LEON — Whatever might be happening at 1:12 a.m. of a Saturday morning, it must be extraordinarily rare that one of those things be the conclusion of a final high school wrestling match.
Panorama was one of 15 teams competing Friday in the Dan Christensen Invitational at Central Decatur. With so many teams in action, a starting time of 5 p.m. almost assured a late finish, and that is exactly what transpired, as the last Panther match did not end until 1:12 a.m. Saturday, upon which the Panorama team and fans faced a nearly two-hour drive home.
Making the long night worthwhile was the effort of the Panther squad, who finished fourth in the team standings and had one runner-up and three third-place finishes among the 10 Panthers in action.
Creston won with 240 points, with Van Meter/Earlham second at 154 and Albia third at 133. Panorama’s 119 points secured fourth place, with Red Oak fifth at 113.5 while Pleasantville (111), Centerville (99), Central Decatur (98.5), Knoxville (97), Chariton (94), Wayne (89), Mt. Ayr (88), Martensdale-St. Marys (76), Moravia (75) and Davis County (47.5) completed the field.
Dalton Holmes (9-2) was second for the Panthers at 195 pounds. He won decisions of 6-3 and 4-3 over Chase Bellon (KNX) and Evan Mann (PLS), respectively, before dropping a tough 1-0 decision to Creston’s Jackson Mikkelsen in the finals.
George Appleseth (11-1) was third at 132 with a pin of Barrett Bonnett (ALB) in 3 minutes, 16 seconds coming before a 2-1 loss in tiebreaker 1 to Centerville’s Tiger Terpstra. Appleseth bounced back to place third with pins of Michael Gomez (RO) in 3:31 and Quinn Corcoran (VM/E) in 1:49.
Tyler Van Houten (11-1) won a 9-2 decision over Wayne’s Hunter Cobb before a loss by fall to Mt. Ayr’s Marcus Daughton. Van Houten’s 5-4 win over Riley Spaur (KNX) and his pin, in 3:53, of Albia’s Bryce McKim secured third place for the senior.
Junior Gunnar Grunsted (10-2) claimed third at 160. He suffered a 3-2 loss to VM/E’s Caleb Button after having pinned Red Oak’s Tyler McMann in 5:51. A 10-3 win against Jacob Martin (MRV) and a 3-2 victory over Michael Ullestad (KNX) earned third place on the podium.
Trevor Carey (7-7) and Dan Jensen (7-5) were both fifth for the Panthers. Carey finished 3-2 at 182 to earn his place, with Jensen securing fifth at 285 with a 3-2 mark.
Placing sixth were 126-pounder Danny Nordquist (7-4) and 138-pounder Noah Kirtley (7-5), with Brady Howard (9-4) placing seventh at 220 while Kaleb Stogdill (7-4) scored four team points for eighth place at 145.
The Panthers will return to the mat Thursday when they host AC/GC, Ogden and Southeast Valley. Panorama will then compete in the West Central Conference tourney at Woodward Saturday in their final pre-holiday action.
