The first wrestling tournament of the new year took the West Central Valley Wildcats to Coon Rapids Saturday. The Wildcats competed in the annual Crusader Invitational, grappling wrestlers from AC/GC, Audubon, Coon Rapids-Bayard, East Sac County, English Valleys, Exira/EHK, Riverside. Oakland, Panorama, and South Central Calhoun. West Central Valley placed second overall in the team standings and had three wrestlers finish runner up in their respective weight classes.

Tye Joint (145) registered three pinfalls on his way to the championship match. The title bout saw South Central Calhoun’s Chase McAlister defeat Joint by a 10-7 decision. Carson Wadle (182) was given a bye in the quarterfinal round and pinned Riverside Oakland’s Tony Garvey in 53 seconds to advance to the final grapple. The championship match saw Panorama’s Trevor Carey best Wadle by pinfall 4:45 into their match. Finally, Riley Algreen (195) was given a quarterfinal bye and pinned Audubon’s Luke Mosinski in his semifinal grapple. The title match saw Panorama’s Dalton Holmes best Algreen by an 11-0 major decision. West Central Valley scored third-place finishes from Justin Garcia (126) and Alan Wallace (170).

West Central Valley resumes their dual season tomorrow, competing in a nonconference quadrangular against wrestlers from AHSTW, Audubon, and Southwest Valley. First grapples are set for 5:30 p.m. at Southwest Valley High School.