Washington wins WACO Invite

A slew of area teams were in Wayland and Centerville on Saturday for a couple of packed wrestling tournaments.

Washington wins WACO Invite

The Demons pulled out the WACO Invitational by four points, sneaking by Mediapolis in the final standings with a final score of 166.5.

Washington had three first-place finishes in the meet. Aaron Boone won the 120-pound bracket, Caden Greiner won at 126, and Chase Greiner won at 152.

Boone made the championship match with a pin and a win via injury. In the 120-pound title match, he defeated Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont standout Landon Davis on a 5-4 decision.

After receiving a first-round bye, Caden Greiner won via pin fall and a 9-3 decision before matching up with Baxter’s Cole Smith with the bracket on the line. Greiner dominated, beating Smith on a 14-6 major decision.

Chase Greiner received a first-round bye as well before a pin and a 1-0 decision led to a 152-pound championship against Mediapolis’ Kyler Crow. Greiner pinned Crow in 4 minutes, 15 seconds.

Mid-Prairie finished fourth on the day and had one champion. Kaden Meader brought home the bracket at 170 pounds.

Meador had two pins on the day, including a championship win over Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Quinton Alexander. Meador pinned Alexander in 2:43.

New London had two champions on the day. Dominic Lopez won at 160 pounds, and Trent Wilkerson won at 220.

Lopez stayed undefeated on the year. After a pair of technical falls, a potential marquee showdown with Louden Huisenga of WACO was called off due to an injury to Huisenga, and Lopez walked away with the bracket.

Wilkerson had two pins on the day to set up another clash of the titans with Washington’s Colley Billingsley. Wilkerson escaped with a 7-5 win in the championship match.

Highland had one win on the day. Carlos Valenzuela won the bracket at 126 pounds.

Valenzuela had two pins on the day, including one in the championship match, where he defeated Tyler Schutt of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 12-3.

Pekin’s Blake Juhl took the title at 182 pounds, and he did it with three dominant wins. After two pins to get to the first place match, Juhl defeteated Mediapolis’ Parker Lange 17-2 for a technical fall.

TEAM SCORES

1. Washington 166.5

2. Mediapolis 162.5

3. Wapello 151.5

4. Mid-Prairie 111

5. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 99

6. Baxter 96

7. English Valley 91

8. New London 85.5

9. Wayne 78

10. Highland 76

11. WACO 60

12. Cedar Rapids Prairie JV 58

13. Pekin 35.5

14. Springville14

15. HLV 13

16. Lone Tree 11

Fairfield 4th in Centerville

The Trojans were the top area team at the 2023 Mike Halupnick Big Red Invite, finishing fourth with 136.5 points.

Fairfield won three brackets on the day. Cael McCabe won at 113 pounds, Zach Westercamp won at 132 and Cason Miller took first at 145.

McCabe had three pins en route to his first place match. McCabe beat Oskaloosa’s Ty Lorentzen on a 7-0 decision.

Westercamp won his first match by major decision and then rattled off three pinfalls. He won the championship when Trey Miller of Oskaloosa had to medical forfeit.

Miller won in all sorts of different ways, picking up wins by major decision, pinfall, technical fall and decision to earn a championship match against Isaac Messamaker of Centerville.

In the 145-pound championship, Miller pinned Messamaker in 3:20 to take home the bracket.

Columbus/WMU had just one Top-2 finish, as Russel Coil made the championship at 285 pounds before falling on a sudden victory. Mt. Pleasant’s Bowen Davis finished second at 145 pounds, losing on a 5-1 decision.

TEAM SCORES

1. PCM 181

2. Knoxville 144.5

3. Centerville 142

4. Fairfield 136.5

5. Clarinda 130

6. Oskaloosa 106

7. Moravia 101

8. Columbus/WMU 100

9. Newton 77

10. Davis County 68