Kyle Brandon Sorensen

1984 - 2003

Kyle past away on June 21, 2003. He was a Three-time state wrestling champion and he had everything that a young guy wants - looks, charm, a good mind and excellent athletic ability. All of that crashed to an end Saturday when he and a friend, 19-year-old Michael Stohlmann of Louisville, were killed in an auto accident shortly after 3:30 a.m. Stohlmann's cousin, driver Adam Tietgen, 18, of Manley, was in critical condition at University Hospital. Nebraska State Patrol Trooper Eric Aho said beer cans were strewn across the floor of the Pontiac Bonneville that Tietgen was driving. Aho said alcohol was a factor in the wreck. The southbound car crossed the center line on Highway 31 about 11/2 miles north of Gretna and hit a northbound semitrailer truck head-on. Kyle Sorensen, 18, was the youngest of Patty and Tom Sorensen's four sons. He was a recent graduate of Weeping Water High School. At the Sorensens' gray, stone ranch house southwest of Louisville, Kyle Sorensen's aunts displayed a framed picture of their nephew. The photo showed the young man kneeling with his hands to his face, euphoric over just having won his third Class D state wrestling title, in the 135-pound division. Through moist eyes, the aunts, Jane Pohlen of Waverly and Elaine Storovich of Louisville, beamed with pride. People sometimes called their nephew "Smiley Kyley" because he always seemed happy. The aunts smiled over how handsome he was and how people were attracted to him. Storovich said she had given him a fireproof safety lockbox for his graduation present. In it, he placed his high-school diploma, she said, and they assumed he would put in that box the other important papers that he would accrue in his life. "He sent me a thank-you card for his graduation gift," Storovich said. "He said something like, 'With my family, I wouldn't change a thing.'" The aunts showed a letter from Wrestling USA Magazine. The letter, sent in May, informed Kyle that he had been named one of the magazine's high-school All Americans. "Even though he was a great wrestler, his love was baseball," Pohlen said. He also played quarterback and defensive back in football and qualified for the state golf tournament. He sometimes worked as a referee for children's wrestling meets. Weeping Water Athletic Director Ron Wohlers said the town was in shock. Wohlers said there were plans to hold the funeral in the gymnasium in two or three days. Weeping Water High School Principal Keith Leckron said Sorensen was an A student and an exemplary leader. "He was never sent to the office. He was never in trouble. He was always on top of things. He was accountable," Leckron said. "It sounds cliche, but he was great - a great kid.