Panthers open season at quadrangular

   Kicking off the 2025-26 season, the Monticello boys wrestling team went 1-2 at a River Valley Conference quadrangular in Durant on Dec. 4.

   “We have a lot of new guys within our varsity lineup,” Panther coach Ryan Luensman said. “I thought we came out flat against Anamosa but got stronger as the night went on. Jaxon (Repsel) had a strong night, going 3-0 and Cole (Kraus) had a nice JV win as well.”

Anamosa 77, Monticello 5

   In the Panthers first dual against Anamosa, it was the Raiders taking a 77-5 win, taking 9-of-10 contested matches. The Raiders received forfeits at 106, 120, 132 and 157.

   Jaxon Repsel picked up a win for the Panthers, earning a technical fall (16-1) over Isaac Wendt at 150.

   Calvin Streets (113), Mace Schnoor (138), Owen Steger (144), Dominic Culpepper (165), Jerin McElmeel (175), Parker Johnson (190), Ryker Hein (215) and Ty King (285) all dropped matches via pin. Anamosa’s Wes Wheeler won a 15-0 technical fall over Kaesyn Husmann at 126.

   In extra matches, Sawyer Rance (132) pinned Jaikub Frost in 1:38 and Cole Kraus (157) pinned Jose Avianeda in 4:51. Levi Fagan (106), Cooper Ehrisman (138), Kameron Tobiason (138) and Eli Moestchen (190) dropped extra matches via pin.

Durant 44, Monticello 35

   In a close dual with the hosting Wildcats, Durant earned wins in 7-of-10 contested matches.

   Monti took a 12-0 lead after Streets and Carter Kuehler won via forfeits at 113 and 120, but the four matches went in favor of the Wildcats, and they led 21-12.

   The Panthers took a 29-21 lead after Repsel won via technical fall (17-1) over Jet Riley at 150, Kraus won via forfeit at 157 and Culpepper earned a pin (1:17) at 165.

   The teams traded pins at 175 and 190, as McElmeel fell (1:32) to Owen Collier and Johnson pinned Tanner Tobias in 53 seconds. After Johnson’s pin, Monti led 35-27.

   In the last two contested matches, Kamdyn Kraklio won a 17-1 technical fall over Hein at 215 and King fell (2:42) to Landon Retherford at 285.

   Durant’s Charlie Tady won via forfeit at 106 to put the final tally at 44-35.

Monticello 53, Camanche 22

   The Panthers bounced back with a 53-22 win over Camanche, taking 7-of-10 contested matches.

   Starting at 120, Streets fell to Owen Thomson, but the next three matches went Monti’s way. Kaesyn Husmann won via forfeit at 126, Sawyer Rance pinned Owen Jewell in 2:23 at 132 and Mace Schnoor pinned Ayden Mahoney in 1:15 at 138 to put the Panthers ahead 18-6.

   Camanche’s Jayden Krontz took a 18-6 major decision over Owen Steger at 144, before Jaxon Repsel pinned (1:44) Wyat Ohsann at 150. Cole Kraus won via forfeit at 157, and then Dominic Culpepper pinned (1:31) Lincoln Hinrichs at 165 to give Monti the 36-10 lead.

   Jerin McElmeel fell (1:39) to Olyver Fuller at 175, but three straight wins for the Panthers made the score 53-16. Parker Johnson won via technical fall (17-0) over Josh Hines at 190, Ryker Hein pinned Janzen Olmstead in 18 seconds at 215 and Ty King won by fall (2:57) over Blake Warren at 285.

   After a double forfeit at 106, Camanche’s Logan Edens won via forfeit at 113 to make the score 53-22.

   Eli Moestchen pinned (2:40) Jin Sandoval in an extra match at 190.

2025 Dan Guilford Invitational

   Hosting the 2025 Dan Guilford Invitational on Dec. 6, the Panthers placed fourth in the seven-team event and had four runner-up finishers.

   “Overall, we wrestled better on Saturday,” Luensman said. “We competed hard in every match. It was good to see each guy battle hard and compete.”

   Husmann, Repsel and King each went 2-1 on the day to finish second and McElmeel went 1-1 to take second.

   At 285, King started off with a pin (1:57) over Columbus Catholic’s Luke Smith. King fell to Beckman’s Erik Boge in round two, before getting pins over Sumner-Fredericksburg’s Eli Nieto (0:34) and Vinton-Shellsburg’s Malachi Parker (1:01).

   “Ty is adjusting to the heavyweight position and had a solid tournament,” Luensman said.

   For Husmann, it was a pin (0:55) over Sumner-Fredericksburg’s Crayton Flaig in round one, a loss by decision (13-12) to Vinton-Shellsburg’s Grayson Marzen in round two and a pin (3:21) over Beckman’s Nathan Kluesner in round three.

   After a pin (0:38) over Sumner-Fredericksburg’s Brecken McCormick in the quarterfinal round, Repsel won via technical fall (19-4) over Western Dubuque’s Chad Schumacher to advance to the first-place match. Jase Jones, of Sumner-Fredericksburg, earned a major decision (8-0) over Repsel in the finals.

   “Kaesyn battled hard in his finals match and just came up a little short. Jaxon compete well in his first varsity finals match as well,” Luensman added. “We sent a limited amount of wrestlers and they all placed at or above their seeds, that makes a good day.”

   After a bye in the quarterfinal round, McElmeel pinned (1:41) Sumner-Fredericksburg’s Trice Anderson in the semifinal rounds. In the first-place match, McElmeel fell (1:18) to Beckman’s Cody Hageman.

   Johnson went 2-1 to take third, Schnoor went 1-1 to take third, Culpepper was 1-2 and finished fourth and Hein went 1-1 to finish fifth.

   Sumner-Fredericksburg topped the team standings with 175.5 points, followed by Beckman in second with 163.5 points and Vinton-Shellsburg third with 118.5. Monticello finished fourth (106.5), Western Dubuque fifth (105.5), Columbus Catholic sixth (49) and East Buchanan seventh (44).