Nebraska
EXCLUSIVE: Rural Nebraska crash victims say the same man was waiting for them after separate wrecks
BENNINGTON, Neb. (WOWT) – A frightening mystery has played out along a busy highway in northern Douglas County, Neb. It’s happened at night — and it’s happened more than once.
Cresting a hill while traveling on Highway 36 in the dark, Garrison Beach faced a driver’s worst nightmare Sunday night.
“I didn’t want to [crash] head-on into a big piece of metal in the middle of the road going 55-60 miles per hour, so I just tried to swerve out of the way,” Garrison Beach said.
But he overcorrected, and his Toyota Camry barreled through a wire guardrail and down a ravine, with his wife Skylar Beach riding it out in the passenger’s seat.
“It was pretty scary,” Skylar said. “I remember screaming and I wasn’t sure when we’d start rolling, but we were fortunate to walk away from the accident.”
The crash wouldn’t be the couple’s only shock of the evening, though.
Startled as they fast-approached the object in the road, they looked over and noticed a vehicle parked on 132nd Street with the headlight on, as if someone was keeping watch on the intersection.
“As soon as we got out of the car, I remember walking up the embankment and this guy showed up,” Garrison said. “He was already there, like, waiting for us up on the side of the road and [said], ‘Are you guys okay? I’ve called the paramedics already.‘”
Garrison says they declined the strangers offer to get in his car.
“It was just very odd,” Skylar Beach said. “As soon as we said, ‘No, we’re going to wait for the police,’ he kind of just walked back to his car.”
The man left before they got his name, but he doesn’t seem to be a stranger to incidents on Highway 36.
Kyle Sorenson can attest.
“I hit a kid’s bike that had been right in the center of the road,” said Sorenson. “As I looked in my rearview mirror, I saw someone sitting there [just north] on Pawnee Road. They pulled up behind me and it was this individual saying he was checking to make sure we were okay.”
Seeing little damage on his vehicle, Kyle left, but later, near the same place along the highway, his wife spotted the same man behind another car leaking oil on the roadway.
“In two weeks, this has been three incidents where he was immediately the first person on the scene,” Sorenson said. “It seems strange.”
And even stranger, about two weeks later, Sorenson would see the same man from his incident at the crash scene of his friends, Garrison and Skylar Beach.
“I really didn’t want to confront the person, but I informed the police,” Sorenson said. “I don’t want to accuse and say this person is absolutely doing this, but I want to make aware this is strange.”
Feeling lucky to have survived the crash, the Beaches now wonder if the object sitting in their lane was simply bad luck — or no accident after all.
“We definitely want some answers on why he’s doing what he’s doing,” Skylar Beach said. “We just don’t want this to keep happening to other people, or something even worse to happen.”
The Douglas County Sheriff is investigating multiple incidents of objects laying in driving lanes on Highway 36 near Bennington. Even though it’s a main route to the landfill, the deputies want to determine if the debris fell off a truck or had placed in the roadway on purpose.
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Iowa coach Ben McCollum met with the media following his team’s 77-71 victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Sweet 16. The Cornhuskers led by three at the half but Iowa was able to outscore Nebraska 34-25 in the second half.
Pryce Sandfort led all scorers with 25 points while shooting 8 of 13 from the field and 6 of 10 from the 3-point line. Bennett Stirtz led the Hawkeyes with 20 points and played for all 40 minutes.
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Iowa shot 52% (27-52) from the floor, 43% (13-30) from beyond the arc and 83% (10-12) from the free throw line. Nebraska struggled shooting 41% (24-58) from the field, 34% (13-38) from the 3-point line and 91% (10-11) from the charity stripe.
The Hawkeyes’ head coach acknowledged that his team had a poor start but a great finish and said that his team will need to play better to advance beyond the Elite Eight.
