VAN METER — The Panorama wrestling team split a pair of duals at Van Meter Thursday, falling in their first contest to the hosts, 43-36, before recovering to defeat West Central Valley, 37-29.
Forfeits played a role — as they often do — in both duals among the small schools. While Van Meter was a 43-36 victor, the Bulldogs received 24 points, and the Panthers six, via forfeit, while WCV finished with an 18-6 edge. Those matches, had they been contested, may not have altered the eventual outcome, but by being an automatic six points certainly impacted the final result.
The dual with Van Meter started at 120 pounds, with the Bulldogs holding a 25-24 lead after nine matches (182). Panorama’s Dalton Holmes and Brady Howard scored pinfall victories at 195 and 220, respectively, to push the Panthers into a 36-25 lead.
A loss by fall at heavyweight brought Van Meter to within 36-31, with Panorama forfeits at 106 and 113 providing a final 12 points and giving the hosts the victory.
Danny Nordquist (120) won by pin for Panorama, with George Appleseth (132) and Noah Kirtley (138) also scoring victories by pinfall while a forfeit to Tyler Van Houten at 152 accounted for the remaining Panther points.
The WCV dual began at 126, with the Wildcats leading, 23-21 entering Holmes’ match at 195. His 5-1 decision, followed by pins from Howard and from Daniel Jensen at 285, moved Panorama into a 33-23 lead.
Neither team added points after a double-forfeit at 106, with a forfeit by Panorama at 113 moving the score to 33-29. Nordquist cemented the win with an 8-0 major decision, with those four team points setting the final tally.
Also scoring for Panorama against WCV was Appleseth (132) with a 6-0 decision, Kaleb Stogdill (145) with a pin, Van Houten (152) with a 7-2 decision and Gunnar Grunsted (170) with a pin.
Van Houten and Jensen are both currently ranked eighth at their weight class, with Grunsted rated 10th.
Van Meter was a 54-22 victor over WCV in the other dual held Thursday.
Panorama is back in action tonight for a rare Friday competition at Central Decatur. They will then host AC/GC, Ogden and Southeast Valley Thursday at 5 p.m.
