Martwick takes H10 heavyweight title

GLENWOOD — In one of Lewis Central’s last Hawkeye 10 performances, the Titans brought home a conference wrestling title Saturday, scoring 259.5 points. Glenwood finished second at 233 with defending champion, Atlantic, taking the bronze with 198.

Even without several pieces of the lineup, Creston put together a fifth-place finish, scoring 125.5 points.

The tournament was highlighted by Creston heavyweight Gunner Martwick winning his first ever conference title.

“I think the highest I’ve ever placed is fourth at this tournament,” Martwick said. “It feels great to win it. This was one of my main goals.”

Martwick came in the two seed, but the top four contenders were all fairly evenly matched.

In the quarterfinals, Martwick pinned Luke Sundberg of St. Albert in 1:29. He went on to face the three seed, Steven Ayala of Denison-Schleswig, in the semifinals.

Lewis Central’s Hunter Infanger, the four seed, upset top-seeded Drake Buthe of Glenwood in the semis, winning 4-1 after a takedown with just two seconds left.

In the finals, Martwick was able to defeat Infanger 4-2 after a takedown in the third period.

“He had an incredible underhook. I knew as long as I defended that and got him to the third period, I could win,” Martwick said. “I knew, trusting our conditioning and morning runs and everything, if I kept working and pushing the pace, I’d eventually get it.”

Placing

Excluding Martwick, Creston had five wrestlers place in the top four for their weight class.

Senior Lane Travis was Creston’s other finalist, going on to place second at 138 behind familiar foe Owen Duffek of Lewis Central. Travis pinned his first two opponents and won with a 19-2 tech fall in the semifinals.

In the finals, Duffek and Travis battled the full six minutes, ending in a 4-2 decision. Just two days prior, Travis defeated Duffek in a 4-2 decision.

Several Panthers fought back for the third-place match. Senior Kylen Parsons came in as the three seed and finished third. Parsons pinned his first two opponents before falling in the semis to two-seed Joseph Leick of Glenwood. In the third-place match, Parsons won in just 52 seconds.

The 126-pound bracket was tough, the top two seed combining for a record of 70-4.

Not even seeded in the top four, Jose Avila came out as a surprise third-place finisher at 157.

Avila lost to the four-seed, Lukus Major of Shenandoah, in the first round by a third-period pin after being tied at 7.

From there, he was unstoppable. Avila defeated three opponents, including pinning the three seed, Trey Williamson, to qualify for the third-place bout. It was a rematch for Avila and Major. This time, Avila came out with a resounding 10-2 major decision to take third.

Brodrick Phelps and Colby Brammer both earned spots in the third-place match at their respective weight classes.

Both wrestlers were leading in their third-place bouts before being caught in the wrong position and pinned.

Phelps was the three seed, losing to the two seed in the semifinals. In the third-place match, Phelps was up 15-1 in the third period when, with 30 seconds left, Coy Obrecht of Harlan got a reversal, pinning Phelps. It was redemption for Obrecht as he been pinned by Phelps in the quarterfinals.

Brammer was ahead 6-4 before a takedown and pin had Isaac Bates of Lewis Central win the match. Prior to that, Brammer pinned three straight opponents. The bout was a rematch as Brammer lost to Bates in the first round.

Tyler Travis and Tom Mikkelsen placed seventh while Nate Bentley finished eighth.

The Panthers return to Glenwood Saturday, Feb. 14 where they will compete against Atlantic, Clarinda, Glenwood, Harlan, Red Oak, Shenandoah and Winterset. Top two in each weight class qualify.