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Washington Evening Journal
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Williamsburg’s Drahos, Wade become first-time state qualifiers
Raiders qualify 7 to state tournament
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
WILLIAMSBURG — Williamsburg’s Weston Drahos has had quite a journey in his freshman season — from starting the season on junior varsity, to earning a starting role and becoming a state qualifier at 106 pounds.
Drahos won the 106 title in a Class 2A boys wrestling district Saturday in Williamsburg.
“This is something that I’ve dreamt of this whole year, and I’m happy I got it,” Drahos said.
Drahos was able to slowly build his confidence throughout the season.
“I started out in JV this season, and I was doing pretty good,” Drahos said. “After Christmas break I knew that 113 was not going to work for me if I wanted to be varsity, so I decided to cut down to 106.
“I had to wrestle off my teammate to get the starting role, and when I got fourth in my first tournament, I realized that I could make some noise.”
Drahos was dominant on the mat Saturday, getting wins by fall and major decision on his way to a District title.
“I was nervous going into the first match, but once I got a takedown, I settled in and I knew I had it,” Drahos said.
Kyler Wade, a junior, became the Raiders’ other first-time state qualifier at 165.
Wade won his semifinal match over Davis County’s Svend Skaggs by a 7-6 decision. Wade picked up two takedowns in the match and was able to fend off Skaggs in the final period.
West Burlington Notre Dame’s Joey Glendening defeated Wade in the final, but with no wrestleback at the weight, Wade finished runner-up, clinching a state tournament berth.
“It feels great,” Wade said. “I’ve watched all the guys growing up qualify, so to be able to do it myself is pretty awesome.”
Wade attributes his development year-by-year to continued work in the practice room.
“I feel I’ve just grown by just being in the room a lot and working hard,” Wade said on qualifying. “It’s made me a much better wrestler.”
The Raiders finished with seven qualifiers, adding five repeat qualifiers to go along with Drahos and Wade.
Sawyer Kirby (157) and Carson Grier (285) both dominated their way to titles, with a combined four bonus point victories, three coming by fall.
Williamsburg’s sophomore trio of Riker DeWitt (113), Hayden Albaugh (132) and Brady Grier (175) all advanced to the finals and qualified as runners-up.
There were no wrestlebacks at 132 and 175, so Albaugh and Grier qualified after being defeated in their finals’ matches.
Top-ranked Kohen Dietzenbach of West Burlington Notre Dame defeated DeWitt in the 113 final, sending DeWitt into a wrestleback for second.
DeWitt wasted little time, getting a first period fall over West Marshall’s Landyn Gutierrez.
All 13 competing Williamsburg wrestlers finished in the top four, playing a key role in the Raiders’ District team title. With 212 points, the Raiders defeated No. 7 West Burlington Notre Dame by 13.
“I’m proud of our seven qualifiers, but I’m just as proud of the guys that battled back in the consolations,” Williamsburg coach Grant Eckenrod said. “They could’ve rolled over easily.”
The Class 2A portion of the State Tournament begins at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines with first round matches.
Team Scores
1. Williamsburg 212, 2. West Burlington Notre Dame 199, 3. West Marshall 189, 4. Washington 115.5, 5. Davis County 71, 6. Cardinal 51, 7. Keokuk 47.5, 8. Mediapolis 46
State Qualifiers
106 pounds — 1st: Weston Drahos (Williamsburg); 2nd: Gage Moss (Davis County)
113 — 1st: Kohen Dietzenbach (WBND); 2nd: Riker DeWitt (Williamsburg)
120 — 1st: Rowan Berndt (WBND); 2nd: Urijah Courter (West Marshall)
126 — 1st: Ryan Rose (WBND); 2nd: Jon Gonzalez (West Marshall)
132 — 1st: Colt Boyles (WBND); 2nd: Hayden Albaugh (Williamsburg)
138 — 1st: Caden Greiner (Washington); 2nd: Jared Glendening (WBND)
144 — 1st: Paxton Thompson (Davis County); 2nd: Ben Buck (West Marshall)
150 — 1st: Kael Cook (WBND); 2nd: Kinnick Geers (West Marshall)
157 — 1st: Sawyer Kirby (Williamsburg); 2nd: Jace Kinzenbaw (Washington)
165 — 1st: Joey Glendening (WBND); 2nd: Kyler Wade (Williamsburg)
175 — 1st: Kyler Crow (Mediapolis); 2nd: Brady Grier (Williamsburg)
190 — 1st: Blaine Rees (Washington); 2nd: Jarod Anderson (Keokuk)
215 — 1st: Blake Lamansky (Cardinal); 2nd: Brayden Vermillion (Washington)
285 — 1st: Carson Grier (Williamsburg); 2nd: Rudy Wolfe (Washington)
