Two Tigerhawks, one L-S grappler advances to state wrestling

PLEASANTVILLE — Colfax-Mingo’s Noah Strohmeyer and Lynnville-Sully’s Gentry Walston met for the fourth time this season at the Class 1A District 5 tournament on Saturday.

Walston closed the gap from sectionals weekend but still fell short against Class 1A No. 7 Strohmeyer.

Strohmeyer defeated Walston 12-7 to advance to the state tournament for the third time in his career.

Walston was one of three Hawks to compete on the day but is the only one headed to state as he qualified as the runner-up at 113 pounds.

For Colfax-Mingo, John McGill also advanced to the state tournament with a second-place finish at 126. The other two Tigerhawks in the field — Kenny Schlosser (285) and Hunter Stevens (160) — failed to qualify for state, while Lynnville-Sully’s Maxwell Mintle (145) and Miles Mintle (195) also came up short.

“I think our kids wrestled well,” C-M coach Erin Hume said. “I liked the effort from everyone. They each had a plan and they wrestled that plan to their best ability.”

Strohmeyer (34-4) is just the second C-M wrestler to advance to the state tournament three times, joining former Tigerhawk Michael Bucklin. He won his first match by fall before defeating Walston in the finals.

Walston (30-11) led Strohmeyer 5-4 after one period but Strohmeyer went up 7-6 after two. In the third, Strohmeyer created more separation.

Strohmeyer is 4-0 against Walston this season.

Walston won his first match at 113 by fall. He will compete at the state tournament for the first time in his career.

McGill (38-7) advances to the state tournament after finishing second at 126. He set the freshmen wins record at Colfax-Mingo earlier this season and is now just the second freshman in school history to advance to the state tournament, joining former Tigerhawk Jimmy Abel.

McGill opened the district tournament with a 10-3 win in the semifinals. He was defeated 17-2 by 1A No. 10 Ryan Steinlage of Interstate 35.

Schlosser (21-7) had the next best area finish as he was third at 285. He lost his first match 4-1 but bounced back to win his third-place match by fall.

Stevens, Maxwell Mintle and Miles Mintle all finished fourth and went 0-2 on the day.

Stevens (30-15) lost 7-2 before falling by pin at 160. Miles Mintle (19-9) was pinned twice at 195. And Maxwell Mintle (29-5) lost his first match by fall and then had an injury default loss in the third-place match at 145.

New London won the district championship with 92 points. The rest of the top five included Interstate 35 (80.5), Southeast Warren (60), Sigourney-Keota (57) and Moravia (44.5).

Colfax-Mingo finished sixth with 40 points, while L-S tied for 13th in the 14-team field with 14 points.

“Success isn’t always measured by wins and losses, and to not see that this abnormal season was a success would be crazy,” Hume said.

Strohmeyer was given the sixth seed for this week’s state tournament. He begins his run to a state medal against sixth-ranked and 11th-seeded Dawson Bergan (41-5) of Edgewood-Colesburg.

His second match will be against either fourth-ranked and third-seeded Dawson Schmit (28-3) of Wapsie Valley or 14th seeded Keyton Remsburg (23-13) of South Hamilton.

Walston is on the same side of the 113 bracket as Strohmeyer. He opens his first state tournament against top-ranked and second-seeded Braden Graff (39-0) of West Sioux. Walston was given the 15th seed.

His second match will be against either eighth-ranked and seventh-seeded John Schroder (34-5) of Oakland Riverside or 10th-seeded Kai Carrit (28-13) of Logan-Magnolia.

McGill begins his first state tournament as the 14th seed at 126. He opens with sixth-ranked and third-seeded Damon Huston (37-2) of Midland.

He will face either fourth-ranked and 11th-seeded Cameron Clark (38-5) of West Sioux or sixth-seeded and eighth-ranked Brooks Meyer (33-4) of Denver in his second match.

The Iowa High School State Wrestling Championships begin on Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. The 1A session kicks off at 9 a.m.