CORRECTION: The original story stated four area wrestlers advanced to the state tournament. Central Decatur sophomore 220-pounder Trace Carson also advanced to state.
Interstate 35 and Central Decatur will each send multiple wrestlers to this week’s State Wrestling Tournament, which begins today at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
Both teams had one district champion, while Central Decatur had two district runners-up and Interstate 35 had one at their respective districts.
Interstate 35 finished second with 66 points at the Class 1A District 2 Tournament in Truro, as junior Austin Pontier became a three-time state qualifier and junior Sal Arzani earned his first trip to state.
At the Class 2A District 2 Tournament in Atlantic, Central Decatur finished fourth with 51 points, as seniors Trenton Wells and Colton Ranney, along with sophomore Trace Carson, punched tickets to Wells Fargo Arena.
Three-timer
Pontier earned his third trip in as many tries to the state tournament, winning the 126-pound championship Saturday.
The Interstate 35 junior, ranked 10th in Class 1A, improved to 38-8 for the season with a 6-0 decision over Guthrie Center’s Brock Beeler in the semifinals and then winning a close 3-2 decision over AHSTW’s Christian Danker in the finals.
“Had a good game plan, trying to keep it neutral that first period,” Interstate 35 coach Ryan Snyder said. “They tried to come out of that first period even, which is good for Austin, because his strength is being on his feet. He sucked it up at the end, go the takedown and finished it.”
Arzani, coming off an ankle injury, wrestled two full matches for the first time in several weeks.
The Interstate 35 junior, ranked sixth in Class 1A, won an 11-5 decision over AHSTW’s Timmy Barr in the semifinals, setting up a matchup with Southeast Warren’s fifth-ranked Jacob Hoch in the finals.
Arzani and Hoch battled back and forth throughout regulation, going to overtime in an 8-8 tie.
Hoch scored the winning takedown in overtime for a 10-8 decision. Arzani did not have to wrestle back, after Barr won a 5-2 decision over Southwest Valley’s Tyler Bissell in the third-place match.
“It was good for him. He’d only wrestled three matches in two weeks,” Snyder said. “To get an overtime match with anybody was good. Didn’t matter who. We just needed mat time. We needed a long match like that. To go that hard, that long, is exactly what we needed.”
Snyder said he feels like both Pontier and Arzani have a chance of making it onto the podium Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena.
“I think we’ve got a good shot at both of them getting up there,” he said. “We’ll see when the brackets come out. If we get good draws, I think we could place. I think both of them are capable of placing. Can’t take anybody down there lightly.”
Four Interstate 35 wrestlers finished third Saturday. Brayden Egli (106), Zac Willey (113), Nathan Phillips (120) and Dante Arzani (182) all finished third.
“I couldn’t be prouder of Zac Willey,” Snyder said. “Zac Willey got beat by a kid 11-4 three weeks ago and it was 14-12 today. Zac wrestled great. Overall, we wrestled well.”
Seniors advance
For Central Decatur, Wells continued his undefeated season, improving to 46-0 with a pair of wins to claim the 182-pound district championship Saturday.
Wells won a 9-2 decision over Atlantic’s Travis Petersen in the semifinals and then got an escape for a 1-0 decision over Clarinda’s Trey Stickler in the finals.
At 160 pounds, Ranney won an 8-0 major decision over Atlantic’s Zac Stork in the semifinals, before losing a 7-2 decision to Creston/O-M’s top-ranked and undefeated Chase Shiltz in the finals.
Ranney did not have to wrestle back, as Stork pinned Missouri Valley’s Winston Veatch in 2:39 in the third-place match.
Class 1A District 2
At Truro
Team scores — 1. Southeast Warren 147.5, 2. Interstate 35 66, 3. Audubon 57.5, 4. Riverside 55.5, 5. Guthrie Center 53, 6. AHSTW 43, 7. East Union 41, 8. Exira/EHK 27.5, 9. Nodaway Valley 25, 10. Mount Ayr 20, 11. Martensdale-St. Marys 19.5, 12. Griswold 17, 13. Wayne 8, 14. Clarinda Academy 0, 14. Southwest Valley 0, 14. West Central Valley 0.
Individual results
106 — 1. Blake Bauer (SEW) dec. Tatem Bluml (Riv), 11-5; 3. Brayden Egli (I-35) pinned Zach Fees (GC), :15. No wrestleback.
113 — 1. Brady Kyner (SEW) pinned Joel Becerra (AHSTW), :51; 3. Zac Willey (I-35) pinned Chris Gaynor (Riv), 1:07. No wrestleback.
120 — 1. Hadley Ogg (Gris) dec. Ben Freese (NV), 6-2; 3. Nathan Phillips (I-35) dec. Ethan Rankin (Riv), 6-4 (SV-1). Wrestleback: 2. Ben Freese (NV) pinned Nathan Phillips (I-35), 1:08.
126 — 1. Austin Pontier (I-35) dec. Christian Danker (AHSTW), 3-2; 3. Brock Beeler (GC) pinned JD Lyman (NV), :42. Wrestleback: 2. Christian Danker (AHSTW) dec. Brock Beeler (GC), 4-2.
132 — 1. Jake Hunerdosse (SEW) pinned Tucker Bluml (Riv), 1:34; 3. Andrew Malloy (Aud) pinned Jake Catron (MSM), 1:08. Wrestleback: 2. Tucker Bluml (Riv) pinned Andrew Malloy (Aud), 5:06.
138 — 1. Jake Mulford (Aud) dec. Jacob Vogel (Riv), 10-9; 3. Dylan Cornelison (NV) major dec. Tanner Flesher (SEW), 13-0. No wrestleback.
