GUTHRIE CENTER — The depth of the Panorama wrestling team was on full display Saturday, as the Panthers produced one champion, two second-place and four third-place finishers to secure second place in the 21-team AC/GC Charger Invitational.
Clarion-Goldfield won the team crown with 233 points, with Panorama second at 192, Van Meter/Earlham third at 158 and Woodward-Granger fourth at 153.5
Trevor Carey (36-6) used four pins to win top honors at 182 pounds. Carey stuck Griswold’s Seth Butler in 1 minute, 18 seconds and VM/E’s Sam Miller in 3:56 before nailing East Union’s Dylan Steinhoff in 2:19. His pin of SE Warren’s Colby Page in 1:40 won the finals.
It required a pair of top-ranked grapplers to stop the other two Panthers who reached the finals.
Senior Gunnar Grunsted (38-3), ranked sixth at 170, had advanced with a 9-0 major decision over Riverside’s Mick Clevenger and with a 9-5 defeat of C-G’s Mason Carpenter. He ran into top-rated Gabe Pauley (47-0) of AHSTW, dropping a tough 7-4 to finish second.
Fellow senior Danny Nordquist (36-7) was the runner-up at 126. Nordquist reached the finals with major decisions of 13-2 over Nevada’s Cale Dumbaugh and of 10-2 against VM/E’s Tyler Haynes. He fell victim to a 22-7 technical fall (2:35) by top-ranked Alex Thomsen (43-1) of Underwood in the finals.
Wyatt Appleseth (37-7) was third at 132 pounds after finishing 3-1 with two decisions and a pin while Noah Kirtley (36-11) grabbed third at 138 with a 4-1 mark that included three wins by pin and one by major decision.
Panorama received 22 team points from Kaleb Stogdill (35-13), who finished 3-1 with a trio of pins in placing third at 152. Dalton Holmes (33-5) was the fourth third-place matman for the Panthers after finishing 3-1 with two pins and a decision.
Garret Fox (20-16) offset two losses with three wins by fall to end the invite in fourth place at 160, with heavyweight Dan Jensen (27-14) 2-2 with a decision and a pin while placing fifth.
The Panthers also received sixth-place efforts from Logan Christe (23-20 at 106) and from Brady Howard (23-18 at 220). The former was 2-3 with a pin and a major decision while the latter finished 2-3 with a decision and a pin.
Also in action was Emry Colby (21-18), who was unable to secure a victory. The Panthers left the 113 and 120-pound divisions uncontested.
Panorama competes Saturday in the Ogden Sectional, where they will be joined by AC/GC, Colfax-Mingo, CR-B/G-R, Interstate-35, Martensdale-St. Marys, South Hamilton and the host Bulldogs. The District Tournament is Feb. 10 in Guthrie Center, where the winners and runner-up placers from the Ogden and Missouri Valley sectional meets will square off. Audubon, Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton, Logan-Magnolia, West Central Valley, West Harrison, Woodbine and the host Big Reds will compete in the opposite side of the sectional bracket. All tourneys will begin at 12 p.m.
