DES MOINES — A parade of Panorama grapplers marched to the Class 1A podium at the State Wrestling Tournament Saturday, as a school record five Panthers earned medals from among the 14 weight divisions.
All five Panthers — four seniors and freshman Wyatt Appleseth — who qualified for the state tourney finished with a medal around their neck, topping the school standard of three recipients set last year. Each wrestler was in action Saturday.
Trevor Carey (45-10) stood highest among the quintet, having placed fourth at 182 pounds. He recorded a 9-4 decision over South Winneshiek sophomore Manning Kuboushek (45-9) to reach the third place match, where fifth-ranked Belmond-Klemme junior Tucker Kroeze (46-6) awaited after his 9-7 win over sixth-rated Central Springs junior Zach Ryg (46-5).
Kroeze and Carey produced a wild affair, in which Kroeze emerged with a 20-12 major decision, dropping Carey into fourth place.
The four other Panthers each competed once Saturday, and all suffered losses to finish in eighth place in their respective weight classes.
Danny Norquist (42-12) suffered a 9-1 major decision against Southwest Valley sophomore Teagan Lundquist (41-5) at 126 pounds, with 10th-ranked Appleseth (43-12) falling, 9-4, to second-rated sophomore Logan James of Underwood (50-5) at 132.
Sixth-ranked Gunnar Grunsted (45-6) was fifth at 170 last season but settled for eighth this year after a tough 3-2 loss to fifth-rated senior Brandon Trees (48-4) of North Butler-Clarksville.
Dalton Holmes (41-9) was stopped shy of the podium last season but earned a medal in his final campaign. He had opened his state tourney trip with a Tiebreaker I 2-1 loss to Sumner-Fredericksburg senior Brock Meyer (42-9) and met Meyer again for seventh place. Meyer prevailed again in another narrow affair, winning 1-0 to send Holmes to eighth place.
The Panther coaches and wrestlers had a thrilling moment later in the day when they encountered wrestling legend Dan Gable, who spoke with the team and posed for photos.
