STATE WRESTLING - Harlan Steffensmeier advances to 3rd-place match

BY CHUCK VANDENBERG

PCC EDITOR

DES MOINES - Fort Madison's Harlan Steffensmeier advanced to the third-place match in Class 3A 138 lbs at the IHSAA State Wrestling tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines Saturday morning.

Steffensmeier, now 49-5 on the year, found himself in a rematch with Bryce Murano of Dallas Center-Grimes, who was 39-9 going into the match, Steffensmeier had beaten Murano on Thursday's first round in a 19-4 technical fall.

In a fairly evenly matched opening period, Murano got on the board first with take down, which Steffensmeier escaped quickly to put the match 2-1. With about 45 seconds left in the first period, Steffensmeier started to gain momentum keeping Murano on his back for the rest of the period. Steffensmeier had the up position to start the 2nd period and quickly pulled Murano to the mat and got his legs around him and had Murano under control before the pin was slapped at 38 seconds into the 2nd period.

Steffensmeier will now face Gabe Kjeldgaard, a junior out of Council Bluffs who is 42-8 through the tournament for 3rd place in the 138 weight class.

Steffensmeier beat Mason Morris by a 6-0 decision in round 2 during the Friday morning session, before losing to No. 1 ranked Triston Lara in a major decision 10-2 during the Friday afternoon session.

Steffensmeier has Bryce Murano all tied up toward the end of their match Saturday morning. Steffensmeier recorded the pin at 2:38 to advance to 3rd-place match to be held before 2:15 today. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC.

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