The two Greene County High School wrestlers qualifying for the State Tournament this week have several things in common. Bryce Hoyle and Brock Wuebker are both seniors. They both have missed significant mat time in their careers, including this season. Both were football linemen and instrumental in the Rams turning fortunes around from 1-8 in 2017 to 8-2 in 2018 with a Co-Championship in the district and a Class 2A playoff appearance. And, both overcame odds on the mat to get to Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Hoyle takes a 10-5 record into State at 195 lbs. He missed the 2018 portion of the season due to mono. Shortly after returning, he was back on the shelf with injured ribs. He was seeded fourth at the Ida Grove Sectional, pinned three opponents there to win the weight class, upset a wrestler with a 31-5 record at the Harlan District on Saturday by a 9-0 major decision in round one. He eventually finished second without having a second place wrestle back match.

Wuebker was the top seed at 170 in the Ida Grove Sectional. He lost 8-6 to a Harlan wrestler and had to wrestle back for second. He trailed 9-4 in the match to advance to the District before winning by fall. At the Harlan District, he lost by fall in round one, won by fall in round two to earn a wrestle back for second place against the same Harlan wrestler he lost to the previous week. Trailing 3-0 in third period, Wuebker went from the bottom position to the top, turned his opponent over and pinned him to earn the trip to State. He’ll take a 24-4 record into action Thursday night.

All three Raccoon Valley Radio stations will have extensive play-by-play Feb. 14-15-16, and we’ll be streaming on www.raccoonvalleyradio.com. Class 3A starts it off at 9 a.m. Thursday and we’ll be following the four qualifiers from Dallas Center-Grimes. Class 1A takes the mats at 1:30 p.m. and there are nine area wrestlers in that class. Class 2A begins at 6 p.m. Thursday and we’ll have 20 area wrestlers to follow in 2A to cap day one.