PCM leads area trio at Saydel Wrestling Invitational

DES MOINES — PCM freshman Tucker Wheeler had plenty of credentials before his prep wrestling career began this season.

But after an impressive run to the 138-pound title on Saturday, Wheeler likely will get even more attention.

Wheeler went 3-0 for the day to claim the championship, and that led the Mustangs to a fourth-place team finish in the 15-team field at the Saydel Wrestling Invitational.

PCM was one of three area squads which entered wrestlers into the field. The Mustangs’ lineup featured 11 grapplers, while Lynnville-Sully placed ninth with six wrestlers and Newton was 13th with its five.

Interstate 35 won the team championship with 189.5 points. Iowa City High was next with 186.5 and the rest of the top five included Waukee (176.5), PCM (168) and Marshalltown (121).

Boone (100.5), Roland-Story (87), Des Moines Lincoln (84.5), Lynnville-Sully (78), Saydel (76), Clarke (74), Iowa Falls-Alden (65.5), Newton (57.5), Waukee Northwest JV (56) and Collins-Maxwell (26) completed the field.

The Mustangs won two individual titles with Wheeler at 138 and Kaden Clark at 285. Remington Fry (126) and Wyatt Wheeler (170) both were second and Hewitt Brinegar (145) placed third.

Lynnville-Sully was led by Gentry Walston’s runner-up finish at 120. Reese Dunsbergen (170) and Kyle Squires (182) were third at their weights.

Newton’s Kaiden Rogers finished third at 113 to lead the Cardinals.

Tucker Wheeler (13-2) began his day with a win by pin over Lynnville-Sully’s Trevor Van Wyk. His next victory was a 6-4 decision over Boone’s Ty Solverson and he ended his day with a 7-3 victory over Iowa City High’s Jake Mitchell.

Solverson was 37-5 last year and finished fifth in the Class 3A state tournament. Mitchell also qualified for last year’s 3A state tournament.

Van Wyk finished sixth for the Hawks at 138. He was 2-2 with a pair of pins.

Clark (9-3) was part of a seven-person bracket at 285 and he won both of his matches by fall. Neither of them got out of the first round.

Fry (9-3) won his first 126-pound match 5-3 and then advanced to the finals with a win by fall. He lost the championship match 28-13 to Iowa City High’s Cale Seaton, who finished third at 120 in last year’s 3A state tournament.

Wyatt Wheeler was 2-1 at 170. He opened his tournament with back-to-back wins by pin. The second pin came against L-S’ Dunsbergen.

In the finals, Wheeler lost by fall to finish second. Dunsbergen was 3-1 with two pins and one major decision.

Brinegar placed third at 145 after scoring a pair of wins. His first win came by pin and he finished his day with a 15-7 victory.

William Vanderpool won his first match by pin and then lost two straight but finished fourth at 160.

Kaliber Fry (106) and Nate Richards (195) both placed fifth at their weights.

Kaliber Fry lost his first match but rallied for back-to-back pins, and Richards lost his first bout 5-2 before securing three straight pins.

Richards’ final pin came against Newton’s Wyatt Weter, who was sixth at 195 after a 3-2 day. Weter won twice by fall and once by a 4-0 decision.

Three area wrestlers competed at 132 and PCM’s Sawyer Bouwkamp led the way in sixth.

Bouwkamp was 2-2 with a win by pin and a 3-2 victory over Newton’s Seth Adams, who placed seventh in the weight class.

Adams was 3-2 for the day with two wins by pin and a 13-8 victory in SV-1. Lynnville-Sully’s Kendric Johnson was 0-2 and one of his losses came against Adams.

PCM’s other two wrestlers were Jeffrey McDanel and Joel Greiner. McDanel was 3-2 at 152, and he placed seventh after recording two wins by pin and a 3-1 decision. Greiner was 0-2 at 220.

Walston (12-1) led the Hawks with a second-place finish at 120. He won his first two matches by fall, but lost 20-4 to Roland-Story’s Kade Blume.

Blume is the defending state champion in 2A at 113 pounds.

Squires was third at 182. He opened his day with a 5-2 win over Newton’s Nathan Milburn and finished it with a win by fall.

Milburn wrestled just twice and placed fifth after recording a 15-second pin in his final match.

The final L-S wrestler to compete was Hunter Van Wyk. He placed sixth at 113 after going 2-2 with two pins.

The final two Cardinals in the tournament were Rogers and Avery White.

Rogers opened his day with a 57-second pin and ended it with a 30-second fall. He was 2-1 for the day and placed third at 113.

White finished sixth at 145 after a 2-2 day. He began with a 10-6 win and added an 18-1 technical fall victory later in the day.