Comet senior Talan Weber wins 150-pound title at Keith Vry Wrestling Invitational

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

PARKERSBURG — One of the more popular grievances among wrestlers, coaches, fans and … especially … parents are the fickle nature of state weight class rankings posted by various websites and publications.

But the best way to properly gauge a ranked-wrestler’s prowess is to witness it in action on the wrestling mat — especially when it’s against another ranked wrestler.

Charles City’s lone returning state-qualifier, Talan Weber, is currently ranked No. 12 among the state’s Class 2A 150-pounders according to the latest posting by IAwrestle.

In the championship round of Saturday’s Keith Vry Invitational annually hosted by Aplington-Parkersburg, Weber faced AGWSR senior Kaden Abbas, who is ranked No. 6 among Class 1A 150-pounders and was undefeated through nine matches going into the invite.

Weber was aggressive right from the start and thoroughly controlled the match from start to finish while earning the 5-1 decision and the lone invite title for the Comets.

With three wins on Saturday including a fall victory in the quarterfinals, Weber improved to 6-2 for the season.

Earlier in the championship round, Charles City senior Jordan Young faced Don Bosco junior Jaxon Larson in the 126-pound final. Young, who had advanced to the final by way of bye victory, fall victory and decision victory in order, managed to take an early lead against Larson as the match remained close through the first period and into the second.

Eventually, Larson was able to turn Young’s shoulders after a takedown and got the fall victory at 3:37.

Comet freshman Carter Cajthaml, ranked No. 6 among Class 2A 126-pounders, wrestled in the 132-pound bracket at A-P, and placed third when he pinned AGWSR senior Jaedrek Bowles in the first-period of their consolation championship bout.

Cajthaml had previously defeated Bowles with a first-period fall in the quarterfinals before losing by way of technical-fall to Don Bosco freshman and eventual champion Dawson Youngblut in the semifinals.

With an 8-2 record, Cajthaml leads the Comets in wins less than a month into the season.

After suffering a quarterfinal loss of his own, Charles City senior 157-pounder Carter Burkhardt also battled back in the backside bracket to advance to the consolation championship. But Burkhardt had to settle for fourth place after getting pinned in the first period by Clarion Goldfield freshman Charlie Campbell.

The Comets placed seventh in the 10-team field with 104 team points. Benton Community won the meet with 192 team points.

* Meanwhile at the Vinton-Shellsburg Girls Wrestling Invitational, Charles City juniors Destiny Kolheim and Leah Stewart both won their brackets while helping the Comets place seventh among a field of 17 teams.

Kolheim, who has not legitimately lost a match all season, was her usual dominant self while going through the 155-pound bracket like a buzzsaw while recording four first-period fall victories while improving her season record to 11-1.

Stewart, who is a returning state-qualifier, was 2-0 with a pair of fall victories while claiming the 190-pound bracket and improving her record to 14-3.

Kolheim and Stewart respectively scored 30 and 28 points of their team’s overall total of 113.

Other double-digit scorers and podium placers for Charles City included senior 235-pounder Ava Thompson (13, 5th), freshman 110-pounder Alexuz Ohlendorf (13, 6th) and freshman 115-pounder Emma Schmitt (14, 5th).