Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Bronstad, Gellerman among 5 Pioneers to qualify for district
Nick Bronstad and Daniel Chavez of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows struggle to gain an advantage during the 285-pound title match. Bronstad would pin Chavez to claim the sectional championship.
Ethan Wiersma goes for a reversal against Hunter Kollasch of Algona during the 2A sectional meet. Wiersma would place fourth at 195 pounds.
James Gellerman scores back points against Dylan Burnette-Bingham of Webster City prior to pinning him in 57 seconds. He also won the 182-pound wrestle back match to qualify for the district meet.
The Okoboji/HMS wrestling team's performance at the 2A Sectional 13 at Estherville on Saturday may not have been flashy, but it was effective. Five Pioneers finished in the Top 2 of their weight classes to qualify for the district meet, and the team claimed a Top 3 finish.
Okoboji/HMS's only champion was Nick Bronstad at 285 pounds. The senior pinned Jess Christensen of Estherville-Lincoln Central in the semifinals (1:19). In the championship match Bronstad, ranked No. 6 by IAwrestle.com, won by fall over Daniel Chavez of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows (2:54).
Another H-M-S wrestler to qualify for the district meet was James Gellerman. He lost his 182-pound semifinal match to Deontez Williams of Pocahontas Area (11-4), but came back to pin Dylan Burnette-Bingham of Webster City (0:57) in the third-place match. With Williams winning the title, Gellerman had an opportunity to wrestle back for second place and the freshman took advantage of it, defeating Nash Lienemann of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows (4-0).
Three other Pioneers finished second in their weight classes. Tyce Hanson lost the title match at 113 pounds to Carson Doolittle of Webster City (1:09) but will still advance. Caleb Jones lost the 126-pound title match to Ethan Traub of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows (1:56), but came back to pin Ian Fehr of Algona (1:39) to finish second. The Pioneers' other runner-up finisher was Sam Pas, who lost the 220-pound title match by fall to Jaxon Cherry of Webster City (2:59).
The other H-M-S wrestler to compete was Ethan Wiersma at 195 pounds. The sophomore earned a 9-7 win in the first round over Hunter Kollasch of Algona, lost by fall to CJ Hisler of Webster City in the semifinals (0:37) and lost a 4-3 decision to Cade Crees of E-LC in the third-place match. Wiersma finished the season at 13-22.
Other Pioneers who placed were Dylan Jones, third at 120 pounds; Noah Strantz, third at 160; Jesse Bockman, fourth at 170; Mike Gonnerman, fifth at 106; and Brennan Baschke, fifth at 132.
Webster City claimed the Sectional 13 title with 229 points, Clarion-Goldfield-Dows was runner-up with 200 and Okoboji/HMS was third with 159. Finishing fourth through sixth were Pocahontas Area 148.5, Algona 146 and Estherville-Lincoln Central 126.
• State berths on the line Saturday at Webster City
Qualifiers for the state wrestling tournament will be determined at a 2A district tournament on Feb. 12 at Webster City. Champions from sectionals at Estherville and Osage will wrestle runners-up from the opposite site in the first round which begins at 11 a.m. Competitors in weight classes involving Okoboji/HMS wrestlers are listed in order of finish at Estherville and Osage. Rankings are by IAwrestle.com.
113: Carson Doolittle, Webster City (10, 31-3), and Tyce Hanson, Okoboji/HMS (9, 29-10); Jack Showalter, Hampton-Dumont (12, 39-5, No. 10) and Andon Barrick, Iowa Falls-Alden (10, 22-7).
126: Ethan Traub, Clarion-Goldfield-Dows (11, 28-9) and Caleb Jones, Okoboji/HMS (11, 12-8); Tucker Stangel, Osage (10, 46-2) and Max Currier, Clear Lake (11, 23-5, No. 10).
182: Deontez Williams, Pocahontas Area (11, 33-10), and James Gellerman, Okoboji/HMS (9, 26-13); Braden Hansen, Hampton-Dumont (12, 37-6) and Kaleb Hambly, Clear Lake, (11, 16-12).
220: Jaxon Cherry, Webster City (10, 31-3, No. 9), and Sam Pas, Okoboji/HMS (11, 23-16); Barrett Muller, Osage, (11, 41-6, No. 4) and Gabe Hadwiger, Iowa Falls-Alden (12, 21-3).
285: Nick Bronstad, Okoboji/HMS (12, 35-6, No. 6), and Daniel Chavez, Clarion-Goldfield-Dows (12, 32-7); Carter Heilskov, Hampton-Dumont (10, 31-12) and Mac Muller, Osage, (10, 29-6, No. 9).
