KEARNEY, Neb. — A historic achievement warrants a historic celebration venue and an entrance fit for champions.

The Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team received a police escort and a welcome reception at The World Theatre on Sunday.

The Lopers won the program’s fifth national title on Saturday and won it in style with a whopping 115 team points. That mark was 52 points better than second-place Augustana.

“By that point margin, if you asked me that, there’s no way I would have bet that in a million years,” head coach Dalton Jensen said.

Jensen’s squad didn’t have an individual champion, but it did get eight All-Americans and three national runners up. One of those was Zach Ourada at 125 pounds, but he’s more fired up about the team title.

“I fight for them," Ourada said. "Everything I do, yes individually I love it, but I do it more for them because they’re my best friends for life.”

There were plenty of storylines.

Trent Munoz competed with a dislocated thumb. The Deal twins each became first-time All-Americans.

Heck, Nick James was an assistant coach for the first half of the season. He rejoined the team and used his bonus pandemic year of eligibility. He made the national finals on just six weeks of training.

“Yeah it’s definitely worth it," James said. "You can’t beat a team title. That was my number one goal.”

The Loper faithful showed up to honor the national champs. After recognizing each of the 10 national qualifiers, Jensen turned the spotlight to the fans.

“I love this community. I love Kearney," Jensen said. "I take so much pride to take this back to you guys. I think it represents everything that these guys stand for and earned and to give it to you guys and bring it to this community is a big, big deal to me.”