By Becky Walz,
Seven Winneshiek County grapplers punched their ticket to the state wrestling tournament Saturday.
Three Viking wrestlers advanced from their Class 2A District Meet hosted by Decorah while four Warriors moved on from their Class 1A District Meet at MFL MarMac in Monona.
These wrestlers are all headed to the state wrestling tournament, which begins Wednesday and runs through championship Saturday, Feb. 15-18, at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
It will be the first-time experience for six of the seven grapplers on the big stage.
Seven Winneshiek County grapplers punched their ticket to the state wrestling tournament Saturday.
Three Viking wrestlers advanced from their Class 2A District Meet hosted by Decorah while four Warriors moved on from their Class 1A District Meet at MFL MarMac in Monona.
These wrestlers are all headed to the state wrestling tournament, which begins Wednesday and runs through championship Saturday, Feb. 15-18, at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
It will be the first-time experience for six of the seven grapplers on the big stage.
How they qualified
New this year there were no sectional meets, only district sites. Regardless of class, wrestlers needed to finish in the top two of their weight to advance to state. For each of the 12 Class 1A and 2A district tournaments there were 12 sites, making 24 wrestlers at each weight who will compete at state.
At districts, wrestle backs are utilized to determine 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.
Mighty three
Decorah finished fifth at the district meet with 96.5 points. Crestwood won the team title with 173.5 points.
Decorah senior Brady Stille, along freshmen Will Larson and Mason Avila all finished in the top two Saturday in Decorah.
At 145 pounds, Class 2A No. 4 Brady Stille moved directly into the semifinal with a quarterfinal bye. It was a short match in the semifinal for the senior as he pinned Logan Boehm of North Fayette Valley in 57 seconds. It was another fall in the final over Nathan Lopez of Charles City in 3:46 to punch his third straight ticket to state of his career.
Stille carries a 27-9 record into state receives a first-round bye with his first match between either Jacob McGargill (40-14) of Shenandoah or No. 12 Hudson Scranton (41-5) of Anamosa. Last year, Stille was on the podium, finishing third at 145 pounds.
Competing at 120 pounds, this will be Larson’s first trip to state. The freshman pinned Waukon’s Max Jones in 2:22 in the quarterfinal. Moving on, Larson threw Jordan Young of Charles City in 5:04 to advance to the finals. It took a 15-4 major decision over Carter Liston of Aplington-Parkersburg/Grundy Center for the Viking to win the 120 district title and punch his ticket to state.
Larson has a 22-15 record heading into state. He will first face 15th seed Aldin Swanson (31-14) of Vinton-Shellsburg at state.
Finishing runner-up, Avila earned his way to state with a quarterfinal fall over Karter Hardwick of Oelwein in 2:26 and another pin in 2:40 over Tate Germann of North Fayette Valley. In the final, the freshman lost a close 6-5 decision to fifth-ranked senior Jakob Regan of Waukon. Avila avoided a wrestle back by virtue of having already defeating Germann in a previous round.
Avila is 23-12 this season and faces Andon Barrick of Iowa Falls-Alden in the first round.
Fantastic four
The Warriors had four grapplers advance from the MFL MarMac district meet. As a team, the Warriors too third with 103.5 points.
“This meet was filled with a lot of different emotions. We won a lot of hard fought matches and placed third overall as a team and sent four kids to the state tournament. We also had the season end for a lot of our guys. It’s hard when the goals that are set don’t come to fruition but we couldn’t be prouder of the team that represented South Winneshiek wrestling this season. We are very fortunate to be getting the majority of these guys back for next year,” said SW coach Jacob Elsbernd.
Class 1A No. 3 Collin Holm (138 pounds) will compete at the state meet for the first time, along with teammates Kyle Kuboushek, Kaden Bullerman and Parker Timp.
Holm picked up three wins Saturday, winning a district title. He threw Anthony Sandoval of Clayton Ridge in nine seconds in the quarterfinal then pinned Anthony King of Starmont in 1:09. That placed Holm in the final with Kanen Decker of Wapsie Valley, where he won by a 5-0 decision.
Holm is 37-1 this season and received a first-round bye at state. His first match with be in round two versus the winner of Evan Meadows (44-6) of West Monona-Whiting and Ben Holton (39-9) of Hudson.
Receiving a first-round bye at 152 pounds, freshman Kyle Kuboushek hung on for a 2-0 decision win over Starmont’s Jase Tommasin in the semifinal. Squaring off with Wapsie Valley’s Garrett Miller, Kuboushek fell short of the district title with an 8-5 decision loss. Since he defeated Tommasin in the semifinal, Kuboushek did not have to compete in a wrestle back and took home the runner-up and qualifying spot.
Kuboushek is 35-11 this season. He will face Kyler Crow (31-5) of Mediapolis in the first round of state.