Yeah, I think to start we weren’t fantastic to start. They had an elite game plan to start. They played with elite pace. They adjusted their defense quite a bit. I think a lot of people will talk about the rivalry. I was around it when I was in Iowa, you know, and grew up in Iowa and understand the rivalry and whatnot. It’s nice to have — I guess if you would a call it rival that runs such a class program.
I think Coach Hoiberg, they have got great kids. They completely turned everything around from the previous season, and they have absolutely nothing to hang their heads about or anything. I have the utmost respect for them, all their players, and especially Coach Hoiberg. Heck of a season. I know it’s no consolation, but we still want to beat ’em every time and they want to beat us every time.
But from and internal perspective, there’s not a lot of bad blood there. It’s actually a lot of respect. I was really pleased with our second-half performance. I thought we actually decided we were going to try — not try. They had a lot to do with it, but kind of. Yeah, they’re smiling over there because they saw me break my marker.
And I thought our kids did a good job of executing offensively in both halves. We spent a lot of time trying to make sure that we could score, and you saw the result of that. We didn’t defend. But we were able to score, so we were able to stay in the game long enough and then get enough stops and had some big possessions down the stretch. Really good program win for everybody, coaches, managers, everybody included.
Iowa advances to the Elite Eight with the victory. Nebraska’s season ends with a record of 28-7.
Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes and opinions.
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This article originally appeared on Cornhuskers Wire: What Iowa coach Ben McCollum said after defeating Nebraska on Thursday
LINCOLN, Neb — Gov. Jim Pillen has appointed Antonio Gomez of Jackson to the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission, adding a longtime Siouxland business leader and public servant to the panel.
Commission members serve four-year terms and are subject to approval by the Nebraska Legislature.
Gomez launched Gomez Pallets in South Sioux City in 1983. He has since retired from daily operations, but last year the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce recognized him with the W. Edwards Deming Business Leadership and Entrepreneurial Excellence Award.
Gomez previously served on the Nebraska Commission on Latino Americans from 1981 to 2002. He also served as a Dakota County commissioner for 12 years and was on the Foundation Board for Northeast Community College.
Gomez’s appointment is effective April 1.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers will face the Iowa Hawkeyes on Thursday in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. This is the Huskers’ first Sweet 16 in program history, while Iowa is playing in its first Sweet 16 since 1999.
Nebraska defeated Vanderbilt 74-72 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Iowa advanced after beating the defending national champion, the Florida Gators, 73-72.
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CBS Sports reporter Isaac Trotter broke down Thursday’s Sweet 16 matchup. Trotter started by looking at the two previous matchups in this series.
These teams have played twice. Iowa won at home in a 57-52 rockfight. Nebraska returned the favor by winning at home, 84-75 in overtime, in another to-the-death brawl.
It’s no secret that Nebraska’s defense caused significant problems for the Iowa offense in the second game, and if the Hawkeyes are going to win the rubber match, Trotter believes that turnovers will be the key.
There are no secrets in the rubber match. Nebraska’s no-middle defense has given Iowa real problems both times. The Hawkeyes turned it over 20% of the time in Game 1 and 26% of the time in Game 2. That can’t happen in the third encounter.
CBS Sports believes that Iowa has the best player on the floor in Bennett Stirtz, but Trotter also believes that Nebraska’s defense is just too much in the end for Iowa.
Iowa has the best player on the floor, Bennett Stirtz, and can hurt Nebraska on the glass, but the Huskers get the nod because of this pick-and-roll defense. You have to be able to guard ball screens effectively to shut down Iowa, and Nebraska has been an elite pick-and-roll defense, rating in the 99th percentile nationally, per Synergy.
In the end, Trotter selected Nebraska as his pick. Should the Huskers advance to the Elite Eight, Nebraska would play the winner of the Illinois-Houston game. Nebraska-Iowa play in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 26 at 6:30 p.m. CT on TBS.
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Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Cornhuskers Wire: CBS Sports predicts Nebraska-Iowa basketball in the Sweet 16
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