Wheeler leads PCM boys to 14th at Osage, 10th at Fort Madison

OSAGE — Class 2A No. 2 Tucker Wheeler placed second but no other Mustang wrestler was higher than sixth during the Osage Scuffle on Saturday.

The PCM boys wrestling team scored 70 points with its 10 wrestlers and finished 14th in the 18-team field.

Class 2A No. 9 Osage won its home tournament with 162.5 points. Class 1A No. 3 Woodbury Central was second with 159 and Algona (154), Denver (146.5) and West Marshall (121.5) completed the top five.

Anamosa (121), Iowa Falls-Alden (116), Lake Mills (109.5), Nashua-Plainfield (106) and Clear Lake (100) finalized the top 10.

Woodbury Central, Denver, West Marshall and Anamosa all had two individual champions.

Wheeler (19-2) was 2-1 at 165 pounds. After a first-round bye, Wheeler dominated his first match 21-6. He then defeated 2A No. 5 Cooper Gates of West Branch, 7-1, to advance to the finals.

In the championship match, Wheeler lost 18-0 to 2A No. 1 Boden White of Denver. Both of Wheeler’s losses this season have come against White.

Eli McGriff placed sixth at 285, Landon Siedlecki was seventh at 190 and Brenden Lahart finished eighth at 106. The other six Mustangs combined for two wins.

McGriff won his first two matches before losing three straight. His first loss was 2-1 and he won once by fall.

Siedlecki was 3-2 with three pins. His first pin came while trailing 7-3 and one of his losses was against 2A No. 1 Broedy Hendricks of Humboldt.

Lahart finished 2-3 with a pair of decisions. He won 13-7 in TB-1 and then scored a 6-0 win later in the day.

Jared Sutton (144) and Mason Hjortshoj (157) both won once by fall. One of Sutton’s losses came against 1A No. 6 Chance Christensen of Riceville and Hjortshoj suffered a loss to 2A No. 12 Carter McGregor of Algona.

Wheeler wins title at Fort Madison Invitational

FORT MADISON — Wheeler dominated his bracket, Kaliber Fry’s only loss came to a state-ranked wrestler and PCM finished ninth in the team race at the Fort Madison Invitational.

The Mustangs competed in the two-day tournament before the winter break on Dec. 19-20.

PCM scored 224.5 points with 10 wrestlers. Class 2A No. 1 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont cruised to the team title with 468.6 points. Dubuque Hempstead (357) edged Clear Creek-Amana (354) for second and the rest of the top five included 2A No. 6 Burlington Notre Dame (328.5) and Cedar Rapids Kennedy (323).

Solon (318), Louisa-Muscatine (289) and Benton Community (266) also finished in front of the Mustangs. Muscatine (222) was 10th in the 24-team field.

Wheeler, who is ranked second in 2A at 165, was 7-0 with seven technical fall wins. He won 21-6 six times and scored a 22-5 win.

Fry (15-3) was third at 132. He was 8-1 for the day and lost in the semifinals to 3A No. 6 Elijah Hyet of Hempstead. Fry won five times by fall, once by technical fall and once by major decision, and he also won 8-5 in SV-1.

Sutton placed fifth at 144. He was 5-3 for the day, winning three times by fall. One of his losses came against 2A No. 1 Landen Davis of EBF.

Lahart finished eighth at 106. He was 3-4 with two wins by fall and a 12-11 win by decision. Two of his losses were to 2A No. 6 Keller Little of EBF and 3A No. 7 Thayer Hagstrom of Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

Hjortshoj was 11th at 157, while Gracen Lust (138), Easton Morris (150), Harrison Brinegar (175), Siedlecki (190) and McGriff (285) placed 12th at their weights.

Hjortshoj was 6-3 with five pins and one major decision but lost his first match of the day. Lust was 5-4 with four pins and one technical fall.

Brinegar, Siedlecki and McGriff all won four times, while Morris was 3-6. Siedlecki won four times by fall and Morris, Brinegar and McGriff all won twice by fall. Brinegar and Siedlecki lost their first matches, while McGriff bounced back after falling in his first two. McGriff also scored wins of 4-2 and 3-2 in TB-1.

Morris lost his first two matches and one of his defeats in the tournament came against 2A No. 3 Kael Cook of Burlington Notre Dame. One of Brinegar’s losses came to 2A No. 3 Kyler Crow of Mediapolis.