Four District Qualifiers for Columbus

The road to the state tournament for the Columbus wrestlers goes through Clarksville. The 1A sectional 4 tournament brought eight area schools together to try and advance participants to the district tournament next week in Denver. The Sailors would advance four wrestlers on to next week to try and earn a trip to the state tournament.

At 120 pounds Gavin Reed was in control of his first two opponents, winning both matches with pins. This would set up yet another matchup with #1 ranked Garret Rinken of Nashua Plainfield. Gavin has met up with Rinken multiple times already this year. The Nashua wrestler took this matchup, but no wrestle back was needed to secure a second place finish and district qualification for Gavin.

At 160 pounds, Max Magayna received a first round bye as the #1 seed. A fall in his semifinals match set up a rematch with #3 ranked Lawson Loose of Riceville. Max would get the opening takedown and then spend the rest of the period working on turning the Riceville wrestler. As the period was coming to a close max was finally able to expose his opponent’s shoulders, but would also give up a reversal as time expired as Loose was able to bridge off his back. Max would add on an escape and takedown in the second period, and then was able to ride out his opponent for the entire third period to secure the win and first place victory. Max will advance as the top seed in next week’s district tournament.

At 182 pounds, Carson Hartz had a semifinals matchup with #8 ranked Lane Quandahl of South Winn. Carson was able to grind out a 5-1 decision for his 100th career high school victory. The semi finals win would set up a rematch of last week’s conference final with #1 ranked Tate Entriken of Hudson. This match would not be contested today as Carson would medically forfeited the finals match. No wrestle back opportunity was earned on the back side of the bracket, so Carson secured 2nd place and will advance to districts.

At 220 pounds Connor Knudtson would win a close 5-3 decision over Jacob Taylor from Hudson. This would put Connor into the finals against Tony Greve of South Winn. Connor would take an early lead with a takedown and would carry that lead into the second period. An extremely questionable illegal hold call would bring the score to 2-1 after two periods. In the third Connor would be reversed to his back and would lose this matchup in the third period. But there would be no wrestle back needed and Connor will advance with a second place finish.

Columbus also had a third place finish from Jonathan Hackett at 138 pounds. Jon would be teched in his semifinals matchup. Jon has won multiple matches from losing positions already this year, and he is always just one cradle away from winning those matchups. He was unable to get his opponent on his back in this one. He did win his third place matchup to give him a shot at a potential wrestle back, but the finals matchup did not go his way and he has to settle for a third place finish.

At 195 pounds, Mason Knipp would face a tough semifinals matchup with Logan Hageman of South Winn. After a scoreless first period, things got crazy in the second period. 4 reversals and an escape found Mason trailing 5-4 after the second period. In the third Mason was let up for an escape to begin the period. The South Winn wrestler then was able to get a takedown to take a 2 point lead. An escape with a little over a minute left gave Mason a shot late in this one. The third period was broken up with significant blood time from the South Winn wrestler. Mason had one more good opportunity for a takedown at the edge of the mat but was unable to drag his toes and secure the takedown in bounds. Mason would fall in this one by a 7-6 decision. He would win his third place matchup in quick fashion with an early pin. A survey of the gym found the entire Sailor team at center mat watching the finals match hoping to get a wrestle back opportunity for Mason, but the finals matchup did not go his way and he settles for a third place finish on the day.

The Sailors found out late on Saturday night that they have qualified for the IHSAA Regional Duals. This is the first time that a Columbus team has qualified for the duals since 2009. Columbus will face Wapsi Valley this Tuesday with the winner to face Don Bosco with the chance to qualify for the State Duals Tournament. The District Tournament will take place Saturday Fed 12th in Denver. Tickets will be available for the event through the IHSAA website.