Two Trojans advance to districts

Saturday at Washington High School six area high schools? varsity wrestling teams met for the Sectional Wrestling Tournament for Class 2A. Columbus Community, Fairfield, Mediapolis, Mid-Prairie, Washington and West Burlington/Notre Dame met with two spots in Tuesday?s Regional Duals and individual spots in Districts on Saturday on the line.

Mediapolis finished as the Sectionals Champion with a team score of 283.5. Washington was the runner-up with 206 points. The Bulldogs and Demons advance as teams to Regional Duals.

In third place was Columbus Community with 171 points, Mid-Prairie took fourth with 126 points, Fairfield came in fifth at 113.5 points and West Burlington/Notre Dame finished with 70 points.

Washington had eight wrestlers qualify for districts. Columbus Community got four through. Fairfield got two wrestlers on to next weekend and Mid-Prairie advanced one.

?We got eight through this year, four or five last year so we?re making strides. I think as a team we wrestled really well,? Washington head coach Brent Van Weelden said. ?Mediapolis and Washington have been in sectionals together for years now. We know how tough it?s going to be every time we see them. We battle and they?ve got a lot of really strong upperclassmen. Our first emphasis is to get back to weight and we need to work on shape a little bit. I was a little surprised in a couple of areas. Wednesday and Thursday we are going to have to knock head a little bit and get our lungs under us. Eight guys is great. I will take eight guys every year. All eight of those guys still have a chance to get to state.?

Mid-Prairie head coach Justin Garvey said, ?Phirom Peterschmidt proved today that he was the real deal taking care of business today. He is going to work on a few things we saw today, taking better shots and getting out of situations that he got into today.?

?We had a few disappointments today. There were some matches that didn?t work out our way but we?re very happy for the four that we got through,? Columbus Community head coach Bill Plein commented.

Fairfield head coach Steve Miller said, ?this is one of the toughest sectionals in the state with Mediapolis and Washington and some really great athletes mixed in there. Our lineup was a little different today by the kids? choice. I was very proud of Bryce Lunsford and Maxwell Spalla and all of our kids for fighting today. Spalla?s emphasis will be wrestling smart and staying in good position. We?ll focus on the same thing but right now it?s all mental for him.?

The Demons may see the Bulldogs again soon, as they travel to Mediapolis on Tuesday to compete against Mount Vernon in Regionals. If Washington defeats Mount Vernon it will face the winner of Mediapolis/Willaimsburg for a berth in the state team duals. Districts for the first and second-place wrestlers from Sectionals will be on Saturday in Fairfield.

Following are the placements for each weight class:

106 pounds: 1. Josh Keller, Columbus Community. 2. Andrew Waite, Washington. 3. Duncan McCain, Mid-Prairie. 4. Brock Hilton, Mediapolis. 5. Dallas Peebler, Fairfield.

113 pounds: 1. Shea Swafford, Mediapolis. 2. Kyle Anderson, Washington. 3. Mitchell Griffin, Columbus Community. 4. Josh Murphy, Mid-Prairie. 5. Chris Workman, Fairfield. 6. Drain Lewis, West Burlington/Note Dame.

120 pounds: Fletcher Green, Washington. 2. Mason Buster, Mediapolis. 3. Armando Quiroz, Columbus Community. 4. Bailey Jones, Fairfield.

126 pounds: 1. Cody McNeil, Mediapolis. 2. Tristan Garcia, West Burlington/Notre Dame. 3. Trey Van Weelden, Washington. 4. Johnny Quinn, Columbus Community. 5. Blake Murphy, Mid-Prairie. 6. Charles Heisel, Fairfield.

132 pounds: 1. Tristan Pohren, Washington. 2. Brady Banwart, Mediapolis. 3. Dylan Willey, West Burlington/Notre Dame. 4. Bailey Kemp, Fairfield.

138 pounds: 1. Bradley Conley, Mediapolis. 2. Jarek Brown, Washington. 3. Zack King, Columbus Community. 4. Luke Shipley, West Burlington/Notre Dame.

145 pounds: Cole Erickson, Mediapolis. 2. Alex Gonzalez, Washington. 3. Austin Edwards, Columbus Community. 4. Visouth Peterschmidt, Mid-Prairie.

152 pounds: Drew Buster, Mediapolis. 2. Tanner Knupp, Washington. 3. Isaiah Trousil, West Burlington/Notre Dame. 4. Nick Bloomquist, Columbus Community. 5 Mitchell Taglauer, Fairfield.

160 pounds: Drew Foster, Mediapolis. 2. Bryce Lunsford, Fairfield. 3. Miguel Sanchez, Mid-Prairie. 4. Austin Latcham, Washington. 5. Mauricio Ramirez, Columbus Community.

170 pounds: Adam Drain, Mediapolis. 2. Tucker Morrison, Columbus Community. 3. Karlton Skubal, Washington. 4. Eesaa Baylor, Mid-Prairie. 5. Austin Francisco, Fairfield. 6. Luis Guel, West Burlington/Notre Dame.

182 pounds: 1. Phirom Peterschmidt, Mid-Prairie. 2. Brad Skubal, Washington. 3. Ethan Timmerman, Mediapolis. 4. Michael Fritz, Fairfield. 5. Ricki Briones, Columbus Community.

195 pounds: 1. Steven Holloway, Mediapolis. 2. Maxwell Spalla, Fairfield. 3. Cameron Tolander, Mid-Prairie. 4. Seth Townsend, Washington.

220 pounds: 1. Mark Ramirez, Columbus Community. 2. Ethan Lamm, Mediapolis. 3. Levi Duwa, Mid-Prairie. 4. Gage Jarrett, West Burlington/Notre Dame. 5. Randy Pugh, Fairfield.

285 pounds: 1. Kyle Davis, Columbus Community. 2. Dillon Wagner, Mediapolis. 3. Brett Scott, Fairfield. 4. Ben Fiordalise, Mid-Prairie. 5. Chandler Reid, Washington.