DES MOINES — Panorama will have three wrestlers stand on the podium at the State Wrestling Tournament tonight, with Perry sending two grapplers to the prized platform while Woodward-Granger will also send two — with an asterisk.
The reason? Freshman 195-pounder Cody Fisher, who is seeking to become the first state champion in W-G school history when he faces the top-ranked wrestler in Class 2A, West Liberty junior Bryce Esmoil (41-2).
Fisher had already drawn plenty of statewide attention by becoming the only freshman, in any class, to qualify at 195, a rarity for underclassmen. That a freshman would contend for a title at the weight — where muscle mass is a requirement — is rare indeed.
A Madrid student who competes for the Hawks as part of a sharing arrangement, the unranked Fisher (46-5) advanced through the winner’s bracket Friday with a 5-2 quarterfinal win over No. 4 Jackson Mikkelsen (45-10, Sr.) of Creston before posting an 8-5 win in the semifinals over Mt. Vernon senior Sam Moore (30-7) who had knocked off the second-ranked grappler at 195 Thursday.
Senior Tanner Vermaas will give W-G their first multiple-placing showing in recent memory as he competes, along with the three Panthers and two Bluejays, in today’s consolation semifinals and finals, which begin at 10 a.m. and which will determine who stands on the medal stand in places 3-8.
The second-ranked matman at 182 pounds, Vermaas (48-3) is seeking to run the table on the “back side” of the bracket and finish third. He won twice Friday, first with a 6-4 decision over No. 8 Harrison Goebel (38-10, Jr.) of West Delaware then with a pin of fourth-rated Kyle Benson (48-9, Sr.) of Sergeant Bluff-Luton.
He faces ninth-ranked Boone McDermott of Dubuque Wahlert (33-5, Jr.) in the consolation semifinals. Like Perry’s Kaleb Olejniczak and Zachary Thompson, as well as Panorama’s George Appleseth and Gunnar Grunsted, a win would put Vermaas in the third-place match, while a loss would send him into the fifth-place bout. He holds the W-G school mark for career victories with 157 and counting.
Perry’s Thompson (50-6) began Friday with a 9-1 major decision over Gilbert’s Sinjin Briggs in the 120 pound quarterfinals before suffering an 8-3 loss in the semifinals to top-ranked Bryce West (53-1, Sr.) of Solon. Ranked sixth, Thompson will face fifth-rated Nick Meling (44-5, Sr.) of East Marshall in their consolation semifinal.
Ranked fourth at 113, Olejniczak (53-5) lost by fall in the quarterfinals to third-rated Aden Reeves (50-1, So.) of Albia. The Bluejay sophomore responded by pinning No. 7 Gabe Lewis of Denver-Tripoli (43-7, Fr.) in 1 minute, 47 seconds in the second consolation round, then scored a 14-6 major decision over Hunter Pfantz (33-12, Jr.) of West Marshall. Olejniczak will meet Monticello So. Chase Luensman (31-3) in the consolation semifinals.
Not to be overlooked is Perry junior Zach Stewart, who bounced back from an opening round defeat to win in the first round of the consolation bracket and advance to Friday’s action. Unfortunately for Stewart, he was paired against No. 2 Brandon Curry (50-4, Sr.) of Sergeant Bluff-Luton and suffered a 7-2 decision in their elimination bout. Stewart bows out with an excellent 48-10 record and valuable state tourney experience.
Panorama school history has been made this year as well, as the Panthers are sending a trio to the medal stand — the most ever for the Class 1A school.
Senior George Appleseth was 1-4 as a sophomore and a junior at the state tourney, and looked to be denied a medal again as a senior at 132 pounds with an opening round loss. He has recovered nicely, winning in the consolation bracket Thursday to stay alive, then winning twice Friday to assure a placing of third, fourth, fifth or sixth.
Appleseth (44-9) won both bouts Friday with a 4-3 decision. The first came at the expense of Woodbury Central’s Garrett Arment (36-13, So.), the later charged to Alburnett’s Mason Wickman (37-14, So.). The Panther standout, ranked 10th, faces No. 3 Cooper Siebrecht (49-9, Jr.) of Lisbon in the consolation semifinals.
Panther junior Gunnar Grunsted (44-11) lost by fall in the 170 pound quarterfinals to No. 3 Jarel Arbegast (20-2, Sr.) of West Fork. He avoided elimination in the consolation second round by pinning Maquoketa Valley sophomore Norman Wilson (26-9) in 5:30, then posted a 9-2 win over Dakota Vance (37-8, Sr.) of Boyden Hull/Rock Valley. Grunsted’s consolation semifinal opponent will be No. 4 Trent Kruger of Sioux Central, a 48-2 senior.
Also to compete this morning for Panorama is 152-pounder Tyler Van Houten (52-5). The eighth-rated Van Houten lost in the quarterfinals by fall to second-ranked Brennan Swafford (48-1, Jr.) of Mediapolis, but came back to score a 6-0 decision against Jacob Steinlage (35-19, Jr.) of Independence.
Seventh-ranked Kaden Kilburg (45-14, Jr.) of Lisbon blanked Van Houten, 6-0, sending the Panther senior into one final match, a battle with No. 9 Sawyer Phillips (22-4, Sr.) of Pleasantville, with the winner capturing seventh place.
The Championships begin at 5:45 with the IWCOA, IHSADA and IHSAA Award, with the Grand March and Finals in all three classes to begin at 6 p.m.
There will be no live streaming of the championships, which will available on television only to those who have DISH or DirecTV or else are on a cable system that carries ComCast Chicago (not an option for Mediacom viewers.)
Head coaches for the three programs are Mark Weber (Perry), Dave Smeltzer (Woodward-Granger) and Jason Kirtley (Panorama).
