Off to the big meet: Five local grapplers headed to state

By Becky Walz,

Monday, February 14, 2022 2:43 pm

Five Winneshiek County grapplers punched their ticket to the state wrestling tournament Saturday.
Two Decorah wrestlers advanced from the Class 2A District meet at New Hampton and Turkey Valley’s (NH-TV) Marcus Herold, while two Warriors moved on from their Class 1A District meet at Denver.

Five Winneshiek County grapplers punched their ticket to the state wrestling tournament Saturday.
Two Decorah wrestlers advanced from the Class 2A District meet at New Hampton and Turkey Valley’s (NH-TV) Marcus Herold, while two Warriors moved on from their Class 1A District meet at Denver.
These wrestlers are all headed to the state wrestling tournament, which begins Thursday and runs through championship Saturday, Feb. 17-19, at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

How they qualified
Wrestlers at all district sites, regardless of classes, needed to finish in the top two of their weight to advance to state. There were eight districts per class, making 16 wrestlers at each weight who will compete at state.
In order to compete in districts, teams in Class 1A and 2A (SW, Decorah and NH/TV) had to finish in the top two of their weight at the sectional meet, which was held Saturday, Feb. 5. Both the Vikings and Warriors had five take the mat at districts while NH/TV had six, including Trojan Marcus Herold at 220 pounds.
At districts, wrestle backs are utilized to determine the true second place. If the finals loser and consolation finals winner (second and third place) had not competed against each other, they wrestled for second.

The mighty two
Decorah finished eighth at the district meet with 28 points. Union won the team title with 125.5 points.
Advancing from Decorah are Brady Stille at 145 pounds and Austin Wilkins at 160 pounds. Three other Vikings were on the mat including Collin Henry (113), Brody Hanson (152) and Corbyn Palmer (195). To see how they did against the stiff competition, visit www.driftlessjournal.com.
Collin Henry was the first Viking to step onto the mat at 113 pounds, dropping an 18-3 tech fall to No. 10 Brayden Bohnsack of Union. In the third-place match, Henry was turned in 3:16 by No. 11 Kaden Kremer of Independence.
Competing at 145 pounds, No. 11 Stille won a 13-3 decision over Jesse Grimes of North Fayette Valley in the semifinal, then dropped a close 5-4 decision to Independence’s eighth-ranked Isaiah Weber. The final loss forced Stille into a wrestle back situation versus Talan Weber of Charles City to earn his state bid by fall in 3:43.
Stille will battle No. 12 Max Gast (39-8), a sophomore from Osage, in the first round at state. Last year, Stille won one match at state at 132 pounds. He has a 31-11 record heading into state for the second year in a row.
Two falls, bounced Brody Hanson out of state bid contention at 152 pounds. The Viking fell to No. 4 Hunter Worthern of Union in 3:46, the was turned by Dalton Hoover of Independence in 1:36 in the third-place match.
At 160 pounds, Austin Wilkins wrestled three matches to earn his state bid. In the semifinal, Wilkins was pinned in 5:18 by No. 5 Stone Schmitz from Union, then rebounded in the third-place match to win a 6-2 decision over NH/TV’s Gavin Rings. Earning a wrestle back, the Viking threw Kayden Blunt of Charles City in 1:33 to punch his ticket to state.
With a 28-15 record, Wilkins will make his second appearance at Wells Fargo Arena and will battle Samuel West (45-5), a senior from Notre Dame Burlington. A year ago, as a junior Wilkins finished his state experience the first day with a pair of losses at 138 pounds.
Corbyn Palmer finished fourth at districts at 195 pounds. The junior was thrown in 1:45 by Dacoda Marvets of Union, then lost a close 8-6 decision to Crestwood’s No. 4 Landen Schemmel.

Big duo
As a team, South Winn took seventh at the district tournament with 46 points. With 110 points, Nashua-Plainfield won the team title. The Warriors had two grapplers finished runner-up to advance from the Denver district meet. Keeping their dream alive of a state title are Warrior seniors Logan Hageman and Tony Greve. To see how a trio of Aiden Feickert (106), Ethan Maldonado (132) and Collin Holm (138) did, visit www.driftlessjournal.com.
“The district tournament lived up to what we prepared for, which was an all-out battle at every weight. We were fortunate to have two state qualifiers make it out of that tournament,” said SW Coach Jake Elsbernd.
Making his first trip to districts, 106-pound Aiden Feickert wrestled hard but came up short in a very good bracket that boasted two of the state’s top-seven kids at 106. Feickert finishes his sophomore season with a record of 32-14.
No. 8 Ethan Maldonado lost a heart breaking 4-3 opening round match to Brock Mathers of Central Springs. He rebounded and earned a fall to earn third place over Kaden Abbas of AGWSR, but ultimately didn’t get a chance at a wrestle back. Maldonado finishes the year with a record of 30-11 and completes his career as a four-time UIC champion, a three-time state qualifier and is third all time on the South Winn career win record with 137 wins. 
Finishing his season 6-4, Collin Holm was also a part of a solid bracket at 138 pounds. Holm dropped his opening bout versus No. 2 Clayton McDonough of Central Springs by fall, but came back to earn a fall to earn third place by throwing AGWSR’s Bo Gerbracht and earned a wrestle back. In the wrestle back, the SW freshman dropped a back-and-forth match with No. 7 Trey Nelson from Nashua-Plainfield to ultimately lose 7-6 and just missed his state tournament bid. 
At 195 pounds, Logan Hageman was able to pick up a big time fall in his opening match over Holden Hensley of Newman Catholic to put him in the finals. He lost by fall in the championship match to No. 8 Kolben Miller of North Butler-Clarksville but was still able to earn his first trip to the state tournament by no contest for second place. 
With a 24-5 record, Hageman will have a tough road at state that begins with nemesis No. 8 Kolben Miller (44-3) of North Butler-Clarksville.
In the 220-pound semifinal, No. 12 Tony Greve won a 3-1 decision over Marshal Schlader of Rockford. The senior lost by fall in the finals to Lake Mills’ Wyatt Hanna but avoided a wrestle back and earned his first trip to the state tournament. 
Greve will take a record of 35-7 to Des Moines this week as he squares off with Audubon’s Cooper Nielsen (33-10) in the opening round Thursday night.
“I thought we had an excellent week of practice preparing for this tournament. The kids were focused and the coaching staff did a great job of building each kid up and working on specifics to help our wrestlers compete at their best.  I feel very good about how the boys competed, we knew there were going to be some tough matches and they fought until the end. It hurts when you come up short and it is an incredible feeling for the ones that win. Just a crazy roller coaster of emotions, but we couldn’t be any prouder of the kids who competed in the South Winn singlets,” concluded Coach Elsbernd.

