Hounds take 5th at Gary Curtis Invite

HIGHLAND – The Fort Madison Hounds took 5th place at the Gary Curtis Invitational at Highland on Saturday.
Aaron Warner led the way for the Bloodhounds with a 1st-place finish at 285 lbs. The senior took down Alburnett’s Sevy Redel 54 seconds into the match for a 3-point manuever and then secured the point 30 seconds later in the title match. Warner went 4-0 on the day with wins over West Branch’s Jericho Hobbs in the first round, Mt. Pleasant’s Juan Lopez, and then Muscatine’s Owen King in the semifinals to secure 30 points.
Fort Madison had a total of 99 points finishing behind West Branch, Riverside/Oakland, Wilton, and 1st place Alburnett.
James Fuller (15-7) finished 3rd at 120 lbs. Fuller lost to eventual champion Liam Adfinger of Wilton (14-0) by pin at :23 to move to the consolation championship where he knocked off Durant’s Aiden Alderman by a fall in the first period scoring 18 points for the Hounds.
Gavin Callahan won his first two matches of the day at 175 lbs., but then ran up against eventual champion Shayden Washburn of Alburnett (22-2). Callahan would suffer a pin in the 1st period and then would lose in the third-place match but also collect 18 points.
The Hounds got two- sixth-place finishes – one from Cliff Stewart at 215 lbs. and the other from Jack Benner at 165.
The Fort Madison girls were in 3rd place at the Highland Invitational girls' meet, but the event was canceled due to a medical emergency in the facility prior to the finals. Mara Smith (130) and Kat Diprima (140) were set to wrestle for titles in their matches before the event ended. The Lady Hounds had 142 points, good enough for third place prior to the cancellation.