Comets sending six wrestlers to state finals

By Andrew Larson

Press Correspondent

PARKERSBURG — Fielding one district champion and five runners-up, the Charles City varsity wrestling team will send six representatives to the Class 2A State Tournament this Thursday through Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The Class 2A District 1 tournament held at Aplington-Parkersburg High School on Saturday started off very well for the Comets, as six of the eight Charles City wrestlers competing won their first matches and advanced to the championship round. They included juniors Nate Lasher (126 pounds) and Aaron Maloy (220); and seniors Austin Staudt (138), Maxwell Forsyth (145), Nick Jacobs (195) and Brody Tupy (285).

The lone champion on the day for Charles City was Forsyth, whose record now stands at 35-3 after defeating senior Jaret Probasco of South Tama in the semis, and then edging Osage junior Derek Fox — who seems get tougher every week — with a 9-7 decision in the final.

After falling in their respective championship matches, Jacobs and Tupy both bounced back to in the wrestlebacks to punch their tickets to Des Moines. Jacobs (32-13) earned a 13-7 decision over Lane Walton of East Marshall/GMG; Tupy (38-7) survived with a sudden victory over Clear Lake’s Kyle Willms — Tupy had defeated Willms the week before in a hard-fought sectional final.

Lasher (28-12), Staudt (27-6) and Maloy (28-11) all received second-place rulings due to their seedings within their respective brackets..

Also taking part in the tournament were senior Brandon Childs (160), and junior Alex Koehler (182). Childs took home a third-place finish after securing at 10-2 major decision over Ryland Duchane of BCLUW.

Staudt and Jacobs will be heading to the state tournament for the second year in a row. This will by Forsyth’s third consecutive trip. Jacobs took home a sixth-place finish last year after an impressive run that was cut short; Staudt and Forsyth will go in with something to prove after making relatively early exists in their last visit to the state tournament.

Lasher will be returning to the state tournament for the second time after making an appearance in the 2014 tournament as a freshman.