Comets Cajthaml, Weber, Young win district titles while advancing to State Wrestling Tournament

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

OSAGE — Though the Charles City Comets are down in numbers this season, they were projected to advance at least three down to the Boys State Wrestling Traditional Tournament.

These three in particular: seniors Talan Weber (150) and Jordan Young (126); and freshman Carter Cajthaml (132).

Mission Accomplished.

At Saturday’s Class 2A-District 6 tournament at Osage High School with state berths promised to the top-two placers in each bracket, all three of the Comets punched their tickets with district championships.

For Weber, it will be his second-straight trip to Des Moines with this year’s tournament running Wednesday through Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena. Weber (26-8) won his second district title when he bested Osage senior Darren Adams with a 13-7 decision in the championship match.

The win avenged a previous loss to Adams during a Charles City-at-Osage dual meet late in the regular season. Then, Adams scored a 3-point near-fall late in the third period to break a 4-4 tie for the win.

During Saturday’s rematch, Weber utilized more of his quickness to jump out to a 4-1 lead early in the first period with a takedown-release-takedown sequence.

Weber remained in control for the rest of the bout against Adams, who was ranked in the Top 12 among Class 2A 150-pounders according to the final rankings posted by IAwrestle — Weber had made numerous appearances amid the publication’s Top 12, but wasn’t ranked going into the state-qualifier.

Young (33-5) got a little more love from IAwrestle with his No. 12 ranking among Class 2A 126-pounders. He showed he’s worthy of the distinction after recording a pair of fall victories en route to the championship match, where he defeated Iowa Falls-Alden senior Andon Barrick with a 5-2 decision.

Like fellow senior Weber, this was Young’s first district title, but — unlike Weber — this will be Young’s first trip to state as a qualifier as he had been repeatedly stopped short of state earlier in his career due to heartbreak at districts.

It’s nice to see a determined senior finally get down to state, but it’s also nice to track freshmen prodigies who may make it down all four years of their prep careers and maybe win a state title or two if they’re not careful.

Cajthaml may be that type of ninth-grader. An accomplished youth wrestler before high school, the No. 8-ranked Cajthaml improved to 35-6 with a 10-5 decision over North Fayette Valley sophomore Jaxson Lundgren in their championship match.

Charles City sophomore 144-pounder Jacob Vance put himself a wrestleback victory away from advancing to state after he edged Crestwood senior Kaleb Adams 10-9 in the consolation final, but lost to North Fayette Valley junior Logan Boehm in a 10-1 major decision in the wrestleback.

Comet 165-pound senior Colton Anderegg and sophomore heavyweight Jackson Warnke both made it to the consolation final of their respective brackets, but both suffered season-ending losses.

With 101.5 team points, Charles City placed fifth among the eight schools represented. Class 2A No. 1-ranked Osage paced the field with 217 team points while boasting six district champs: Blake Fox (138), Anders Kittleson (144), Tucker Stangel (157), Max Gast (165), Ledger Nehls (215) and Mac Muller (285).

* At the Class 1A District 4 state-qualifier at Lake Mills High School, Nashua-Plainfield dominated the field team-scoring wise while boasting seven district champions: Nic Brase (113), Jayden Rinken (120), Devon Blanchard (144), Jackson Carey (157), Titus Evans (175), Tate White (190) and Isaac Jones (285).

At the Class 1A District 10 state-qualifier at South Hamilton High School, North Butler-Clarksville placed third with three district champions: Tanner Arjes (132), Kaiven Kielman (175) and MaKade Bloker (190); and a fourth state-qualifier: Jack Bartels (120).