TRURO — Five members of the Perry varsity wrestling team were in action Saturday at the Rich Gray Invitational, hosted by Interstate-35, while 14 junior varsity Bluejays traveled to Marshalltown for the Bobcat JV Invite.
Host I-35 squeaked past Woodward-Granger, 169.5-168.5, to secure team honors, with Albia third at 157.5 The limited roster resulted in Perry placing 14th among 17 teams with 60.5 points.
Class 2A eighth-ranked Cole Nelson (28-3) was crowned champion at 120 pounds. Nelson opened with a bye, then scored a technical fall to reach the finals. He defeated Van Meter/Earlham’s Riley Harger (30-5) with a 5-2 decision to earn the top podium spot.
Heavyweight Alan Gomez (14-11) had byes surround a 5-3 loss, but bounced back with a pair of pins to claim fifth place for Perry.
Also earning a podium spot was Jeb Stewart (17-14). He recorded a 13-4 major decision and a pin in finishing 2-2 at 145 pounds to place sixth in his bracket.
Tanner Burgin (12-19) was 1-2 with a pin at 138 while Keegan Snyder (9-18) was 1-2 with a pin at 160, but neither grappler placed.
At Marshalltown Leonard Jacobson and Juan Hernandez both placed second with 2-1 records, with each winning twice by pin.
Ian Castellanos was 2-1 and second with a pin and a 10-7 decision, with Cayden Widen 1-2 with a pin to place third in his pod.
Hunter McDowell was 1-2 with a pin to place fourth, with Kyle Hernandez, Brian Hernandez, and Angel Calderon all fourth on 0-3 records for the JV Jays.
Alex Fickbohm was 3-0 with three pins, Anthony Tlaceca 3-0 with two pins and a 6-5 decision and Daniel Cornelio 1-2 with a pin for Perry.
Jose Chavez, Kevin Colin, and Robbie Mason were all in action as well, but all were stopped short of a win in each of their three matches.
