Mustang trio seeks hardware at state wrestling tournament

MONROE — Three Prairie City-Monroe wrestlers will be inside Wells Fargo Arena on Thursday afternoon.

That’s where the journey starts for senior Payton Drake and juniors Colby Tool and Landon Fenton.

All three Mustang grapplers hope to bring back hardware from the Iowa High School State Wrestling Championships.

“I think every one of them expects to come home with a medal. And all of us coaches expect them to come home with a medal. But it’s tough down there,” PCM coach Jeff Nicholson said. “I like where our guys are at though. I like where they are at mentally and physically.”

Fenton is making his third trip to the state wrestling tournament. He has yet to earn a state medal after getting injured in his first match at 113 last season and going 1-2 as a freshman at 106. A spot on the podium would be a great way for Fenton to end his junior season.

Drake earned a seventh-place medal at 120 in his first state appearance last season. Every wrestler has dreams of winnning a state title, but a top-four finish for Drake is a good goal for the Mustang senior.

Tool is looking for his third state medal in three tries. He was fourth at 138 as a freshman and took sixth at 145 last season. Last year, Tool lost in overtime in the semifinals to the eventual state champion.

“Districts was a tough day for us. We did not wrestle our best,” Nicholson said. “I think we all know that. We’ve talked through some things. I expect that we’ll see different guys at the state tournament.”

Tool (17-2) has faced plenty of adversity this season. He broke his leg in the Mustangs’ final football game of the season and missed half of the wrestling season.

And he battled through a toe injury for sectionals and districts but claimed championships in both. He goes into the state tournament seeded fourth and ranked fifth.

The only goal for Tool since the beginning of his freshman season was to be a multiple time state champion.

“The goal hasn’t changed,” Tool said. “I don’t want to come off as an arrogant kid but at the end of the day it comes down to who really wants it the most and who is the most prepared. I feel like I am in a good spot as far as preparation and I am using these last few days to sharpen up everything.”

Tool opens his tournament against Forest City’s Kristian Gunderson (40-14). He has a potential quarterfinal matchup with fourth-ranked and fifth-seeded Wyatt Appleseth (38-0) of Panorama.

Top-seeded and top-ranked Will Esmoil (38-0) of West Liberty, eighth-seeded Bret Hoyman (37-6) of Emmetsburg and 10th-ranked Riley Burke (32-3) of Iowa Falls-Alden also are on Tool’s side of the 152-pound bracket.

“He has the heart of a champion. He was close last year,” Nicholson said. “With the heart and determination he has, I wouldn’t bet against him.”

Tool is wrestling inside Wells Fargo Arena at the end of February for the ninth straight season. He is no longer shell shocked by the experience.

“I expect to be wrestling at Wells Fargo at the end of February and I expect to do well,” Tool said. “The only motivation for me right now is that I want to be a multi-time state champion. I came up short last year. I don’t want that feeling to be there again when I wake up on Sunday morning.”

Drake (39-7) is ranked eighth and seeded sixth for his tournament run at 138. He opens with North Fayette Valley’s Joel Grimes (30-6). His second match could come against third-seeded and second-ranked Kruise Kiburz (41-2) of Winterset.

Drake is used to tough draws. He started with the top ranked wrestler in last year’s state tournament and has always had tough districts to get through.

“It could have been better but it could have been worse,” Drake said of his draw. “I can’t give someone more respect than they deserve and I can’t overlook anyone. You never know. Anyone can get hot at the state tournament. I can’t stop scoring points. No lead is safe.”

Drake’s side of the bracket also includes third-ranked and seventh-seeded Isaac Bryan (45-5) of Sergeant Bluff-Luton and second-seeded and fourth-ranked Nathaniel Genobana (27-1) of Centerville.

Genobana is a two-time state runner-up. He defeated Drake 2-1 in the first round at last season’s state tournament.

“Getting to the semifinals would be a good accomplishment,” said Drake, who has 153 career wins. “If I get past that, that would be great also. A pretty good goal for me would be top four.”

Fenton was in line to earn his first state medal last year but an injury in the opening round derailed those plans. He’s back this season as the fourth-seeded and eighth-ranked wrestler at 132 pounds.

Fenton (42-8) opens his tournament with Clarinda’s Kale Downey (33-18). He faces a ranked foe in his second match, taking on either fifth-seeded and seventh-ranked Averee Abben (16-1) of Osage or fourth-ranked Keegan Scheeler (34-3) of Center Point Urbana.

“I like where I am in the bracket,” Fenton said. “The matchups don’t matter to me. I will try to do my thing regardless of who I am wrestling. I do want to get a medal. I am going to try to wrestle the best I can, go hard the whole time and the rest will work itself out.”

Nicholson feels like his Mustang grapplers were seeded at or around where they should be. The first-round matches for all three guys are very winnable.

“I think we did OK as far as the seeds go,” Nicholson said. “I am happy with where we landed. The deeper you get the tougher it gets. We have tough kids, too. If we wrestle our best, the quarterfinal matches are winnable, too.”

The Class 2A portion of the state wrestling tournament starts at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Friday's quarterfinal session begins at 9 a.m.