145 — 1. Brad Kerkhoff (Aud) dec. Gabe Henderson (SEW), 5-2; 3. Lane Rumelhart (GC) major dec. Grant Staats (MA), 11-0. No wrestleback.
152 — 1. Logan Schumacher (MSM) pinned Trevor Smith (Aud), 3:45; 3. Blayde Baker (Wayne) dec. Jacob Dickenson (Gris), 6-5. No wrestleback.
160 — 1. Jacob Hoch (SEW) dec. Sal Arzani (I-35), 10-8 (SV-1); 3. Timmy Barr (AHSTW) dec. Tyler Bissell (SWV), 5-2. No wrestleback.
170 — 1. Brogan Kinyon (EU) pinned TJ Dierking (SEW), 4:00; 3. Dustin Engel (AHSTW) pinned Teddy Daggett (GC), 2:38. Wrestleback: 2. TJ Dierking (SEW) pinned Dustin Engel (AHSTW), 3:48.
182 — 1. Evan Hansen (EEHK) tech fall Austin Laabs (GC), 25-10 (5:40); 3. Dante Arzani (I-35) pinned Nathen Jimenez (SEW), 1:37. No wrestleback.
195 — 1. Ty Schneider (SEW) pinned Mike Ward (EU), 1:40; 3. Lane Ring (EEHK) dec. Erik Jorgensen (AHSTW), 5-3. No wrestleback.
220 — 1. Cale Crowder (GC) pinned Tate Van Dyne (SEW), 6:42; 3. Kessler Tomas (EU) pinned Christian Sousley (CA), 1:09. Wrestleback: 2. Tate Van Dyne (SEW) pinned Kessler Tomas (EU), 1:18.
285 — 1. Joe Ricker (MA) pinned Coy Maher (Riv), 2:30; 3. Elijah Williams (SEW) dec. Tom Herron (GC), 5-2. No wrestleback.
Class 2A District 2
At Atlantic
Team scores — 1. Creston/O-M 162.5, 2. Atlantic 107, 3. Clarinda 86, 4. Central Decatur 51, 5. Winterset 44.5, 6. Bedford/Lenox 39, 7. Kuemper Catholic 19, 8. Shenandoah 18, 9. Missouri Valley 17, 10. Red Oak 14, 11. Harlan 10.
Individual results
106 — 1. Kole Hansen (Atl) dec. Logan Allen (Wint), 3-0; 3. Wyatt Dale (CD) pinned Skylor Rice (Shen), 3:45. Wrestleback: 2. Logan Allen (Wint) pinned Wyatt Dale (CD), 1:02.
113 — 1. Jared Hensley (B/L) pinned Carter Cox (Atl), 4:29; 3. Britton Gibson (Wint) dec. Brandon Trevino (Har), 9-2. No wrestleback.
120 — 1. Trevor Marlin (C/O-M) dec. Derek Koster (Wint), 6-0; 3. Elias Schaeffer (Har) pinned Colby Sorensen (Atl), :56. No wrestleback.
126 — 1. Nick Rounds (MV) dec. Austin Gutknecht (Clar), 6-4; 3. Marshal McDermott (Atl) dec. Mitchel Swank (C/O-M), 6-5. No wrestleback.
132 — 1. Dusten Reed (B/L) tech fall Wyatt Thompson (C/O-M), 15-0 (3:05); 3. Tim Sibbel (KC) major dec. Tanner Mauk (Atl), 10-1. No wrestleback.
138 — 1. Spencer Wray (C/O-M) pinned Austin Williamson (Atl), 2:55; 3. Jake Johnson (Shen) dec. Jacob Jenkins (Wint), 6-2. Wrestleback: 2. Austin Williamson (Atl) dec. Jake Johnson (Shen), 9-8.
145 — 1. Joey Huntington (C/O-M) dec. Tanner Mertz (RO), 6-4; 3. Justin Smith (Wint) major dec. Jacob Koke (Har), 20-9. No wrestleback.
152 — 1. Reid Nichols (Atl) pinned Luke Strong (Clar), 4:59; 3. Cameron Leith (C/O-M) dec. Nathan Haynes (MV), 3-2. Wrestleback: 2. Luke Strong (Clar) major dec. Cameron Leith (C/O-M), 12-4.
160 — 1. Chase Shiltz (C/O-M) dec. Colton Ranney (CD), 7-2; 3. Zac Stork (Atl) pinned Winston Veatch (MV), 2:39. No wrestleback.
170 — 1. JJ Clark (Clar) pinned Tayler Pettit (C/O-M), 1:06; 3. Drake Roller (Atl) pinned Zane Harvey (MV), 1:34. Wrestleback: 2. Tayler Pettit (C/O-M) pinned Drake Roller (Atl), 1:46.
182 — 1. Trenton Wells (CD) dec. Trey Stickler (Clar), 1-0; 3. JD Lewis (Shen) pinned Travis Petersen (Atl), 6:43. No wrestleback.
195 — 1. Seth Maitlen (C/O-M) dec. Christian Lauritsen (Clar), 3-1 (SV-1); 3. Kegan Hosfelt (Atl) pinned Aaron Johannsen (Har), 1:47. No wrestleback.
220 — 1. Kadon Hulett (C/O-M pinned Trace Carson (CD), :58; 3. Seth Gehling (KC) pinned Tom Rief (MV), 1:34. No wrestleback.
285 — 1. Jake Gutschenritter (C/O-M) dec. Jared DeVoe (Clar), 2-1 (TB-1); 3. Skyler Svoboda (Atl) pinned Seth Jimmerson (MV), 5:17. No wrestleback.