Wrestling fans from all over Iowa descended on Guthrie Center Saturday for the second annual Charger Invitational hosted by AC/GC Community Schools. Among the 21 teams competing at the tournament was the West Central Valley Wildcats wrestling team. The Wildcats couldn’t get a wrestler atop the podium, but a pair of grapplers placed third overall at the tournament.
Tye Joint (145) and Zach Custard (220) both claimed third place medals for the Wildcats. Joint had a strong start to the tournament with a third-period technical fall over Griswold’s Shawn Swain (16-1 5:15). Joint was on the short end of a 9-3 decision against Clarion-Goldfield’s Tanner Abbas in the tournament’s semifinal round. Joint bounced back with a third-period technical fall victory over Woodward-Granger’s Cole Carman (18-3 5:11) in the consolation semifinals. Joint’s third place match against Underwood’s Kyler Rodenburg ended with a 13-4 major decision victory.
Custard’s path to third place began with a 19-5 major decision victory against Clarion-Goldfield’s Kain Nelson. His lone loss on the day came in the quarterfinals with a 37-second pinfall against Coon Rapids-Bayard’s Dalton Arnold. He responded with a second-period pinfall in his first wrestleback match over Tri-Center’s Hunter Stange (3:06). Custard’s grinded out a 9-5 consolation semifinal match against Panorama’s Brady Howard. The third-place match saw Custard pin Woodward-Granger’s Dillon Fogarty in 3:36.
Other notable finishers for West Central Valley at the Charger Invitational include fifth place finishes for Matthew Clark (160) and Riley Algreen (195) and a sixth-place result for Alex Wells (285). The Wildcats enter the postseason this weekend in the Class 1A Section 2 tournament featuring wrestlers from Audubon, Exira-EHK, Logan-Magnolia, Missouri Valley, West Harrison, and Woodbine. The top two wrestlers from each weight class advance to next week’s Class 1A District 1 tournament at AC/GC High School. First matches of this weekend’s sectional tournament start at noon at Missouri Valley High School.