With Panthers star wrestler Christian Ahrens sidelined with an elbow injury for the Hawkeye 10 tournament at home Saturday, the race for the conference title was contested until the very end, but it was Creston who pulled off the narrow 224-217 victory over Lewis Central.
Having only three wrestlers weighing under 120 lbs, the Panthers had to do something they rarely do — leave a weight class empty. With the Panthers out of the picture at 120, Vinny Mayberry of Glenwood went on to win his fourth straight Hawkeye 10 title.
Four Panthers made it to the finals and two came out victorious. All 13 Panthers earned top-six spots.
Champions
Senior Austin Evans (35-4) recently made the cut from 150 to 144, and has since won two tournament titles. Ranked eighth at 150, Evans came into the H10 tournament as the top seed.
On his path to the finals, Evans pinned Joe Klein of Kuemper Catholic, had a 17-0 tech fall over Connor Wear of Glenwood and won his semifinals match against Sam Raymond of St. Albert in 13 seconds.
In the finals, Evans faced Jaxon Brewer of Lewis Central, an important bout as the two teams were fighting for the conference title. In what has been an outstanding season for Evans, he continued to display his dominance, winning the conference championship in a 15-0 technical fall.
Senior Max Chapman (26-6) had a major competitor out of the way Saturday as Evan Sorensen of Atlantic didn’t compete. Chapman had just defeated Sorenson in the John J. Harris title match a week prior.
Chapman came in to the conference tournament as the two-seed behind Karson Downey (32-4) of Clarinda. Pinning his first two opponents, Chapman made it to the finals against Downey.
The two heavyweight wrestlers went the full six minutes, Chapman winning in a 5-2 decision.
Silver
Will Bolinger (33-3) came in as the top seed at 165. He pinned Jacob Rystrom of Shenandoah in the semifinals, advancing to the finals where he faced Kellan Scott (34-6) of Glenwood.
Down 2-1 entering the final period, Bolinger escaped Scott and found a takedown to take a 4-2 lead. With only a minute left in the bout, Scott escaped, leaving Bolinger up by only one.
The two went to the ground with less than 30 seconds left and with only 12 seconds on the clock, Scott was awarded two points for the takedown and the 5-4 decision.
Quinten Fuller (28-9) pinned Jacob Rystrom of Red Oak in the quarterfinals and defeated Jacob Rystrom 7-3 of Lewis Central in the semifinals to advance to the finals.
Fuller faced Glenwood’s Mason Koehler (37-5), ranked fifth in the state at 215, for the H10 title. Koehler won the bout in a 6-1 decision.
Bronze
Kylen Parsons (24-15) won his quarterfinals match against Hayden Hash of Clarinda, pinning him in the first period before advancing to face top-ranked Taye Jordan of Atlantic in the semifinals.
Jordan won the bout in a technical fall, sending Parsons to the consolation bracket. Parsons took down Nathan Sandquist of Harlan to earn a spot in the third-place match where he defeated Brody Black of Glenwood in a 6-2 decision.
Brodrick Phelps (22-13) pinned Tytan Frohlich of Harlan in the quarterfinals before facing top-ranked Aiden Smith of Atlantic in the semifinals. Smith won the bout, Phelps falling to wrestle back for third.
He won his first consolation bout against Jackson Graeve of Denison-Schleswig in an 8-2 decision before facing Frohlich again in the third-place match.
A much more competitive bout, Frohlich had a 7-5 lead after the first. Phelps came back to tie the match at 10-10 after the second. In the final period, Phelps had a takedown and a nearfall to win the bout 14-11.
Lincoln Keeler (21-11) won his first match against Dayton Gusman of Red Oak, pinning Gusman in the first period of the 132 quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Keeler went into overtime against Derrick Gregory of Lewis Central. Gregory pulled off the comeback win with an overtime takedown.
Keeler went on to pin Hayden Roush of Shenandoah to earn a spot in the third-place match where he defeated Jayden Harter of Atlantic in a 3-1 decision.
Milo Staver (33-8) pinned his 157 lbs quarterfinals opponent Hayden Trotter of Lewis Central in 3:55 before falling to Jake Irlbeck of Kuemper Catholic in the semifinals.
In his final two bouts, Staver pinned Austin Wear of Glenwood and Brody Bendorf of Harlan to earn third.
Panthers Placing
Fourth – Lane Travis (113), Jackson Pettegrew (150), Jagger Luther (190).
Fifth – Brandon Briley (138)
Sixth – Gunner Martwick (175).
The No. 3 Panthers host No. 15 Carroll and No. 20 Winterset Tuesday for Regional Duals.