WAUSA -- The Nebraska School Athletics Association started district play production championships Monday. One of the toughest competitors has competed at state 15 years in a row, having won the whole competition 13 of those years.

Wausa High School senior Leah Bloomquist is excited to see her school continue their annual streak of making state finals for the one-act NSAA play production championships -- for a now 16th time.

"I like acting because it gets me to express myself," she said. 

Her friends agree.

"I think it's really special, it's something I look froward to, if we do make it I'm going to be ecstatic," Tyler Baue senior said.

Wausa, which has teamed up with Osmond for their production since 2018, is led by a couple who's been at it for years, superintendent Brad Hoesing and his wife, teacher Sheila Hoesing. Cast members say they consider them to be like dedicated coaches, and they consider the competition similar to sports. 

"This is a team effort, I consider one-act a sport because by the end of it I'm sweating! But just like any other extracurricular there's ups and downs," said Baeu.

Squeezing in two-hour practices weekly among other extracurriculars, Baeu adds, makes Wausa's work ethic unique.

"A lot of stuff outside is just on us and that's just something the culture of our program holds," he said.

At Monday's district competition, Wausa received feedback from judges to work on synchronizing and blocking. 

"There's some parts we need to block more, but it should pretty much be the same play," Addison Smith said. He told NCN he believes Wausa's toughest rivals are Crofton and Aquinas.

"There's a lot of pressure on the senior class to not be the ones who end the streak," said Bloomquist.