Small schools compete in sectional wrestling

All three Henry County small schools competed in their sectional wrestling tournaments on Saturday, and 10 wrestlers are moving on to district. New London and WACO each had four wrestlers move on, and Columbus-W-MU had two.

Both New London and WACO competed in the Sigourney sectional, or Class 1A, Sectional 15.

New London had two first place finishes on the night. Marcel Lopez won the 106 lbs. bracket, and Gabe Carter was first at 170 lbs.

After a first-round bye, Lopez pinned Pekin's Madeline Black in 1:12 to win his semifinal match. In the finals, Lopez picked up a major decision over WACO's Larz Smith, winning 18-4.

Carter picked up a first-round bye as well, and knocked off Pekin's Tanner Bainbridge 7-0 in the semifinals. Carter held off Van Buren's Caleb Stoltz 3-1 in the first-place match to earn his spot in the district tournament.

Cameron Raines, at 195 lbs., and Jaxon Allen, at 220 lbs., both finished second place to earn their spots.

Raines had a quarterfinal bye and defeated WACO's John Rice 6-0 in the semifinals. Raines fell 7-2 to Pekin's Mason Juhl in the first place match, and did have to wrestle for true second, but advanced with an 11-3 major decision over Cade Streigle of Sigourney-Keota to clinch second.

Allen won his semifinal match in just 11 seconds over Van Buren's Brant Tedrow. He was pinned by Mediapolis' Keegan Akers in 2:50 in the semifinals and, like Raines, had to wrestle for true second. In the second-place match, Allen pinned WACO's Landon Provino in 1:45.

WACO also had two firsts and two seconds. Winners for the Warriors were Jonah Clark at 120 lbs., and Jalen Collins at 126 lbs.

It was a scarce day for 120 lbs. wrestlers, so Clark had to compete in just one match after getting a bye until the title match. Clark pinned Van Buren's Bruce Claman in 1:48 to win the bracket.

Collins had two dominant matches. He pinned New London's Izaiha Quiroz in 37 seconds to win his semifinal. In the first-place match, Collins beat Cardinal's Jacxon Behrle on a 17-4 major decision.

Smith finished second place at 106 lbs. He defeated Mediapolis' Nathan Krieger via pinfall at 3:57 to make the first-place match. After falling to Lopez of New London 18-4 in that match, Smith had to wrestle for true second. He pinned Black of Pekin in 5:30 to earn his spot in the districts.

Robert Frazer finished second at 145 lbs. He pinned Quentin Story of Van Buren in 2:45 to make the finals, but lost to Pekin's Cael Baker on a 14-2 major decision in the championship match. Frazer did not have to wrestle for true second, as Story won the third-place match.

Columbus-WMU competed in Class 2A Sectional 16 at Solon. Jarod Kadel won the 138 lbs. bracket, and Lane Scorpil finished second at 106 lbs.

In the 138 lbs. tournament, Kadel dominated both matches. Kadel pinned Louisa-Muscatine's Tyler Hansen in 18 seconds to advance to the first-place match, and defeated Solon's Aidan Dall 12-2 to win the bracket.

Scorpil defeated Tipton's Brendan Nantz on a 15-3 major decision in the semifinals. He fell via pinfall at 2:55 in the championship match against West Liberty's Alex Beaver, but did not have to wrestle for true second.

New London and WACO will both be at West Branch for the districts, which will take place at noon on Saturday, Feb. 9. Kadel and Scorpil will compete at MOC-Floyd Valley.