Herold moves on
NH/TV took fourth at the district meet with 58 points, with four wrestlers advancing to the state meet, including Turkey Valley’s Marcus Herold at 220 pounds. Other qualifiers for the Chickasaws were Ben Tenge (170), Braden McShane (182) and Isaac Howe (195).
A semifinal loss to Wil Textor of Dike-New Hartford by a 5-2 decision forced Herold into the consolation bracket. The senior responded with an 11-1 major decision over Crestwood’s Drew Jackson. It took a wrestle back with Brady McDonald for Herold to advance via a throw in 1:10.

Class 2A District 5 team scores
1. Union 125.5; 2. Independence 102; 3. Crestwood 85.5; 4. New Hampton/Turkey Valley 58; 5. North Fayette Valley 50; 6. Dike-New Hartford 48; 7. Charles City 45; 8. Decorah 28; 9. BCLUW-SH 20; 10. Waukon 12; 11. AP-GC 0

Class 1A District 2 team scores
1. Nashua-Plainfield 110; 2. Lake Mills 73; 3. North Butler-Clarksville 71; 4. Central Springs 53.5; 5. Hudson 47; 5. Northwood-Kensett 47; 7. South Winn 46; 8. Columbus Catholic 45; 9. Newman Catholic 30; 10. Denver 26; 10. Riceville 26; 12. Rockford 10; 13. AGWSR 0; 13. West Fork 0

Individual results
106 – Aiden Feickert, SW, 4th place
Semifinal – LBF 1:24 to Lucas Oldenkamp (Lake Mills); 3rd place – LBF 2:51 to Dawson Jacobsen (Central Springs)

113 – Kollin Henry, Decorah, 4th place
Semifinal – lost 18-3 tech fall to Brayden Bohnsack (Union); 3rd place – LBF 3:16 to Kaden Kremer (Independence)

132 – Ethan Maldonado, SW, 3rd place
Semifinal – lost 4-3 dec. to Brock Mathers (Central Springs); 3rd place – WBF 5:48 over Kaden Abbas (AGWSR); 2nd place – lost by no contest to Brock Mathers (Central Springs)

138 – Collin Holm, SW, 3rd place
Semifinal – LBF 1:22 to Clayton McDonough (Central Springs); 3rd place – WBF 1:45 over Bo Gerbracht (AGWSR); 2nd place – lost 7-6 dec. to Trey Nelson (Nashua-Plainfield)

145 – Brady Stille, Decorah, 2nd place
Semifinal – won 13-3 maj. dec. over Jesse Grime (NFV); final – lost 5-4 dec. to Isaiah Weber (Independence); 2nd place – WBF 3:43 over Talan Weber (Charles City)

152 – Brody Hanson, Decorah, 4th place
Semifinal – LBF 3:46 to Hunter Worthen (Union); 3rd place – LBF 1:36 to Dalton Hoover (Independence)

160 – Austin Wilkins, Decorah, 2nd place
Semifinal – LBF 5:18 to Stone Schmitz (Union); 3rd place – won 6-2 dec. over Gavin Rings (NH/TV); 2nd place – WBF 1:#3 over Kayden Blunt (Charles City)

195 – Corbyn Palmer, Decorah, 4th place
Semifinal – LBF 1:45 to Dacoda Marvets (Union); 3rd place – lost 8-6 dec. to Landen Schemmel (Crestwood)

195 – Logan Hageman, SW, 2nd place 
Semifinal – WBF 2:56 over Holden Hensley (Newman Catholic); final – LBF 0:45 to Kolben Miller (NB-C); 2nd place – won by no contest over Holden Hensley (Newman Catholic)

220 – Tony Greve, SW, 2nd place
Semifinal – won 3-1 dec. over Marshal Schlader (Rockford); final – LBF 5:09 to Wyatt Hanna (Lake Mills); 2nd place – won by no contest over Marshal Schlader (Rockford)

220 – Marcus Herold, NH/TV, 2nd place
Semifinal – lost 5-2 dec. to Wil Textor (D-NH); 3rd place – won 11-1 maj. dec. over Drew Jackson (Crestwood); 2nd place – WBF 1:10 over Brady McDonald (Independence)

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