The West Liberty High School Comet wrestling team competed in the Class 2A Sectional #16 at Solon High School on Saturday, Feb. 5. The Comets came away with a runner-up team finish, just 32 points behind team champion West Burlington Notre Dame.
The Comets experienced quite a bit of success and good fortune throughout the afternoon, with eight individual team members placing in the top two and advancing to the Class 2A District #8 meet at Williamsburg High School on Saturday, Feb. 12.
The results included:
At 106, #3 ranked junior Colin Cassady pinned his first round opponent from Solon in 1:40 to advance straight into the finals.
Cassady squared off with #2 ranked Carter West (45-1) of West Burlington Notre Dame in the championship match. West secured the first takedown about midway through the first period and opened things up against Cassady in the third period to win by a 6-2 score.
Cassady (38-5) finished second to West and became the first Comet to punch his ticket to the district meet.
Wrestling at 126, freshman Ryker Dengler (23-27) upset the second seed Jack Kleese of Washington by a 7-2 score to reach the finals. Dengler dropped a tough 15-0 tech fall to Jordan Schmidt of Solon to place second and also advance to next week’s district.
Bryson Garcia (19-31), the freshman 132 pounder lost by fall to class 2A #1 ranked Blaine Frazier of West Burlington Notre Dame in his first bout. Garcia rebounded with a nice 4-0 victory and a 9-1 major decision win over Jude Carter of Washington to secure his trip to districts with second place.
Sophomore Alexis Michel (2-2) jumped on a 1:07 pin in his first match at 138. Michel then lost by fall to #12 ranked and sectional champ Tate O’Shea of West Burlington Notre Dame. Michel won his next match via forfeit and had to bow out in the first part of his final match due to injury. Michel would finish in third place.
Top seeded Comet junior Joshua Zeman (32-11) pinned his first foe in 2:23 to reach the final match at 145 against Blake Wilson of West Burlington Notre Dame. Zeman put up five points in the opening period on his way to holding on for a 6-5 victory and first Comet sectional championship.
At 152, freshman Tytan Griffith (0-2) lost by fall to the #7 ranked junior Isaiah Fenton of West Burlington Notre Dame. Griffith lost another match by fall to end his sectional run.
Senior Joe Barten (14-8) picked up a slick 1:19 pin to begin his day. Barten then dropped his next match by fall and closed out with a 1:48 pin over Hunter Haage of Keokuk to place third at 160.
At 170, #4 ranked and top seeded Drake Collins (40-3) wrestled just :38 total for the day to place first and advance to districts. An opening round bye, the :38 pin and a forfeit by River Belger of West Burlington Notre Dame in the finals resulted in Collins’ championship.
Senior Felipe Molina (35-11) pulled out a pin over second seed Logan Frazer (16-4) of Washington to earn his spot in the finals at 182. There, Molina lost by a 18-3 tech fall to #1 ranked CJ Walrath of West Burlington Notre Dame and advanced to the district meet on a second place placement.
At 195, senior Jahsiah Galvan (32-6) also had minimal mat time as his only contested match was a 1:18 pin in the semifinals over Braydon Hoffman of Solon. Kolbe Barnes (20-18) of Keokuk forfeited to Galvan in the finals and Galvan earned his first ever trip to a district wrestling meet.
Sophomore Joe Akers (10-25) had an exciting run at 220 before losing his final match of the day by fall to finish in third place. Akers recorded a 2:31 pin over Ethan Graber of Mount Pleasant, lost by fall to the eventual champ and won an exciting :45 pin to round out his final competition of the year.
West Liberty’s Quintyn Rocha (34-14) won a dramatic 3-2 overtime match over Braydon Hartman (24-7) of Washington to commence his day in the 285 pound bracket. The sophomore then lost by fall to #1 ranked Gage Marty (43-2) of Solon. Rocha earned his trip to the district meet with his second place medal.
Head Coach Ian Alke was really pleased with his team and thought it was a really good day for the Comets. “The guys certainly had to work for it today & I am just really proud of our team.”
“There was great competition here and we knew that coming in. West Burlington Notre Dame and Solon have very talented teams with great athleticism. They have both been wrestling very well lately, so I’m just really proud. We got off to a great start with a few pins and our guys fed off of that,” Alke said.
“Our team is wrestling at their best and I feel we are peaking at the right time. My hope is that we use this as momentum into Saturday,” the coach finalized.
District competition
The district meet is set to start at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, at Williamsburg High School. The top two individuals in each weight class will advance to the State Wrestling Meet held in the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines beginning Thursday, Feb. 17.
First round matchups at district:
106 Colin Cassady (Jr. 38-5) VS Klayten Perreault Mount Vernon (So. 31-12)
126 Ryker Dengler (Fr. 23-27) VS Jaiden Moore Benton Community (Sr. 35-0)
132 Bryson Garcia (Fr. 19-31) VS Cason Miller Fairfield (Fr. 22-2)
145 Joshua Zeman (Jr. 32-11) VS Jackson Rhomberg Mount Vernon (Jr. 5-4)
170 Drake Collins (Jr 40-3) VS Kaden Meader Mid Prairie (Jr. 29-16)
182 Felipe Molina (Sr. 35-11) VS Gable Dayton Williamsburg (Jr. 41-7)
195 Jahsiah Galvan (Sr. 32-6) VS Jack Geels Williamsburg (Sr. 35-16)
285 Quintyn Rocha (So, 34-14) VS Gannon Gallahan Mid Prairie (21-2)