HARLAN — Nine Perry grapplers made weight and participated in the Dan Hill Invitational Saturday, with two Bluejays placing first, one finishing second and another sixth.
Powerhouse Gretna, Neb. won the team title with 260.5 points, with Logan-Magnolia second at 218. Glenwood was third with 164 points, with Ankeny (158.5), Urbandale (140.5), Harlan (118.5), Perry (79.5), Winterset (75), Ashland-Greenwood, Neb. 67, Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln (46.5) and Denison-Schleswig (24) also in action.
The “Zach Attack” was in full effect for Perry, as 120-pounder Zach Thompson and 132-pounder Zach Stewart each finished 3-0 to stand atop the awards podium in their respective weight classes.
Kaleb Olejniczak tallied a 2-1 mark to finish as the runner-up at 113, with freshman Erick Funez placing sixth at 152.
“Having three of our guys make the finals makes it a good day for us as far as I am concerned,” Perry head coach Mark Weber said. “We had nine guys make weight and five of them went without getting a win, but I tell you, there are things for all of guys to be proud of.”
“The main things I am asking for from them is to learn from their mistakes so they can improve and to fight hard the every second of every match and for the most part I saw that,” he continued. “You won’t get better if you don’t have the attitude of a fighter who is battling the entire time and when it comes to that — the go-hard-always approach — I liked what I saw.”
Weber said the four Jays who placed all bring different approaches to the mat.
“Kaleb is a kid who is going to do the right thing, on the mat, in the classroom, wherever — you just don’t see him making mental mistakes,” he explained. “Zach Thompson is just a tough-nosed kid who is going to see the job gets done, and Zach Stewart is the perfect example of a guy who is just having a lot of fun right now. With Erick (Funez) I see a young kid who went all-out in his matches, and when you see that you see a guy who you know is only going to get better because he has a battler’s attitude.”
Thompson won his crown by pinning Dekling Greell (A-G) in 1 minute, 11 seconds before scoring a 9-1 major decision against Remington Meeker (Lo-Ma) in the semifinals and an 11-2 major decision over Trevor Fauver (GRT) in the finals.
Stewart pinned his way to the top of the podium, sticking Glenwood’s Cole Fuoss in 48 seconds, Abraham Lincoln’s Gage Sorensen in 1:57 and Urbandale’s Luke Stuart in 3:24.
Olejnicak opened with a pin of Ankeny’s Sam Kallem in 5:47 and a 17-2 technical fall (4:37) against Harlan’s Ethan Lemon. He lost by fall to Gretna’s Van Schmidt in the finals.
Funez lost by fall to Trevor Anderson (GLN) in the quarterfinals, but then received a bye before scoring a 15-5 major decision against Carter Bendorf (HAR). He lost by fall to Cody Everhart (GRT) in the consolation semifinals and forfeited in the fifth place match.
Others in action for Perry included Jacob Nelson (126), Justin Stammer (138), Angel Esccobar (182), Kevin Lopez (195) and Tyler Soll (285).
Perry will join Montezuma and Ogden for a quadrangular at Woodward-Granger Tuesday, with action beginning at 5:30 p.m. The Bluejays will then compete Friday and Saturday at the Lewis Central Tournament in Council Bluffs.
