MHS qualifies four from sectionals to districts


Four Monticello Panthers advanced to the district meet by placing in the top two at the sectional meet Feb. 8 at West Delaware. From left are Kale Hansen, Owen Ray, Kain Luensman and Ethan Tallman. (Photos by Pete Temple)

Kain Luensman of Monticello (top) battles Staveley Maury of West Delaware in the 132-pound championship match at sectionals, won by Luensman.
WRESTLING
By: 
Pete Temple
Express Sports Editor

     Four Monticello High School wrestlers will make their bids for state tournament berths when the Class 2A district meet is held Feb. 15 at Center Point-Urbana.

     Kain Luensman, Kale Hansen, Owen Ray and Ethan Tallman earned that opportunity with top-two finishes in the sectional tournament Feb. 8 at West Delaware in Manchester.

     Luensman was the champion at 132 pounds, while the other three finished second: Hansen at 106, Ray at 120 and Tallman at 126.

     “I was really proud of our entire team and the effort they provided,” Monticello coach Ryan Luensman said. “We had four district qualifiers and some great individual efforts as well.”

     The Panthers finished third as a team, one spot short of qualifying for the regional duals tournament. West Delaware had finalists in every weight class and easily won the meet with 305 points, Anamosa was second with 160, and the Panthers totaled 140.5.

     Kain Luensman won his weight class scoring a technical fall win, 15-0, just 1 minute, 9 seconds into his semifinal match. In the finals against West Delaware’s Staveley Maury, Luensman took a 4-2 lead after the first period, led 6-2 after two, and rode Maury out in a scoreless third period for the win.

     “Kain wrestled well in the finals and controlled the match,” coach Luensman said. “He did a nice job of bouncing back from a loss last week. He made adjustments at practice and implemented them on Saturday.”

     Kale Hansen reached the finals with a semifinal pin of Jesup’s Steel Rolison, then lost in the finals to Carson Less of West Delaware, 9-7. Because Rolison lost the third place match to Anamosa’s Robert Scranton, Hansen had to wrestle Scranton for the true second spot, but pinned him in 1:09.

     “Kale had a solid day,” the coach said. “I know Kale will learn from this experience and be ready to go for districts.”

     Ray also reached the finals, lost, and had to compete in a wrestleback match for the true second spot. There, Ray pinned Brady Wilson of Jesup in 5:23 to advance to districts. It’s the second straight year Ray has reached the district meet.

     “Owen had a strong day as well, and did a great job of bouncing back from a finals loss,” Luensman said.

     Tallman reached the finals with a semifinal pin of Caleb Bowser, and then lost by major decision in the finals to Evan Woods of West Delaware, but because Bowser won the third place match, Tallman’s second place spot was secure.

     “Ethan ran into a very tough wrestler in the finals, and I was proud of how he fought for six minutes,” coach Luensman said.

     The Panthers also had third place finishes from Alaina Sunlin at 113, Ty Jesenovec at 138 and Dylan Roher at 145. Bo Kramer was fourth at 152. Owen Thomas finished fifth at 285, and Dakota Olson was sixth at 160.

     “Owen Thomas had a great win in his first varsity tournament,” the coach said. “Alaina Sunlin was up a weight class and got a pin in her last high school match. Ty Jesenovec and Dylan Roher have improved tremendously throughout the year, and were a vital part of the team’s success. Bo Kramer has made huge strides in the second part of the season.”

     The district meet begins at noon Saturday at Center Point-Urbana. Each weight class will have four wrestlers, and the top two will advance to the Feb. 20-22 state tournament.

     “Overall we had a solid day and wrestled to our seeds,” Luensman said. “We are in a tough district, and everyone has an equal chance. I look forward to Saturday and being ready to compete.”

 

 

Feb. 8

Class 2A, Section 7

(at West Delaware,

Manchester)

TEAM SCORES

     1, West Delaware 305; 2, Anamosa 160; 3, Monticello 140.5; 4, Maquoketa 138; 5, Jesup 125.5; 6, Dubuque Wahlert 109.

MONTICELLO RESULTS

(District qualifiers in bold)

     106 – Kale Hansen (runner-up) received a bye; pinned Steel Rolison, J, 0:23; lost to Carson Less, WD, 9-7; pinned Robert Scranton, A, 1:09.

     113 – Alaina Sunlin (third place) received a bye; was pinned by Luke Farmer, WD, 0:31; pinned Tyson Gravel, A.

     120 – Owen Ray (runner-up) received a bye; pinned Levi Livermore, MAQ, 4:19; was pinned by Blake Engel, WD, 1:19; pinned Brady Wilson, J, 5:23.

     126 – Ethan Tallman (runner-up) received a bye; pinned Caleb Bowser, A, 4:00; lost by major dec. to Evan Woods, WD, 17-4.

     132 – Kain Luensman (champion) received a bye; won by tech. fall over Ivan Martin, MAQ, 15-0, 1:09; dc. Staveley Maury, WD, 6-2.

     138 – Ty Jesenovec (third) received a bye; was pinned by Logan Peyton, WD, 1:36; dec. Gabe Gardner, MAQ, 5-1; was pinned by Mitchell Engelbart, A, 2:53.

     145 – Dylan Roher (third) received a bye; was pinned by Jerret Delagardelle, J, 2:53; dec. Sam Norris, A, 4-0.

     152 – Bo Kramer (fourth) pinned Jacob Pawlowski, MAQ, 2:42; was pinned by Izak Krueger, J, 3:02; was pinned by Alex Casey, A, 4:53.

     160 – Dakota Olson (sixth) was pinned by Keaton Roscovius, J, 1:09; received a bye; was pinned by Jaycob Thompson, MAQ, 2:45.

     285 – Owen Thomas (fifth) was pinned by Connor Andresen, A, 0:49; received a bye; pinned Jesus Silva, J, 1:25.

 

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