Bullerman needed to win a wrestle back to keep his season alive. He started his day with a quarterfinal bye at 170 pounds then lost a 5-3 decision to Beckman’s Alex Hageman. In the consolation semifinal, the Warrior senior threw Jonah Frost of Wapsie Valley in 3:31 to move into the third-place match. It was there that Bullerman pinned Dayne Kohrs of MFL MarMac in 3:58. That sent him into a wrestle back against Postville’s Stephen Russell who Bullerman bested by a 12-7 decision to claim second.
The South Winn senior is 35-12 this year and will face Regan Witt, a junior from Saint Ansgar with a 30-5 record in round one.
Wrestling at 195 pounds, Timp was a runner-up as well. Following a quarterfinal bye, the junior grappler pinned Jake Schoer of Wapsie Valley in 2:37 to advance to the finals. No. 6 Nathan Beitz of Maquoketa Valley got Timp rolled over in 1:42, but it was a no contest for a wrestle back between the Warrior and Schoer of Wapsie, sending Timp to state for the first time.
Timp is 18-10 this season. He will face Colin Jacobs of Southwest valley in the first round. Jacobs is a senior with a 32-18 record.
“It was a pretty special feeling seeing Kaden Bullerman qualify for state, he had a tough loss in the semifinals but was able to regroup and get two more wins on the day to solidify his spot at state. Juniors Collin Holm and Parker Timp have overcome some adversity of their own. Both have been nursing some pretty serious injuries and they just continue to show so much mental toughness to be able to work through those setbacks and both have so much to be proud of. Freshman Kyle Kuboushek has come in and set the tone for what will no doubt be an amazing career in a South Winn singlet. He continues to get better and has a knack for putting himself in good positions. We are really excited to see what these young men can do in Des Moines!” concluded Coach Elsbernd.
Run down to state
The state wrestling tournament begins Wednesday, Feb. 15, at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines and runs through Saturday, Feb. 18. The first round for Class 1A (South Winn) is Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 9 a.m., while the first round for Class 2A (Decorah) is Thursday, Feb. 15, at 1:30 p.m.
Wrestlers need to win at least once Thursday to advance. If a wrestler loses in the first round, he falls into the consolation bracket. Two losses eliminates a grappler.
Class 2A District 3 team scores
1. Crestwood 173.5; 2. New Hampton/Turkey Valley 157; 3. North Fayette Valley 144.5; 4. Charles City 123.5; 5. Decorah 96.5; 6. Aplington-Parkersburg/Grundy Center 79.5; 7. Oelwein 26
Individual results
113 – Mitchell Stemper, Decorah, DNP
Quarterfinal – LBF 0:46 to Carter Schmauss (Crestwood); cons. rd. 1 – LBF 0:51 to Jayden Mara (Waukon)
120 – Will Larson, Decorah, 1st place
Quarterfinal – WBF 2:22 over Max Jones (Waukon); semifinal – WBF 5:04 over Jordan Young (Charles City); final – won 15-4 maj. dec. over Carter Liston (AP-GC)
120 – Ty Moudry, NH/TV, DNP
Quarterfinal – LBF 1:06 to Jaxson Lundgren (NFV); cons. rd. 1 – WBF 1:07 over Owen Korsmo (Crestwood); cons. semifinal – LBF 1:40 to Jordan Young (CC)
126 – Mason Avila, Decorah, 2nd place
Quarterfinal – WBF 2:26 over Karter Hardwick (Oelwein); semifinal – WBF 2:40 over Tate Germann (NFV); final – lost 6-5 dec. to Jakob Regan (Waukon); second place – won no contest over Germann (NFV)
132 – Kollin Henry, Decorah, 3rd place
Quarterfinal – WBF 3:03 over Dylan LaPolice (CC); semifinal – lost 7-0 dec. to Ryan Wilson (Crestwood); cons. semifinal – WBF 3:32 over Mason Bertram (AP-GC); 3rd place – won 8-0 maj. dec. over Jayden Bucknell (NH/TV); 2nd place – lost no contest to Wilson (Crestwood)
138 – Lane Rolfs, Decorah, DNP
