PANORA — The excitement, and pride, were evident in Panorama wrestling head coach Jason Kirtley’s voice as he discussed the possibilities for five of his grapplers at the upcoming state wrestling tournament.
“This is the most we have sent to state in my tenure,” he said, noting that four of the five Panthers who will begin state competition Thursday are making return trips to the Wells Fargo Arena. “Last year we were not able to have anyone finish on the podium, but I am very confident we will correct that this time around.
“We are also shooting for a top 10 team finish,” Kirtley added. “We have been talking about it all year and have ended practices saying ‘top 10!’ and I believe we can do it. We will need a good number of first-match wins, and for guys who might fall into the back side of the bracket to stay alive, and I believe that can happen.”
Senior George Appleseth (132 pounds) will be appearing on the big stage for the third time, with senior Tyler Van Houten (152), junior Gunnar Grunsted (170) and junior Dan Jensen (285) all making their second trip to ‘the Well.’ Junior Dalton Holmes (195) is the lone “rookie” as this is his inaugural journey to the largest prep mat tourney in the U.S.
The way to earn a spot somewhere on the podium (top eight) is, on paper, simple: Win twice before losing twice.
The Class 1A tournament begins with Session 2 Thursday at 1:30 p.m. with first round and first round consolation matches. Those who win their opening bout and those who rebound for a loss with a win in the consolation bracket will move on to Friday’s Session 4, which begins at 9 a.m. The 1A semifinals and third round consolation matches will be held Friday in Session 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday’s Session 7 opens at 10 a.m. and features consolation semifinals and finals (third, fifth and seventh place matches). Session 8 begins at 5:45 p.m. Saturday and features awards, the Grand March and championship matches in all classes.
Appleseth (41-8) is ranked 10th, and all save the fifth-rated grappler has made the final 16-man bracket. The Panther standout opens against fourth-ranked sophomore Joshua Tibbits (35-2) of Martensdale-St. Marys. Top-rated Chance Throndson (Riceville, 41-1, Jr.) will battle eighth-ranked Michael Egan (MFL-Mar-Mac, 46-2, Jr.) in the other paired bracket, with the winners to meet Friday and the losers to face each other in an elimination match later in Session 2.
Eighth-ranked Van Houten (50-3) has drawn Sebastian Berg (Akron-Westfield, 33-11, Sr.) in his opener, with second-rated Brennan Swafford (Mediapolis, 45-1, Jr.) facing sixth-ranked Michael Olsen (Lake Mills, 49-5, Sr.) in the opposite pairing. All 10 ranked wrestlers are in the 152-pound bracket.
All save the eighth-ranked 170-pounder qualified for state. Grunsted (41-10) will tangle with Kenneth Kriegel (HLV, 44-10, Sr.) in the seventh of eight matches that will take to the mat at 170. The opposite pairing features third-ranked Jarel Arbegast (West Fork-Sheffield, 17-2, St.) against fifth-rated T.J. Dierking (Southeast Warren, 38-6, Jr.).
Holmes (44-9) will challenge fifth-ranked Kaleb Reeves (Sigourney-Keota, 43-5, Jr.) who was seventh at 182 last year. Top-ranked and defending champion Slade Sifuentes (Lake Mills, 46-0, Sr.) faces ninth-rated Manning Kuboushek (South Winneshiek, 43-5, Jr.) in the opposite pairing. All 10 of the ranked grapplers are in the 195 state bracket.
The heavyweight bracket is also loaded, as all 10 ranked matmen will appear along with six other worthy competitors, among whom is Jensen (27-18), who opens against sixth-ranked Cameron Beminio (Belmond-Klemme, 33-3, Jr.). The other paired duo features third-rated Brian Sadler (Jesup, 36-1, Jr.) against Cody Crawford (WACO, 35-8, Jr.). Sadler was fourth and Crawford eighth last year.
“Everything will take care of itself if we wrestler our kind of match and give the kind of effort I know we are going to give,” Kirtley. “Everybody at state is a quality opponent, but we are quality, too. I am excited for our team and know we are going to wrestle hard.”
