – Cameron Riggs (Maxwell) 57-0 won by fall over Cole Laible (West Holt) 31-16 (Fall 3:47)
- Champ. Round 1 – Ryley Spatz (East Butler) 50-5 won by major decision over Jacob Johnson (Archbishop Bergan) 47-7 (MD 10-2)
- Champ. Round 1 – Jefferson Mcneill (Oakland-Craig) 43-10 won by fall over Trigger Pokorny (Central Valley) 38-17 (Fall 4:45)
- Champ. Round 1 – Michael Stackpole (Weeping Water) 43-11 won by decision over Mark Schwartz (Garden County) 30-10 (Dec 2-1)
- Champ. Round 1 – Darren Stewart (Elkhorn Valley) 37-6 won by fall over Raul Clouse (Elwood) 22-8 (Fall 5:17)
- Champ. Round 1 – Zachary Sweet (Mullen) 13-9 won by decision over Alex Schmit (Randolph) 37-13 (Dec 16-10)
- Champ. Round 1 – Blake Racicky (Ansley/Litchfield) 39-12 won by fall over Holden Schleve (Morrill) 32-10 (Fall 3:29)
- Champ. Round 1 – Seth Simants (Stapleton) 44-9 won by fall over Derek Wortman (Creighton) 36-9 (Fall 4:25)
You can hear Cameron join Kyle and Scotty C on the Blitz here: