Nine of the 12 wrestlers Greene County High School entered in Saturday’s Class 2A Sectional 8 Tournament in Ida Grove matched or exceeded where they were seeded, making for a rewarding day for first year head coach Zach Beekman’s Rams. Based on seeds, the Rams should have sent three wrestlers to the Feb. 9 district in Harlan, but the reality is five from Greene County qualified. The team was a very competitive fourth place among six teams with tenth ranked Sergeant Bluff-Luton placing first and Harlan second. Those two teams move on to a Feb. 5 dual meet regional tournament. Atlantic was third, followed by Greene County, Kuemper Catholic (Carroll), and the host OABCIG Falcons.

Seniors Clint Dennhardt (182) and Bryce Hoyle (195) both placed first on Saturday with juniors Braden Gallagher (106) and Joel Ward (160), plus senior Brock Wuebker (170) finishing in second place. Only the first and second place finishers advance to the district level. The top two wrestlers in each weight class at Harlan move on to the State Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines Feb. 14-15-16.

The other place winners for the Rams were:

Chance McCollom (113) fourth; John Sprague (12) fourth; Joe Davis (132) fourth; Brady Stauffer (138) fifth; Colby Kafer (152) fifth; Sawyer Schiltz (220) fourth; Matt Naberhaus (285) third.