Four Panorama wrestlers competed in the finals of their respective weight class at Saturday’s Perry Invite, and while only one was victorious, the wave of Panthers hinted at a strong outing for head coach Jason Kirtley’s squad.
Panorama left the 113 and 120-pound divisions open, but had all 12 of their other wrestlers earn placings, lifting the team to second place in the 15-team field, just four points behind Class 2A No. 3 Webster City. The Lynx finished with 189 points and the Panthers with 185, with Sergeant Bluff-Luton (179.5), Logan-Magnolia (151) and Van Meter/Earlham (140) completing the top five.
Trevor Carey (24-4) won the 182-pound division after blowing through three opponents with three pins. He nailed Kade Polich of W-G in 40 seconds, stuck SB-L’s Gabe Warren in 1 minute, 42 seconds, then dispatched Saydel’s Trevor Sprague (who is 25-3) in 1:08 to earn the top spot.
Class 1A No. 4 Gunnar Grunsted (27-1) opened with a pair of decisions at 170 pounds, but dropped a close-fought 3-2 decision in the finals to 2A No. 7 Zane Williams of Webster City. The loss was the first of the season for the Panther standout.
Also second for the Panthers was 195-pounder Dalton Holmes (20-4), who had reached the finals with a decision and a major decision. He was faced with state runner-up and 2A No. 2 Cody Fisher (35-0) of W-G and lost by fall.
The other runner-up effort came from heavyweight Dan Jensen (19-7), who earned a finals spot with a pin and a decision. Top-ranked 2A Webster City senior scored a fall to send Jensen to second place.
Wyatt Appleseth (24-4) finished 4-1 with three pins and a decision to place third at 132. He pinned Logan-Magnolia’s Wyatt Crocker (31-3) in 4:44 to place third for Panorama.
Danny Norquist (23-5) was 2-2 with a pair of decisions in placing fourth in a tough 126-pound bracket, with Noah Kirtley (24-6) fourth in an equally difficult 138 division, with Kirtley 3-2 with three wins by fall. Also fourth was Kaleb Stodgill (24-7), who was 3-2 with two pins and a decision at 152.
Garret Fox (12-9) was 3-2 at 160, winning all three times by pin to steal fifth place, four spots above his seeding.
The Panthers had three wrestlers win their final match and place seventh, with Logan Christe (17-12 at 106), Emry Colby (19-12 at 145) and Brady Howard (19-12 at 220) all providing valuable team points.
Panorama will join Interstate-35 and Van Meter/Earlham for a quadrangular at Southeast Warren Thursday before competing Friday and Saturday in the two-day Southwest Valley Invitational.
