Kayden Blunt 182-pound finalist at Hudson Wrestling Invite

Press Staff Report

HUDSON — Charles City senior and returning district qualifier Kayden Blunt advanced to the championship match of the 182-pound bracket during the Hudson Wrestling Invitational held Saturday at Hudson Elementary School.

There, he faced Columbus Catholic’s Carson Hartz, who defeated Blunt for the bracket title with a 12-2 major decision.

It was Blunt’s third loss of the year as he co-leads all Comet varsity wrestlers with 16 wins.

The other Charles City wrestler with 16 wins this season is Nathan Lopez, another senior returning district qualifier.

Lopez picked up his 16th when he pinned East Marshall/GMG’s Ty Fuller 29 seconds into their 145-pound bracket third-place match.

With Blunt scoring 18 team points, Lopez adding 17.5, senior Trevor Peterson scoring 11 by way of a fifth-place showing in the 195-pound bracket, and Dylan LaPolice and Jacob Vance scoring sixth-place points in their respective 132- and 138-pound brackets, the Comets compiled 56.5 team points, good enough for ninth place amid a 10-team field.

Don Bosco, ranked as the No. 1 team in Class 1A according to IAwrestle, won the meet with 249 team points.

Nashua-Plainfield placed second with 195.5 team points.

The Huskies got individual titles from 113-pounder Nic Brase, and senior 126-pounder Garret Rinken, who improved to 32-0.

As a junior, the University of Northern Iowa-bound Rinken went 57-1 with the lone loss coming in the Class 1A 120-pound state championship bout against Lisbon’s Brandon Paez.

As a sophomore, Rinken went 50-0 after defeating West Sioux’s Braden Graff for the Class 1A 113-pound state title.