Highland leads area at WACO tourney

WACO — WACO High School hosted its annual weekend boys wrestling tournament on Saturday, as surrounding teams met for a battle for supremacy in Southeast Iowa.

Although no Union area team ended up winning the whole thing, four of them finished in the Top-5, including Highland, which battled to a second-place finish, with 165.5 points.

The Huskies finished the night 20 points better than Mt. Pleasant, which scored 146.5 points for third place. Washington was fourth, with 119.5, and WACO took fifth, with 111.5.

Highland’s Tyler Pierson took first place at 132 pounds, the Huskies’ lone win on the day. Highland had four second-place finishes, as Jack Cave took second at 106, Brock Nebergall finished second at 126, Rocky Hamilton was runner-up at 144, and Jarrett Brackin took silver at 150.

Mt. Pleasant had a big day at the lighter weights, sweeping both the 106 pound and 120 pound brackets. Aven Beuchamp dominated the 105-pound bracket, and Levi Evans cruised at 120.

The Panthers also got a win at 126. Lane Beckler had a perfect 3-0 day on the way to gold.

Mt. Pleasant’s fourth championship came at 165, where Keegan Birdsell used a couple of pin falls to grab another bracket for the Panthers.

Washington had a pair of champions on the day. Caden Greiner had three pins in the 138-pound bracket to take first place, while Blaine Rees took first at 190, winning all three of his matches in less than one minute.

WACO finished the day with two champions of its own. Ian Maize cruised to the top spot in the 113-pound bracket, while Harley Larrimore finished first at 150.

Mid-Prairie had one champion en route to a ninth-place finish as a team. Tommy Miller had a technical fall and two pins to win the bracket at 215 pounds.

Pekin and New London finished 10th and 12th in the tournament. Neither had a champion.

TEAM SCORES

1. Louisa-Muscatine 221.5

2. Highland 165.5

3. Mt. Pleasant 146.5

4. Washington 119.5

5. WACO 111.5

6. Cedar Rapids Prairie (JV) 105

7. Wapello 69

8. HLV 66

9. Mid-Prairie 59.5

10. Pekin 42.5

11. Baxter 41.5

12. New London 35.5

13. English Valleys 35

14. Lone Tree 13