Trio of triumph — 3 Panthers advance to state wrestling

GLENWOOD — After a day filled with both triumph and defeat, three Creston wrestlers have punched their ticket to the state wrestling tournament this week at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines.

Seniors Lane Travis and Gunner Martwick will be making their return to the big stage while sophomore Jose Avila will be making his debut.

The day was not without its disappointment as three seniors walked off the mat for the final time Saturday at the District 5 tournament in Glenwood. Kylen Parsons, Brodrick Phelps and Jackson Pettegrew each finished their careers wrestling in the third-place match.

The District 5 lineup was very familiar to the Panthers — seven Hawkeye 10 teams and Winterset making up the attending teams.

Creston placed third as a team, scoring 132 points. Glenwood took the gold with 202.5 and Atlantic was second with 184.5.

“Shenandoah and Winterset both finished ahead of us at John Harris by quite a bit,” coach Cody Downing said. “We turned that around to a third-place district finish without having two weight classes and without having Ben James.”

Qualifiers

Travis, a Hawkeye 10 champion and previous two-time state qualifier, was the favorite at 138, a prediction he proved accurate, taking the top spot with ease.

Though anything can happen at the district tournament, Downing went in expecting Travis to be the champion Saturday.

“Lane’s just our leader. You come to expect stuff out of him,” Downing said. “It’s just pure work ethic and hustle. He’s had a great career.”

Despite the pressure on his shoulders, Travis said he went out just trying to have fun.

“I was looking to be the best out of my teammates,” Travis said. “I was really hoping we could get some more through, but I’m glad with who we have.”

In the semifinals, Travis went up 6-1 on Harlan’s Nathan Sandquist before pinning him in the first period.

In the finals, Travis controlled the pace from the beginning, winning over Landon Hagan of Atlantic in an 18-3 technical fall. The Atlantic sophomore is 45-17 this season.

“I’d say in my finals match, my offense was there,” Travis said. “I was just chain wrestling, straight to my shots, and it really went well.”

Hagan lost his wrestleback to Glenwood’s Ben Christensen after pinning him in the opening round of the tournament.

Travis comes into the state tournament as the six seed, therefore receiving a first-round bye. In the second round, he will face the winner of Burlington Notre Dame’s Jared Glendening (No. 11) and Perry’s Townes Wilson (No. 22).

“I’m happy with where Lane is at in his bracket,” Downing said. “I think Lane’s in as good of a spot as he could ask for.”

Though Martwick came in as the defending Hawkeye 10 heavyweight champion, he was seeded second behind Glenwood’s Drake Buthe who was upset in the semifinals of the conference tournament. The two didn’t face each other that day.

“Gunner, he’s a great example of starting as JV, worked his way up and now he’s a two-time state qualifier,” Downing said.

Martwick pinned Atlantic’s Connor Woosley in the semifinals, going on to face Buthe in the finals.

It was a quick win for Buthe, who came away with the title after pinning Martwick in the first period.

In the wrestleback, Martwick finished business, pinning Harlan’s Jaspyr Nielsen early in the second period to earn his second straight trip to the state tournament.

“I thought my first match went really well because I got to my offense really early and then just kept wrestling and got him turned in the second,” Martwick said. “And then wrestling Buthe in the finals was kind of rough, but it was OK. I got pinned kind of quick. The last match, it was good to get back to my offense and get working again.”

Martwick enters as the 14 seed, wrestling Fort Madison’s Baylor Ferreira (No. 19) in the opening round Thursday. With a win, he would advance to face North Fayette Valley’s Layne Kleppe (No. 3). Buthe is the seven seed.

“I’m looking to place top eight,” Martwick said of the state tournament. “I don’t care where I place really; I just want to be on the podium.”

When it comes to the two senior qualifiers, Downing said they are a perfect example of what the program teaches every day.

“The hustle, everything that we do in the room every night from a practice standpoint translates to matches for those two guys,” Downing explained. “They’ve been great leaders.”

The biggest triumph of the day came from sophomore Jose Avila. Last season, the wrestler had a losing record. This year, he has a ticket to the state tournament.

“We were talking, Jose had a losing record going into John Harris [Jan. 23],” Downing said. “We’ve seen glimpses in the room; we think Jose is going to be a good wrestler for us. He does exactly what we ask for as coaches. He hustles, he shows up to things, he never misses a practice. He’s very coachable.”

Though Avila came into the tournament as the four seed at 157, he said he came in knowing he could qualify.

“I’ve wrestled most of these kids before,” he said. “I knew I could have a run for it, and I got it.”

While Downing said he expected Avila to make the state tournament, he didn’t know if it would happen this year.

In the semifinals, he faced the one seed Chayton Snethen of Harlan. Snethen took a 12-2 lead before pinning Avila, sending him to the consolation bracket.

There, Avila defeated Atlantic’s Dayton Thomas in a first-period pin, earning a spot in the third-place match.

In his third-place bout against two-seed Trey Williamson of Glenwood, Avila was down 3-1 after the first period. Avila came in most nervous to wrestle Williamson as they have each defeated each other this season.

“I didn’t know which way it would go,” Avila said. “I felt good; I felt confident. I knew if I kept pushing the pace, he was going to gas out. I have more in the tank than he does. I knew if I kept pushing the pace and believing in myself, I would get him.”

In the second, he started on bottom, tying the score with a reversal. From there, Avila made quick work of Williamson, winning in a 3:11 pin.

Snethen won the championship match, giving Avila a chance to wrestleback for second against three-seed Lukus Major of Shenandoah.

Avila had previously lost three out of four matches to Major, but their most recent match was a win for the Creston sophomore.

