Comet 182-pound senior Kayden Blunt still in medal contention at State Wrestling Tournament

Press Staff Report

DES MOINES — With the State Wrestling Traditional Tournament expanding its brackets to 24 qualifiers, the top-eight seeds in each weight class receive byes.

What proved to be a trend with this new format was that these byes led to “good byes” with a substantial portion of these “advanced placement” competitors being immediately bounced to the consolation bracket after suffering loses to lower-seeded wrestlers who — perhaps — may have squashed any state-tournament jitters with early wins under their belts.

Unfortunately for Charles City senior Kayden Blunt, who was seeded No. 8 in the Class 2A 182-pound bracket, that was his fate during Wednesday’s opening session at Wells Fargo Arena.

Blunt suffered a 28-second fall to Boyden-Hull/Rock Island senior Jace Mulder, who was seeded No. 9 in the bracket.

But Blunt managed to bounce back with a 13-2 major decision over Hampton-Dumont junior Cael Burmester followed by a second-period fall victory over Knoxville junior Wayne Johnston in the “back-side” bracket.

Blunt (28-5) is now one win away from guaranteeing himself a perch among the top-eight podium placers if he could get by Clarinda junior and No. 4-seed Karson Downey in the third round of the consolation bracket on Friday.

Of the five wrestlers Charles City qualified to state, Blunt — who can finish as high as third place if he could win out through Saturday — is the only one still alive in medal contention.

Charles City senior Ethan Peterson, who was ranked among the top Class 2A 220-pounders by IAwrestle just before dropping down to 195, was pinned in the final second of regulation in his first-round match against Waukon senior Corbyn Palmer.

Peterson, who was seeded No. 12 among the Class 2A 195-pounders, defeated No. 11-seed Emmitt Fleshman of West Lyon with a 6-4 decision, but was eliminated in the second round of consolations when he was pinned by Sioux Central junior Jacques Zomermaand at the 2:39 mark of their match. Peterson finished with a 21-8 record his final HS season.

Comet senior Nathan Lopez (145) and junior Talan Weber (152) both won their first-round matches before dropping 1-point decisions in the second round.

After No. 20-seed Lopez defeated No. 13-seed Reese Fauble of Glenwood with a 5-3 decision, Lopez was on the losing end of a 9-8 decision against No. 4-seed Jackson Jaspers of Mount Vernon.

In the consolation bracket, Lopez defeated Shenandoah freshman Jacob McGargill 8-1 before being eliminated by Greene County sophomore Brent Dennhardt with a 13-3 major decision. Lopez finished his final high school season with a 28-11 record.

Weber (21-9) started out with a 14-4 major decision over Okoboji senior Bryce Dodge before getting edged by Osage senior Chase Thomas with a 3-2 decision.

In a rematch of last week’s 152-pound district final, No. 13-seed Weber defeated No. 19-seed Jesse Grimes of North Fayette Valley with a 7-4 decision — the exact result of their last meeting.

Weber later was stopped by West Delaware sophomore Brent Yonkovic, who got the slap at the 1:50 mark.

Charles City 106-pounder Carter Haberkorn, seeded No. 23 in his bracket, lost to No. 10-seed Klayten Perrault of Mount Vernon, who pinned the Comet junior 1:44 into their first-round match. Haberkorn later lost by fall (3:41) to Sergeant Bluff-Luton freshman Jayce Curry in the first round of consolations. That capped Haberkorn’s season at 19-13.

* Nashua-Plainfield, which qualified 13 to the Class 1A tournament, advanced four to the championship bracket semifinals to take place Friday.

They include No. 1-seed sophomore 106-pounder Jayden Rinken (45-2), who will face No. 5-seed Cooper Hinz (34-5) of Jesup; No. 6-seed sophomore 113-pounder Nic Brase (42-6), who will face No. 2-seed Cael Morrow (36-1) of Akron-Westfield; No. 1-seed senior 126-pounder Garrett Rinken (49-0), who will face No. 4-seed Preston Klostermann (33-5) of Alburnett; and No. 6-seed junior 170-pounder Titus Evans (29-6), who will face No. 2-seed Jace Nelson Brown (38-6) of Emmetsburg.

Huskies still in medal contention amid the consolation brackets include 132-pound senior Kendrick Huck (34-10), 138-pound senior Kaden Wilken (36-17), and 195-pound junior Aiden Sullivan (43-12).

* North Butler’s Class 1A No. 2-seed junior 132-pounder Tanner Arjes (45-1) will face Highland, Riverside senior Carlos Valenzuela (49-1) in Friday’s semifinals.

North Butler junior MaKade Bloker, who was the No. 2 seed at 182, was an early “bye-bye” victim when he suffered a fall defeat to No. 15-seed Caden Ballou of Midland.

With two subsequent wins in his consolation bracket, Bloker (36-2) is still in medal contention going into Friday.