More than two dozen area high school wrestlers will be making the trip to the state wrestling championships this week in Des Moines as a result of their efforts at this Saturday’s district meets. At the Class 2A tourney in Sheldon, Spirit Lake Park qualified six grapplers for state. Doug Miner (103) and Dylan Bryce (130) were crowned champions in their weight classes, while Zach Skopec (112), Isaac Lundgren (125), Mark Norland (140), and Rick Maris (145) all finished runners-up. Afterwards Coach Rick VanderWoude spoke proudly about his teams accomplishments. Estherville-Lincoln Central pushed two wrestlers to the next level, Oscar Ramirez (119) and Gable Bonner (285).
The Class 1A meet at Sibley-Ocheyedan featured a number of area schools and athletes with outstanding performances. Okoboji’s Zach Jones (160) hung on late for a district title, and teammate Tanner Taylor (152) will join him at Wells Fargo Arena with a second-place finish. Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn enjoyed an efficient day as all five of their district qualifiers are now state qualifiers. Champions included Nick Drenth (119), Heath Nagel (125), Matt Finch (145), and Wyatt Towne (152), with Josh Treybal (215) grabbing a runner-up spot. For Emmetsburg/Ruthven-Ayrshire, four E-Hawks will be a part of the action in Des Moines, led by champion Skylar Rice (140), along with runners-up Justin Studer (130), Austin McCartan (160), and Nick Schany (171). Also in Class 1A, Graettinger-Terril will send five wrestlers on to state, which include Tyler Dalen (103), Austin Thompson (112), Trent Lundgren (135), Ryan Schany (145) and Nate Howard (215). Sibley-Ocheyedan will send Steven Brockshus at weight 135.
Spencer hosted the Class 3A district meet and the Tigers have four state qualifiers. John Christopherson (119), Jack Randall (140), and Kris Rohde (215) will go as district champs, and Trevor Streuli (103) came in second.
Q102 will be the exclusive home of state wrestling, with live coverage of area wrestlers beginning Wednesday at 1pm and carrying right on through Saturday night’s championship matches.
