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Kingsley-Pierson advances four to state
HULL — The Kingsley-Pierson wrestling team qualified four members for the state wrestling tournament at the Class 1A District 11 meet on Saturday. The Panthers also accumulated the most points for a team title to claim a district champion banner.
Pair of champions
The Panthers had a pair of champions at the meet. At 132 pounds, Carson Seuntjens was able to claim a first place result. He began with a quarterfinal win by fall in 58 seconds over Hayden Gilmore of Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire. In the semifinal round, Seuntjens won a 15-5 major decision over William Lawson of Pocahontas Area.
The first place match saw Seuntjens pin West Sioux’s Dustin Van Oort in 48 seconds. It was the second time this season the Kingsley-Pierson wrestler pinned Van Oort. The first came in the regional dual tournament as Seuntjens won that bout by fall in 2:55 to clinch a 42-39 win over the Falcons.
Seuntjens takes a 44-4 record into the state tournament.
The other champion came at 138 with Tyler Orzechowski winning all three matches. He pinned his first two opponents, taking down Western Christian’s Kyson Van Surksum in 2:32 and then Woodbury Central’s Gunnar Vohs in 1:36. The first place match was a close contest which Orzechowski came out on top of by a 6-4 score over Sibley-Ocheyedan’s Dawson Beyer.
Orzechowski is making his second trip to the state tournament as he will enter with a 37-10 record.
Two runner-up finishes
The Panthers added two runner-up finishes to their two district champions to advance to the state tournament. Evan Jagodzinske got the first of those at 106. After a quarterfinal round bye, Jagodzinske won a semifinal round match by fall in 1:25 over Logan Pate of Woodbury Central. In a close first place match the K-P wrestler ended up a point short by an 11-10 score against Alta-Aurelia’s Eli Rieb. Jagodzinske did not face a wrestleback thanks to his prior win over Pate.
Jagodzinske enters the state tournament with a 24-17 record.
In the 120 weight class, Gavin Wiig had a pair of wins to reach the first place match. The first was a 1:37 win by fall over John Ackerman of Pocahontas Area and the next was a 10-3 decision win over Aden Rieb of Alta-Aurelia. In the first place match, Sioux Central’s Kaben Morrow was able to outscore Wiig 16-4 for a major decision win. Wiig did not face a wrestleback as he had already beaten Rieb in the semifinals.
Wiig takes a 32-9 record into the state tournament.
Four third places
The Panthers had four individuals finish in third place, just outside the top two who qualify for state.
Levi Haggin had a chance for a second place wrestleback at 126, but came out on the short side of a 13-2 major decision against Sioux Central’s Keagen Riley. Haggin worked his way through the back side of the bracket after an 8-3 loss to Joel Carranza in the quarterfinal round to start. He won his next three matches by fall to get a chance to wrestle in the second place match.
The other wrestleback came at 170 as Parker Hackett ended up losing the match for second by fall in 1:38 against Alta-Aurelia’s Kaden Stites. Hackett worked his way back into the second place match after losing his quarterfinal round match by a 6-4 score to Woodbury Central’s Kyan Schultzen. After that loss, he won the next three matches by fall to get to the second place match.
Josh Harvey was third at 152 but did not get a wrestleback opportunity. He won his quarterfinal match 5-2 over Gavin Hensch of Sibley-Ocheyedan before losing an 8-6 decision to Verde Klocke of Pocahontas Area. Even though Harvey won his next two matches, the loss to Klocke ended up being the difference maker in the bracket.
It was a similar situation for Peyton Hackett at 195 as a close 8-7 decision loss to Alex Welander of Pocahontas Area ended up giving the advantage to the opponent in a chance for second place. Hackett won all of his other matches at the meet.
Jesse Chinn (113) and Calvin Harvey (145) took fourth place in their weight classes. The team’s other competitors did not place in their weight classes.
The Panthers who advanced to state will begin competition on Wednesday morning in Des Moines.
Team scores: Kingsley-Pierson 157, West Sioux 140, Pocahontas Area 126, Woodbury Central 123.5, Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire 101, Akron-Westfield 83.5, Alta-Aurelia 75, Sibley-Ocheyedan 64, Western Christian 48, Sioux Central 47.5