The class 2A section of the state wrestling tournament included six wrestlers from the KCII listening area Thursday.
Three of those wrestlers won their opening match to advance on the championship side of the bracket in their weight classes. Mid-Prairie junior Cael Garvey was a winner in dramatic fashion by 11-9 decision over No.7 Matthew Wirtz of Emmetsburg. Golden Hawk head coach, and Cael’s dad, Justin Garvey broke down the match Thursday night for KCII sports. “I think I aged five years during that match. We had a two point lead and unfortunately we squandered it away on stall calls. The kid was tall, he was posting up on our shoulder. We didn’t want to give in, they wanted us to circle back to the right so they could hit an ankle pick so instead we just backed out and got dinged. So then they got a take down so we are down 9-7 and on bottom. He’s riding Cael with a claw ride and Cael moved his hips, sucked his arm underneath, hipped over for a reversal and scored two ba
Eleven area wrestlers begin their march toward realizing state championship dreams today when they take the mat at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines for the individual state tournament.
In class 2A, Washington Demon senior Ayden Frazer will begin his tournament at 182lbs against senior and No. 1 Adam Ahrendsen of Union LaPorte City. Frazer has an overall record of 20-7, Ahrendsen is unbeaten at 19-0.
Mid-Prairie will have three wrestlers in Des Moines including 35-9 senior Ben Meader at 182lbs who opens against 32-7, No. 7 ranked senior Austin Roos of Benton Community. Cael Garvey will be on the mat for the Golden Hawks at 195lbs. The 34-4 Mid-Prairie junior begins action against fellow junior, seventh ranked Matthew Wirtz of Emmetsburg. Golden Hawk senior Josh Wallington will wrestle at 220lbs. He puts his 38-3 record on the line against 22-2 junior Kain Nelson of Clarion Goldfield.