Kruse, Wiseman punch tickets to state tourney

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BY CHUCK VANDENBERG
PCC EDITOR

IOWA CITY - Fort Madison senior Owen Kruse said getting back to Des Moines means everything to him.

Kruse was pinned by Class 3A No. 3 Grant O'Dell from Iowa City West in the title match at 126 lbs at Saturday's Class 3A District 5 wrestling state qualifier at Iowa City West's gym.

But Kruse wasn't too bummed - this season had been about getting back to Wells Fargo Arena in February. He'll join Gavin Wiseman who will be making his first trip after winning a wrestle back to take second place at 138 lbs.

Fort Madison junior Gavin Wiseman gets a hug from Head Coach Ryan Smith after winning his wrestle back match for 2nd place at 138 lbs and his first trip to the state wrestling tournament starting Thursday in Des Moines. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

Kruse said the title match was more than he expected.

"He came out really aggressive and I got a little deer-in-the-headlight going on, and then I just didn't wrestle very well after that," Kruse said of the loss.

But Kruse battled through a tough semifinal match to the get the championship. Taking on Pella's Ryan Hancock, Kruse would score first with an escape for a 1-0 lead in the first period, The lead would hold through the second period, despite a very close take down where Kruse took Hancock to the mat outside the circle. The Hound seemed to have his toes on the circle, but was ruled out with the coaching staff yelling for two.

Kruse would then get a takedown with :13 left for the win.

"That was a tough semifinals match, but I had good pressure and was happy with the way that turned out," Kruse said.

Aidan Pennock gets Landon Whiting of Burlington in a cradle in his first round match. Pennock would win by fall and advance to the semifinals. Pennock would finish in 4th place overall. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

Now he said needs to go back to the practice room and fine tune some things. But the trip to Des Moines has been on his mind all year.

"It means everything to me to try and get back on the podium. I have a few liabilities on the bottom, but I need to go hard, keep up pressure and move my feet," he said.

Wiseman made it to the championship at 138 where he squared off against top-ranked Hunter Garvin of Iowa City West. Garvin scored a couple takedowns in the first period to hold a 4-1 lead. Wiseman had a position to start the second, but Garvin worked a reversal and then scored a two-point nearfall before getting the pin at 3:11.

That pushed Wiseman into a wrestleback for second place with Daltin Doud of Ottumwa for the right to go to state as the runner-up in the division.

Wiseman didn't waste much time getting to work on the freshman, getting a take down 10 seconds in the match and turning it to a near fall at 1:14 and then secured the win with a fall at 1:52 of the first period.

Wiseman said he wasn't trying to do anything crazy, just get on and off the mat.

"I was just trying to get the job done and stay in good position. I didn't want to get risky with anything," he said.

"I'm really happy about this. All the work I've put in this year, it feels good to know that it paid off.

The junior said now he wants to sharpen up a few things in the four days before going to Wells Fargo on Thursday. Class 3A first rounds start at 1:30 p.m.

Head Coach Ryan Smith said he was confident Wiseman was going to put the wrestle back away quickly.

"Gavin's been close a couple times and being in that wrestleback I was confident he was going to take care of business. Sometimes you get leery of those matches, but I knew he would bring it in. I'm very happy for those two." Smith said.

"Owen's been in that position before and he had a really tough semifinal and wrestled a very solid fundamental match and did a good job of getting that victory."

Smith said the hard-luck award probably goes to junior Austin Ensminger.

Ensminger won the 3rd place match at 182 with a last second take down of Iowa City Liberty's Darius Willis Newell.

"That last match for third was pretty amazing. For Austin to avoid that takedown and convert it into his own was one of the most impressive things I've seen in a while," Smith said. "He'll have one more year to try and get there."

Ensminger jumped on Newell early with a couple take downs in the first period that Newell escaped from. In the second Newell caught Ensminger out of position and scored a 3-point nearfall, but the Hounds wrestled out of it scoring a reversal and held a slim 6-5 lead going into the fourth.

Newell was warned for stalling, but then got a takedown, which Ensminger reversed again. Newell would escape to tie things at eight with 32 seconds left and the two would lock up for about 25 seconds before Ensminger was able to outmuscle Newell to the mat for a takedown just before time ran out.

Henry Wiseman (106) and Aiden Pennock (145) both made it to the semifinals after first round wins, but they both fell in their next two matches to take 4th place.

"They were right there and just came up a little short," Smith said. "I told everybody, they've got to reflect and evaluate and think of things we can do so we can be on the other side of those match next year. It was a heck of a learning experience."

Senior Brock Califf had Pella's TR Putz in a pickle in the 2nd round, but on the soft landing Putz held on and rolled Califf over for a take down. Putz would go on to win the opening round match by fall at 3:38. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