Quarterfinal – lost 6-2 dec. to Jacob Vance (CC); cons. rd. 1 – bye; cons. semifinal – lost 7-0 dec. to Caden Kerr (NFV)
145 – Brady Stille, Decorah, 1st place
Quarterfinal – bye; semifinal – WBF 0:57 over Logan Boehm (NFV); final – WBF 3:46 over Nathan Lopez (CC)
145 – Burke Busta, NH/TV, 4th place
Quarterfinal – won 5-1 dec. over Kaleb Adams (Crestwood); semifinal – lost 7-2 dec. to Nathan Lopez (CC); cons. semifinal – WBF 1:19 over Dylan Knaack (AP-GC); 3rd place – lost 5-3 dec. to Logan Boehm (NFV)
160 – Brody Hanson, Decorah, 3rd place
Quarterfinal – WBF 4:45 over Colton Anderegg (CC); semifinal – lost 5-4 dec. to Karson Kolbet (NH/TV); cons. semifinal – won 5-2 dec. over Dillon Sparrgrove (NFV); 3rd place – WBF 1:52 over Anderegg (CC); 2nd place – lost no contest to Kolbet (NH/TV)
170 – Thomas Sexton, Decorah, DNP
Quarterfinal – won 15-0 tech fall in 4:25 over Kenny Kerr (NFV); semifinal – lost 3-1 sudden victory to Clay Saak (AP-GC); cons. semifinal – lost 8-7 dec. to Cullen Dickson (Waukon)
195 – Kaiden Youngblood, Decorah, DNP
Quarterfinal – LBF 0:39 to Ethan Peterson (CC); cons. rd. 1 – LBF 1:28 to Corbyn Palmer (Waukon)
Class 1A District 6 team scores
1. Wapsie Valley 232; 2. MFL MarMac 152; 3. South Winn 103.5; 4. Beckman Catholic 92; 4. Starmont 92; 6. Maquoketa Valley 78; 7. Edgewood-Colesburg 56; 8. Postville 51; 9. Clayton Ridge 41; 10. Central Elkader 37
Individual results
106 – Jamison Zweibahmer, DNP
Quarterfinal – LBF 3:07 to Moe Hashi (Postville); cons. rd. 1 – WBF 0:57 over Jonah Burns (Central Elkader); cons. semifinal – LBF 1:31 to Kaiden Belinsky (Wapsie Valley)
120 – John Donovan, DNP
Quarterfinal – LBF 1:26 to Jake Schmidt (Beckman); cons. rd. 1 – won 21-6 tech fall in 4:41 over Jarett Hanson (MFL MM); cons. semifinal – LBF 0:25 to Brody Kleitsch (Wapsie Valley)
126 – Eric Greve, DNP
Quarterfinal – LBF 1:08 to Peyton Gaul (Ed-Co); cons. rd. 1 – WBF 2:51 over Andrew Roling (Beckman); cons. semifinal – LBF 2:21 to Rylee Kugal (MFL MM)
132 – Landen Schnuelle, 4th place
Quarterfinal – WBF 0:53 over Preston Kulper (Central Elkader); semifinal – lost 10-0 maj. dec. to Easton Krall (Wapsie Valley); cons. semifinal – WBF 4:16 over Abdiaziz Ibrahim (Postville); 3rd place – lost 5-3 sudden victory to Preston Hunter (Beckman)
138 – Collin Holm, 1st place
Quarterfinal – WBF 0:09 over Anthony Sandoval (Clayton Ridge); semifinal – WBF 1:09 over Anthony King (Starmont); final – won 5-0 dec. over Kanen Decker (Wapsie Valley)
145 – Lukas Weiss, DNP
Quarterfinal – LBF 1:10 to Karter Decker (MFL MM); cons. rd. 1 – LBF 1:35 to Daniel Royer (Central Elkader)
152 – Kyle Kuboushek, 2nd place
Quarterfinal – bye; semifinal – won 2-0 dec. over Jase Tommasin (Starmont); final – lost 8-5 dec. to Garrett Miller (Wapsie Valley); 2nd place – won no contest of Tommasin (Starmont)
160 – Brady Ohrt, DNP
Quarterfinal – WBF 1:41 over Caleb Lawrence (Clayton Ridge); semifinal – LBF 0:22 to Quinn McGeough (MFL MM); cons. semifinal – LBF 4:34 to Cody Hageman (Beckman)
170 – Kaden Bullerman, 2nd place
Quarterfinal – bye; semifinal – lost 5-3 dec. to Alex Hageman (Beckman); cons. semifinal – WBF 3:31 over Jonah Frost (Wapsie Valley); 3rd place – WBF 3:58 over Dayne Kohrs (MFL MM); 2nd place – won 12-7 dec. over Stephen Russell (Postville)
182 – Ray Lienau, 4th place
Quarterfinal – WBF 3:52 over Aydan Palafox-Schultz (Postville); semifinal – LBF 1:11 to Cannon Joerger (Wapsie Valley); cons. semifinal – WBF 0:28 over Jacob Cook (Central Elkader); 3rd place – LBF 0:53 to Austin Schaller (MFL MM)
195 – Parker Timp, 2nd place
Quarterfinal – bye; semifinal – WBF 2:37 over Jake Schoer (Wapsie Valley); final – LBF 1:42 to Nathan Beitz (Maquoketa Valley); 2nd place – won no contest over Schoer (Wapsie Valley)
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