“All I kept thinking to myself was, ‘my match, my offense, my conditioning,’” Avila said. “I know most teams out there aren’t doing it the same as we are: running in the mornings, hard drilling, hard practices after school. I felt confident in my endurance to keep pushing the pace.”

Avila didn’t narrowly win, he solidly outperformed Major through three periods, winning 11-1 after scoring on a takedown in each of the periods and earning two points for a nearfall.

Avila has nowhere to go but up at the state tournament as he comes in as the 24th seed. In the first round, he will face No. 9 Hayden Schafer of Eagle Grove. With a win, he would advance to face No. 8 Kaden Wiele of West Liberty. Snethen is the 10 seed.

“We’re really excited for him,” Downing said. “Having nothing to lose can be a dangerous situation for your opponent sometimes, and that’s where Jose’s going to be going into state.”

Third place

Three Panthers earned third after not qualifying for a wrestleback.

For Parsons, coming just short was like deja vu. Each of his four years, he has placed third at districts — just outside, looking in.

This year, Parsons came in as the four seed in a stacked 120 bracket, but the 126-pound bracket was even tougher to break through. Downing said he gave Parsons the option of wrestling at 120 or 132, but Parsons insisted Tyler Travis had earned the right to keep wrestling at 132.

“He’s a good teammate; he went with 120,” Downing said. “We thought he could win the district or finish fourth. It was that close with those [120-pound] guys.”

He lost early to one-seed Keaton Schroeder of Atlantic in a 12-5 decision, though it was Parsons who scored first on a takedown.

In the consolation bracket, Parsons defeated Jackson Rea of Red Oak in a quick 15-0 technical fall. In the third-place match, Parsons upset the three seed Kline Kiburz of Winterset in a 14-2 major decision.

All he needed was for Schroeder to defeat two-seed Brody Black of Glenwood in the finals and Parsons would have a chance to wrestleback for second.

After finishing his own bout, Parsons watched with bated breath as Schroeder had tenuous control of Black, leading 4-3 with less than 10 seconds left. At the four-second mark, Black dashed Parsons’ hopes, winning 5-4 with a last-second reversal.

The four-year starter finished his senior season 39-15. He walks away with 125 career wins.

At 144, Phelps was hoping for a repeat trip to the Casey’s Center but had a tall task ahead of him as the top two seeds combined for 69 wins and just 11 losses.

In the first round, Phelps won in a 16-0 tech fall over Carter Hadley of Atlantic. In the semifinals, Phelps was down 16-6 going into the final period against two-seed Jayse Jensen of Winterset. In the final period, Phelps was pinned.

In the consolation bracket, Phelps won two more technical falls — the first 19-1 and the second 17-2. In order to get a wrestleback, Phelps needed Jensen to defeat Shenandoah’s Hayden Roush.

Roush was up 11-0 after one, but Jensen came back to score eight in the second period, trailing 13-8 going into the final period. Roush hung on, winning 17-11, eliminating Phelps from state contention.

The senior walks off the mat with a 41-16 record this season.

“Brodrick and Kylen, you’re just heartbroken,” Downing said. “Both of those guys, it’s been pretty special the last four years for Creston wrestling.”

Junior Colby Brammer came into the tournament as the three seed at 150 behind Jayden Harter of Atlantic (48-8) and Dayton Gusman of Red Oak (30-11).

Brammer won his opener with a 52-second pin over Blake Burdorf of Shenandoah. In the semifinals, Gusman won in a 12-7 decision over Brammer.

In his first consolation match, Brammer beat Cael Hirsch of Winterset with a pin as time expired in the first period. Brammer went on to wrestle for third, winning over Tate Buthe of Glenwood in another first-period pin.

As his arm was raised, Brammer was already looking back to the championship match, hoping Gusman would upset Harter to give Brammer a shot at a wrestleback. In the end, Harter won in dominant fashion, pinning Gusman after going up 16-3.

Fourth Place

Pettegrew spent most of his senior year sidelined with an injury but was able to come back to wrestle nearly 20 matches before the end of the year.

He came in ranked fifth in a tough 175-pound bracket. Nile Lundvall of Glenwood (41-10) came in the favorite and walked away as the champion.

Pettegrew opened with a loss to Dreven Smith of Atlantic, the four seed who would go on to place second and qualify for state.

In the consolations, Pettegrew defeated three-seed Tyler Babe of Shenandoah (39-13) before facing Smith again in the third-place match. Once again, Smith came out on top, winning in a second-period pin.

Pettegrew finished his senior season 12-6.

Two young wrestlers also placed fourth — sophomores Tyler Travis (132) and Will Schaefer (165).

Downing said he’s excited about both of them, Travis improving from a losing JV record last year and Schaefer back after not wrestling since fifth grade.

State Qualifiers (1st; 2nd)

106: Ace Cochrane, Glenwood; Dayton Van Horn, Atlantic

113: Sebastian Brooks, Winterset; Izic Zarate, Red Oak

120: Brody Black, Glenwood; Keaton Schroeder, Atlantic

126: Joseph Leick, Glenwood; Judah Gurwell, Winterset

132: Braxton Hass, Atlantic; Cade Harlan, Winterset

138: Lane Travis, Creston; Landon Hagen, Atlantic

144: Hayden Roush, Shenandoah; Jayse Jensen, Winterset

150: Jayden Harter, Atlantic; Dayton Gusman, Red Oak

157: Chayton Snethen, Harlan; Jose Avila, Creston

165: Jacob McGargill, Shenandoah; Jax Jensen, Winterset

175: Nile Lundvall, Glenwood; Dreven Smith, Atlantic

190: Donovan Hedrington, Atlantic; Jacob Aust, Glenwood

215: Mason Koehler, Glenwood; Travin Thomas, Atlantic

285: Drake Buthe, Glenwood; Gunner Martwick, Creston