February 14, 2018 By Chris Varney
The individual State Wrestling Tournament starts tomorrow with Class 2A first on the mat at 9:00 am. We’ll be there on 1410 KGRN — here’s a preview of the 2A local competitors:
Grinnell
Monday, I wrote about Brock Beck and his tough road in the Districts and he has a tough first round match. #4 Beck (43-5) faces #2 Kain Luensman (47-1) of Monticello in the first round of the 113 pound weight class. These two faced off during the regular season and Luensman, a freshman, beat the sophomore Beck 4-0. Grinnell Head Coach Chad Beck says Leunsman is tall and lanky and they got some similar style wrestlers in the practice room facing off with Beck trying to get him ready. Chad Beck says Brock is more aggressive then he was last year when he finished in 6th place at the Well and Brock will need to be more aggressive early in the match. Luensman’s only loss this year was December 7 to Cascade’s Nolan Noonan 2-0. Noonan is ranked #7 in Class 1A and in the 126 field at state. Beck has lost three times to #1 ranked Grayson Kesterson as well as #3 Andrew Flora and Luensman.
PCM
The Mustangs will send six wrestlers to the state tournament this year. Freshman Landon Fenton (38-8) was a district runner up for PCM at 106 pounds. His only losses since mid January has been twice to #5 Colby Lillegard of Bondurant-Farrar in sectionals and districts. Fenton faces #10 Mason Hill (36-8) of Cherokee. Senior Chase Shirk (29-10) was a district runner up at 126 pounds — he beat Tyler Haynes of Van Meter/Earlham in sectionals and again in districts in the wrestleback round to advance. Shirk faces #5 Sophomore Kayden Kauzlarich (39-5) of Centerville in the first round.
Freshman Colby Tool (32-8) also makes it to the Well at 138. Tool gave #4 Tanner Probasco of South Tama a scare in the districts before losing 6-4 on a reversal with 12 seconds left. Tool faces #8 Sophomore Matthew Doyle (40-9) of Independence on Thursday. At 160, Junior Wes Cummings (46-2) will be one to watch. He is ranked 2nd and his only 2 losses are to Zane Mulder of DCG 6-1, who is ranked second in 3A and Logan Neils of Ankeny Centennial 10-5, who is ranked 6th in 3A. Cummings goes against #3 Luke Hageman (40-3) of Dyersville Beckman who lost in the district finals.
Lucas Roland (45-1) finished 5th place last year at 160 and will try to improve at the 170 weight class this year. Roland, a junior, is ranked second and his only loss is to SE Polk’s Thaddeus Breitsprecker 4-3, ranked #4 in 3A. Roland who lives just south of Grinnell and open enrolls at PCM will face #8 Senior Zane Williams (38-7) from Webster City. Junior Jarron Trausch made it to state last year at 170 but did not medal. Trausch (43-4) is ranked 7th this year at 182 and won the district title by pinning South Tama’s Dalton Rosenberg at 5:36. Trausch has not lost in 2018 and will face Senior Jackson Gingerich (41-16) of West Liberty.
South Tama
Last year the Trojans went 6 for 6 at districts — 2018 is no different as South Tama gets all their district wrestlers into the state tournament. Senior Brady Fritz (43-3) finished 7th a year ago at 126, he’s up to 132 this year and is ranked 5th. His only three losses this year are to Drew Bennett of Ft. Dodge 12-4, ranked third at 132; Ryan Phillips of West Delaware by injury default, ranked 10th in 2A; and Chase McLaren of Atlantic 8-2, who is ranked 6th in 2A. Fritz faces Junior Brody Roll (33-18) of Osage in the first round. At 138, Tanner Probasco (26-0) has missed some time this year in January with an injury but has something to prove at state this year after losing both matches last year. Probasco is ranked 4th and faces Freshman Adam Ahrendsen (33-15) of Union. Probasco beat him 6-1 in a dual on January 20.