Complete district results are below:
106: Henry Wiseman (Fort Madison) - 4th
Varsity - Quarterfinals - Henry Wiseman (Fort Madison) over Jacob Widmer (Burlington) (Fall 1:58); Varsity - Semifinals - Jasmine Luedtke (Ottumwa) over Henry Wiseman (Fort Madison) (Dec 6-4); Varsity - 3rd Place Match - Braden Doyle (Iowa City, West) over Henry Wiseman (Fort Madison) (Fall 1:29
113: Emmett Kruse (Fort Madison) - 4th
Varsity - Quarterfinals - Emmett Kruse (Fort Madison) over Matthew Rehman (Burlington) (Fall 1:33); Varsity - Semifinals - Cale Seaton (Iowa City, City High) over Emmett Kruse (Fort Madison) (Fall 4:57). Varsity - 3rd Place Match - Damion Clark (Pella) over Emmett Kruse (Fort Madison) (Fall 3:11)
120: Matthew Steffensmeier (Fort Madison) - 6th
Varsity - Quarterfinals - Dawson Goodwin (Ottumwa) over Matthew Steffensmeier (Fort Madison) (Fall 3:04). Varsity - Cons. Semis - Matthew Steffensmeier (Fort Madison) over Garrett Roethler (Oskaloosa) (Dec 4-0). Varsity - 5th Place Match - Logan Schroeder (Pella) over Matthew Steffensmeier (Fort Madison) (Fall 1:21)
126: Owen Kruse (Fort Madison) - 2nd
Varsity - Quarterfinals - Owen Kruse (Fort Madison) over Brian Velazquez (Burlington) (Fall 0:54). Varsity - Semifinals - Owen Kruse (Fort Madison) over Ryan Hancock (Pella) (Dec 3-1). Varsity - 1st Place Match - Grant O`Dell (Iowa City, West) over Owen Kruse (Fort Madison) (Fall 1:21). Varsity - 2nd Place Match - Owen Kruse (Fort Madison) over Ryan Hancock (Pella) (NC)
132: Brock Califf (Fort Madison) - 6th
Varsity - Quarterfinals - T.R. Putz (Pella) over Brock Califf (Fort Madison) (Fall 3:38). Varsity - Cons. Semis - Brock Califf (Fort Madison) over Phillip Abrahamson (Oskaloosa) (Fall 1:04). Varsity - 5th Place Match - Gavin Benton (Iowa City, Liberty) over Brock Califf (Fort Madison) (Fall 3:48)
138: Gavin Wiseman (Fort Madison) - 2nd
Varsity - Quarterfinals - Gavin Wiseman (Fort Madison) over Zack Beebe (Oskaloosa) (Fall 0:55). Varsity - Semifinals - Gavin Wiseman (Fort Madison) over Peyton Ritzert (Pella) (Dec 4-3). Varsity - 1st Place Match - Hunter Garvin (Iowa City, West) over Gavin Wiseman (Fort Madison) (Fall 3:11). Varsity - 2nd Place Match - Gavin Wiseman (Fort Madison) over Daltin Doud (Ottumwa) (Fall 1:52)
145: Aidan Pennock (Fort Madison) - 4th
Varsity - Quarterfinals - Aidan Pennock (Fort Madison) over Landon Whiting (Burlington) (Fall 0:53). Varsity - Semifinals - Ryan Ott (Iowa City, City High) over Aidan Pennock (Fort Madison) (Fall 2:58). Varsity - 3rd Place Match - Jackson Van Kley (Pella) over Aidan Pennock (Fort Madison) (Fall 3:26)
152: Teague Smith (Fort Madison) - 5th
Varsity - Quarterfinals - Garisin Hynick (Oskaloosa) over Teague Smith (Fort Madison) (Fall 1:36). Varsity - Cons. Semis - Teague Smith (Fort Madison) over Diego Salinas (Iowa City, City High) (Fall 0:57)
Varsity - 5th Place Match - Teague Smith (Fort Madison) over Elijah Terwilleger (Iowa City, Liberty) (Dec 7-5)
160: Brandt Booten (Fort Madison) - 6th
Varsity - Quarterfinals - Ryan Van Donselaar (Pella) over Brandt Booten (Fort Madison) (Fall 3:24). Varsity - Cons. Semis - Brandt Booten (Fort Madison) over Andy Palma (Ottumwa) (Fall 4:41). Varsity - 5th Place Match - Lucas Phillips (Oskaloosa) over Brandt Booten (Fort Madison) (Fall 1:48)
170: Isaac Thacher (Fort Madison) - DNP
Varsity - Quarterfinals - Drew Snyder (Iowa City, Liberty) over Isaac Thacher (Fort Madison) (Fall 5:42). Varsity - Cons. Semis - Blake Westercamp (Oskaloosa) over Isaac Thacher (Fort Madison) (Fall 2:41)
182: Austin Ensminger (Fort Madison) - 3rd
Varsity - Quarterfinals - Austin Ensminger (Fort Madison) over Eli Stater (Ottumwa) (Fall 0:53). Varsity - Semifinals - Nolan Simpson (Burlington) over Austin Ensminger (Fort Madison) (Dec 14-10)
Varsity - 2nd Place Match - Nolan Simpson (Burlington) over Austin Ensminger (Fort Madison) (NC). Varsity - 3rd Place Match - Austin Ensminger (Fort Madison) over Darius Willis Newell (Iowa City, Liberty) (Dec 10-8)
195: Levi Lowney (Fort Madison) - 5th
Varsity - Quarterfinals - Christian Lubben (Pella) over Levi Lowney (Fort Madison) (SV-1 3-1). Varsity - Cons. Semis - Levi Lowney (Fort Madison) over Junior Ramirez (Oskaloosa) (Dec 8-3). Varsity - 5th Place Match - Levi Lowney (Fort Madison) over Brandon McKeag (Ottumwa) (Dec 9-4)
220: Daniel Sokolik (Fort Madison) - 5th
Varsity - Quarterfinals - Fritz Spencer (Iowa City, City High) over Daniel Sokolik (Fort Madison) (Fall 3:34). Varsity - Cons. Semis - Daniel Sokolik (Fort Madison) over Travis Thomsen (Burlington) (MD 14-2). Varsity - 5th Place Match - Daniel Sokolik (Fort Madison) over John Hardin (Ottumwa) (TF 21-6 5:1




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