Cardinal trio locks up state wrestling berths

CEDAR RAPIDS — For the first time in five seasons, three Cardinals will wrestle in the state tournament.

The Newton boys’ wrestling team placed eight grapplers in the top four, scored more than 100 points and finished fifth in the eight-team field at the Class 3A District 8 tournament on Saturday.

Wyatt Weter is headed back to the state tournament after finishing second at 190 pounds. Kent Montgomery (106) also qualified with a runner-up finish and Kaiden Rogers (120) punches his first ticket to the state tournament with a third-place finish.

The Cardinals posted their highest district team finish in five years. They scored 101 points in fifth on Saturday and totaled 104.5 points in fifth five seasons ago.

Class 3A No. 4 Ankeny Centennial won the tournament with 210 points. The Jaguars crowned four champions.

The rest of the top five included Iowa City West (148), host Cedar Rapids Prairie (134.5) and Cedar Rapids Kennedy (120).

Iowa City Liberty (78), Cedar Rapids Washington (52) and Cedar Rapids Jefferson (49) rounded out the eight-team field.

The top three finishers in each weight class in 3A advance to the state tournament.

The first Cardinal to clinch a state berth this season was Montgomery, who reached the finals at 106. He was 2-1 for the day with a first-period pin and a 3-2 win in the semifinals.

Montgomery (23-9) lost in the finals to fifth-ranked Dylan Munson (37-3) of Cedar Rapids Prairie.

Weter’s second-place finish at 190 featured a 3-1 day. Weter (17-6) opened with a win by pin and a 3-1 victory. He fell 1-0 in the finals and then won a true-second wrestle back, 9-6.

The next best finisher was Rogers, who placed third at 120. He opened with a 12-0 win and finished with a 12-0 win. He also posted a 54-second pin.

Rogers (24-13) lost in the semifinals to 12th-ranked Matthew Tram (27-9) of Iowa City West.

Five Cardinals finished one spot shy of a state berth in fourth. That group included Seth Adams (126), Aiden Robson (144), Jake Mace-Maynard (175), Nick Milburn (215) and Thomas Stadelmann (285).

All five wrestlers were 2-2. Adams opened with a 14-12 win and also won by fall, Robson posted two pins and lost 8-6 in the semifinals and Mace-Maynard scored wins of 10-5 and 12-5.

Milburn (16-7) opened with a win by pin and he also won 6-4. One of his losses came against third-ranked Vincent Lima of Iowa City Liberty.

Stadelmann (17-10) started with an 11-1 win and he also won a match by fall. His losses were 5-3 and 4-2.

The rest of Newton’s lineup included Abel Aldama (113), Zander Robson (132), Asher Rhoads (144), Keary Sanger (150), Lane Rozendaal (157) and Chevy Langston (165).

Rhoads and Rozendaal both went 1-2 with one pin, while Aldama, Zander Robson, Sanger and Langston all finished 0-2.

The Class 3A portion of the Iowa High School State Wrestling Championships begins at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday inside Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.