By Becky Walz,
Four grapplers from South Winn are one step closer to earning a spot at the state wrestling meet.
At Saturday’s Class 1A Sectional 7 meet in Lake Mills, six Warriors finished in the top-two of their weight class to move on to the district meet Saturday, Feb. 13, in Clarksville.
South Winn’s Ethan Maldonado (junior, 126 pounds), Logan Hageman (junior, 170), Tony Greve (junior, 195) and Damon Meyer (senior, 220) all earned a spot on the mats at district.
As a team, South Winn was second with 184 points. Lake Mills was the team champion, compiling 221 points.
The top two team advance to the regional team tournament today, Tuesday, Feb. 9. The No. 15 Warriors will face off with No. 11 Denver in the first round at West Hancock (Britt) at 6 p.m. The winner will advance to compete against No. 7 West Hancock.
“These tournaments are always a roller coaster ride with highs and lows. It is exciting to see some of our kids move on but also heartbreaking for those who had their season come to an end. Fortunately, we have the opportunity to compete in the regional dual. We feel like this is a great opportunity to once again have a total team effort and try to do something special like qualify to the state duals,” said Coach Jacob Elsbernd.
How it works
There were seven team at the Sectional 7 meet. Grapplers needed to finish in the top two of their weight bracket in order to advance to districts.
Unlike other meets, wrestle backs are utilized beginning with the sectional round. Wrestle backs are used when the grapplers who finished second and third didn’t face each other. This determines the “true” second-place finisher.
Mighty four
Maldonado placed second at the sectional meet Saturday to earn a spot at districts. He started with a bye at 126 pounds. He then went up against Andrew Womack of Lake Mills, winning by fall in 3:02. That put him in the finals against No. 2 Clayton McDonough of Central Springs. McDonough was too much, with Maldonado fall by an 8-0 major decision.
With a 34-8 season record, Maldonado will face No. 9 Trey Lashbrook (senior, 11-1) of AGWSR in the first round Saturday.
It was a wrestle back victory for Hageman at 170 pounds, allowing him to finish second for the second straight year. The junior started the day with a 28-second fall over Newman’s Hank Brandenburg. A 7-2 decision over Josiah Kliment of Northwood-Kensett in the semifinal put Hageman in the finals. Going up against Kaden Jacobsen of Central Springs, the SW matman fell by a 4-1 decision and was forced to compete in a wrestle back for second. There Hageman threw Saint Ansgar’s Lorne Isler in 1:03.
So far, Hageman is 27-8 at 170 pounds this year. He will do battle with No. 2 Lane Swenson (senior, 37-1) of South Hamilton at districts.
After suffering an injury at sectionals and being forced to give up his spot at districts a year ago, Greve is looking to make the most of his spot at 195 pounds. Saturday, the junior began with a quarterfinal bye. In the semifinal, he took care of Central Springs Josh Ginapp by a 10-4 decision. In the finals, Greve had a tough task, falling to Holden Hensley of Newman.
South Hamilton’s No. 4-ranked Trevor Thompson (senior, 28-3) will meet Greve on the district mat first Saturday.
No. 4 Meyer won his first sectional title Saturday at 220 pounds. Following a bye, Meyer took on Newman’s Kael Hanig in the semifinals, winning in 1:33. Next on the list was No. 8 Sage Hulshizer of Saint Ansgar in the finals, which came down to a 4-3 decision in favor of the Warriors matman.
At 15-1 this year, Meyer will have to face Max Beminio of Belmond-Klemme (senior, 9-5) in the first round of action.
District information
The district meet is Saturday, Feb. 13, at noon at Clarksville. The top-two grapplers at each weight class advance to the state meet, which runs Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 18-20, at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
The champion from each sectional site battles the runner-up from each opposing sectional location in the first round of district action. There will be two rounds, followed by a possible wrestle back. Wrestle backs occur if the second and third place finishers did not face each other in the first round. This determines the “true” second-place winner and the grappler who advances to state.
Individual results
106 – Aiden Feickert (22-22), 3rd place
Quarters – bye; semi – lost by fall 5:27 to Liam Stockberger (Newman); 3rd place – won by fall 0:41 over Will Felper (Riceville); 2nd place – lost by fall 0:45 to Kinser Hanson (LM)
113 – Bo Wangsness (8-19), 3rd place
Quarters – bye; semi – lost by fall 3:14 to Lucas Humphrey (LM); 3rd place – bye
120 – Chase Adam (11-21), 5th place
Quarters – lost by fall 3:10 to Nathan Brumm (SA)
126 – Ethan Maldonado (34-8), 2nd place
Quarters – bye; semi – won by fall 3:02 over Andrew Womack (LM); final – lost 8-0 maj. dec. to No. 2 Clayton McDonough (CS)
132 – Kaden Bullerman (15-14), 3rd place
Quarters – won by fall 1:12 over Dalton Logeman (N-K); semi – lost by fall 1:26 to Jack Ramaker (LM); 3rd place – won by fall 1:50 over Regan Witt (SA)
138 – Chance Adam (16-19), 4th place
Quarters – won by fall 4:00 over Hayden Moore (N-K); semi – lost by fall 0:42 to No. 8 Bryce McDonough (CS); 3rd place – lost 5-3 sudden victory to Matthew Hall (SA)
145 – Toby Conway (15-22), 5th place
Quarters – lost by fall to Brandon Varner (N-K); cons. semi – bye; 5th place – won by fall 1:12 over Asian Wills (SA)
152 – Zach Taylor (29-10), 4th place
Quarters – bye; semi – lost 12-6 dec. to Brett Peterson (LM); 3rd place – lost 13-9 dec. to Tyler Mills (N-K)
160 – Lane Quandahl (32-8), 3rd place
Quarters – won by fall 1:35 over Scott Heinselman (Newman); semi – lost 8-3 dec. to Drake Tiedemann (N-K); 3rd place – won by fall 1:51 over Watson Fair (Riceville)
170 – Logan Hageman (27-8), 2nd place
Quarters – won by fall 0:28 over Hank Brandenburg (Newman); semi – won 7-2 dec. over Josiah Kliment (N-K); final – lost 4-1 dec. to Kaden Jacobsen (CS); 2nd place – won by fall 1:03 over Lorne Isler (SA)
182 – Sam Conway (19-12), 3rd place
Quarters – won by fall 2:36 over Nash Holmgaard (Newman); semi – lost by fall 1:23 to No. 2 Elijah Wagner (LM); 3rd place – won by fall 1:00 over Ben Navratil (CS)
195 – Tony Greve (25-15), 2nd place
Quarters – bye; semi – won 10-4 dec. over Josh Ginapp (CS); final – lost 9-1 maj. dec. to Holden Hensley (Newman)
220 – No. 4 Damon Meyer (15-1), 1st place
Quarters – bye; semi – won by fall 1:33 over Kael Hanig (Newman); final – won 4-3 dec. over No. 8 Sage Hulshizer (SA)
Submit A Comment
Fill out the form to submit a comment. All comments require approval by our staff before it is displayed on the website.