GUTHRIE CENTER — The Panorama wrestling team made a statement at Saturday’s Class 1A Sectional meet, winning the team title in impressive fashion and sending eight of 12 grapplers in action to the Feb. 11 District tourney in Underwood.
The Panthers had six champions crowned and had two other matmen place second. Anyone finishing in the top two spots in the four-man weight classes in Underwood will secure a spot at the state tourney in Des Moines, which begins Feb. 16.
Panorama piled up 235 team points despite leaving the 106 and 113-pound division open. ASHTW was second with 191.5 points and WCV third with 173.5 points. AC/GC (138.5) was fourth, with Southwest Valley (115), Nodaway Valley (68.5), Griswold (46) and Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton (45) completing the field.
The win moves No. 29 Panorama into a tussle with No. 35 AHSTW Tuesday at Logan-Magnolia in a Class 1A Dual Team Regional. The opposite side of the brackets features hsot and fifth-ranked Lo-Ma facing off with No. 51 Riverside. The winners will then battle for the right to compete Feb. 15 at the state dual team tourney in Des Moines.
Individuals advancing as champions are Danny Nordquist (120 pounds), 10th-ranked George Appleseth (132), Tyler Van Houten (152), Gunnar Grunsted (170), Dalton Holmes (195) and Dan Jensen (285), with Emry Colby (138) and Ondrej Komora (160) both advancing after finishing second.
Nordquist (35-13) started Panoramam’s momentum by winning with a pin of Elliot Young (AHSTW) in 5 minutes, 1 second and with an 11-2 major decision over Zachary Fees (AC/GC) in the finals.
Appleseth (40-7) followed suit by nailing Tom Barr (AHSTW) in 1:52 and with a 16-5 major decision over Shawn Swain (GRS) while Van Houten (47-3) won his crown with pins against Korbin Martin (AHSTW) in 1:57 and against Cole Sackett (WCV) in 2:46.
Grunsted (39-9) used falls over Alan Wallace (WCV) in 2:49 and over Cole Bruns (E/EH-K) in 4:35 to win his weight class, with Holmes (41-8) scoring a 7-1 decision against Carsen Schneller (WCV) before pinning Jory Christensen (NV) in 3:32.
Jensen’s (24-17) podium topper came on a 37-second pin of Brady Canada (AHSTW) and a 10-3 decision against Alex Wells.
Colby is only 8-5 but will move on after pinning Hunter Lynch (AC/GC) in 5:23. A loss by fall in 56 seconds to Tye Joint (WCV) followed, by a thrilling 11-10 win against Seth Kiesel (AHSTW) punched his ticket.
Komora (12-6) pinned Gunner Powell (WCV) in just 38 seconds but was pinned, in 2:54, by No. 7 Gabe Pauley (AHSTW) in the title bout. He responded by sticking Trevor Flettre (NV) in 1:53 to become the eighth qualifier for Panorama.
Kaleb Stogdill (29-24) just missed moving on at 145. He pinned Tony Jones (WCV) in 32 seconds but lost by fall, in 5:49, to No. 7 Logan Scheuermann (AC/GC) in the semis. He pinned Dylan Dalton (SWV) in 1:42 to set up a second-place match, but had to face sixth-rated Joe Becerra (AHSTW) and lost by fall in 1:26.
Trevor Carey (30-20 at 182) and Brady Howard (31-21 at 220) both won third-place matches to set up a last shot in a second-place bout, but each drew a wrestler to whom they had lost earlier in the meet, eliminating the two Panthers by “rule” sometimes described as “prior.”
The same situation stopped Noah Kirtley (29-19 at 126), as he recovered from a loss to Gabe Rowley (AC/GC) with a victory to enter a second-place match, but when Rowley lost the title bout to also fall into the second-place bracket he advanced with a “prior.”
