Four Greene County High School wrestlers qualified for the Feb. 18-19-20 State Tournament in Des Moines at Wells Fargo Arena. Sophomore McKinley Robbins (120 lbs.), and seniors Brady Stauffer (138) and Sawyer Schiltz (285) each place first at the Class 2A District 1 tournament in Adel on Saturday, and freshman Gavin Scheuermann was second. First and second place finishers from all 14 weight classes qualified for State. The Rams placed second among 12 teams, just 1.5 points behind first place Bondurant-Farrar.
Junior Nate Black (160) and freshman Broc Hamman (220) were third place finishers, while John Sprague (126) and Noble Hoyt (170), both juniors, were fourth. Black advanced from the first round to the finals, then lost by fall both in the finals and in the second place wrestle back match. Hamman lost in the first round, won by fall in the consolation match, and did not have an opportunity to wrestle back for second.
Robbins won by fall in his first match, then won by fall in 5:19 to win the second District title of his young career. He topped Rylie Anderson of B-F in a battle of highly rated wrestlers. Robbins, ranked number one at 120 in 2A, trailed the fourth ranked Anderson by a 5-3 score early in the third period with the wrestlers in the neutral position. Robbins, now 30-0 this season, took Anderson down to his back and secured the fall, his 20th of the season. The loss was just the second for the Blue Jay.
Stauffer improved to 27-5 with a 3-1 championship match victory over number 8 Gage Long of Ballard (Huxley). Trailing 1-0 after two periods, Stauffer escaped to tie the match, then scored the winning takedown with 17 seconds left in the match. He won by injury default in the opening round after leading 9-1.
Schiltz scored a pair of falls in capturing the 285 lbs. title and he improved to 25-9. He was 5-4 in December, bumped up from 220 to 285 at the break, and has been outstanding in the postseason.
Scheuermann won 5-2 in the opening round, lost by fall to fourth ranked Landon Fenton of PCM (Monroe) in the finals on Saturday, and placed second without having a wrestle back match. He’s just the fourth freshman in the history of the Rams’ program to make it to a State tournament. Scheuermann will take a 17-9 record to Wells Fargo Arena.
The three District champions ties a program record and the four State qualifiers is just one off the most the Rams have ever sent to a State Tournament. Class 2A wrestles its opening round and first round consolation matches at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 18
All three Raccoon Valley Radio stations will have extensive play-by-play coverage of all area State qualifiers all three days.