Coach Trevor Kittleson’s Perry wrestling team won the Class 2A sectional wrestling tournament it hosted on Saturday and advanced eight individuals to the Feb. 13 district tournament in Webster City, and the entire team moves on to a dual meet regional tournament on Feb. 9 in Creston vs. number two Creston/Orient-Macksburg. Glenwood and Atlantic are also in the Creston dual meet regional.
Perry crowned six champions and scored 228 points. Gilbert was second with 206 also advanced to a dual meet regional. Woodward-Granger was third with 176 points, followed by Kuemper Catholic (Carroll) with 163.5, Southeast Valley (Gowrie) 138, and Greene County 83. The Rams have three district qualifiers, all as sectional runners up. W-G had three district qualifiers, but all were sectional champions.
Perry’s champions were freshman Kaleb Olejniczak (106), sophomore Zach Thompson (120), senior Gisaveri Niyibizi (126), senior Kade VanKirk (132), senior Jacob Thompson (145), and senior Eli Saemisch (170). Second place finishers for Perry were sophomore Zach Stewart (138) and junior Adan Medina (182).
W-G had titles from senior Ty Turner (113), senior Race Brant (152), and junior Tanner Vermaas (182). In a match between a pair of two-time state qualifiers Brant pinned Greene County senior Tommy Bradshaw in the finals to improve to 48-6 and hand the Ram, ranked second at 152, his first loss in 38 matches.
Bradshaw was joined by two teammates who also were second place finishers in sophomore Kane Borgeson (113) and junior Isaiah Yoder (160).
The first and second place finishers from each weight class at the Webster City district advance to the state tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines Feb. 18-20.
Other area teams qualifying for Feb. 9 dual meet regional competition and their sites include:
2A ADM vs. Ballard (Huxley) in Albia. Also, Albia vs. Knoxville.
1A Guthrie Center vs. Logan-Magnolia in Logan. Also, Missouri Valley vs. Riverside (Oakland).
1A Ogden vs. West Marshall (State Center) in Gilbertville. Also, Don Bosco vs. Pleasantville.
All 1A and 2A dual meet regional starting times are 6 p.m. First round winners meet for the dual regional title and a trip to the State dual meet tournament on Wed., Feb. 17 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.