At 145, Colton Vest (40-10) finished 5th last year. Vest, ranked 7th, had an impressive 18-8 MD win over #5 Sage Walker of Eddyville in the wrestleback round at districts. He has a tough first round opponent in #3 Senior Mitchel Swank (40-7) of Creston. 152 pounds is where the defending champion Isaac Judge dominates. Judge (44-2) is the favorite to repeat this year. His only 2 losses this year are to #3 Harlan Steffensmeier of Fort Madison (7-5 in OT) and #2 Cayd Lara of Ft. Dodge (6-2). Judge, a future Iowa State Cyclone, will face Junior Roberto Cardenas (30-11) of Sioux Center in the first round. Last year, Judge was ranked #2 and beat then #1 Joe Kelly of West Liberty in the 2nd round 10-2. Kelly would be a possible opponent for Judge in the semifinals this year.
At 182, #9 Dalton Rosenberg (36-7) drew a tough opponent — #1 Julien Broderson (32-0), a junior from Davenport Assumption. Rosenberg got a first round win last year but two straight losses after that finished his chances at a medal. Broderson, meanwhile, is the defending state champ at 182. Finally at 285, Senior Mario Moncada (31-19) makes his first appearance at state. Moncada has flip flopped between 220 and heavyweight so he is lighter than most at 285. His first round oppoent is #2 Senior John McConkey (53-1) of Atlantic. McConkey was the state runner up a year ago.
Williamsburg
The Raiders sent only two to state a year ago but came away with a state title for Grayson Kesterson (45-2) at 106 pounds. This year, Williamsburg sends five wrestlers to the state tournament including Kesterson looking for a repeat bid. As a junior, Kesterson was not scored on last year at the Well. He is now up to 113 pounds and is ranked #1 by the Predicament so comes in as the pre-tourney favorite. This season, Kesterson lost his first match of the year, 3-1 to Zeb Gnida of Solon. The only other loss was to Jack Thomsen of Union and it was a close one as well 2-1. Kesterson will face #7 Junior Ryan Clark (39-6) of Mount Vernon. At 126, Sophomore Jalen Schropp (47-2) is ranked 4th and looking to improve on last year when he won a first round match at state but then lost 2 in a row and failed to medal. Those losses were to Eric Faught of Clear Lake and Hunter Pfantz of West Marshall. They are both in the field this year and actually wrestle against each other in the first round. Schropp has only lost to 1A #3 Easton Larson of Don Bosco (1-0) and 3A #3 Caleb McBride of North Scott (5-3). Schropp faces Junior Davan Goering (36-16) of Davis County in the first round.
Moving up to 160, Senior Cavin Malloy (38-7) has been a feel good story for the Raiders this year. He has been wrestling hurt — there’s no meniscus in one of his knees and he will need surgery after the season. Malloy had his first round match at district delayed by about 20 minutes as the referees debated a first period call. Malloy shook it off and got a pin at 4:38. After a loss to Cummings of PCM, he pinned Cody Ray Smith of Knoxville at 5:48 in the wrestleback round to earn his first trip to state. His draw is tough — Malloy faces Ohio St. recruit Senior #1 Josh Ramirez (9-2) of Dubuque Wahlert in the first round.
At 195, Senior Josh Holub (42-4) heads to state, ranked #7 by the Predicament. Holub lost twice to #6 Harrison Goebel of West Delaware (11-9 and 7-2 in the WaMaC tournament) plus 1A #2 Garet Sims of Iowa Valley (6-3) and Jared Cruz of Overland Park (14-10). Holub faces Junior Dalton Chipp (33-11) of Hampton-Dumont. There could be a rematch with Goebel in the second round if both win. Finally at 220 pounds, Senior Isaac Maser (41-11) heads to the Well. Maser spent most of the season at 182 but was shuffled up to 220 for the WaMaC tournament and finished in 5th place, beating Moncada of South Tama 5-0. Maser faces #2 Senior Jordan Baumler (35-2) of North Fayette Valley in the first round.
2A wrestlers will compete in the first session on Thursday morning beginning at 9 am. We’ll have coverage on 1410 KGRN and myiowainfo.com.