The state high school wrestling tournament resumed this morning with the quarterfinal round in class 1A. Belle Plain advance five wrestlers into the semifinals and two others are still alive in the consolation round and has the early team lead with 20 points. Don Bosco is second with 17 points. Tri-Center’s Kendall Witt fought off nerves and an inexperienced opponent to advance to the quarterfinals. The freshman 103-pounder held off Martensdale-St. Marys’ senior Adam Lenze 3-2. Witt had to hang on the waning seconds as Lenze try to get a reversal and win the match.
One of the most thrilling finishes occurred at 135-pounds where Audubon’s Kirk Landon was on his back with less than 30-seconds remaining against Adam Weber from Don Bosco. Landon got a reversal and a three point near fall in the waning seconds for a 7-5 win. There was such a flurry of scoring in the final half minute that it was unclear who won right after time expired. It was a matchup of wrestlers who had combined for 82 wins coming into the tournament.
Tri-Center’s Kendall Witt fought off nerves and an experienced opponent to advance to the quarterfinals of class 1A. The freshman 103-pounder held off Martensdale-St. Marys’ senior Adam Lenze 3-2. Lenze was making his second straight appearance in the tournament. Witt had to hang on the waning seconds as Lenze try to get a reversal and win the match. He said it made him nervous.
At 119 pounds, New London’s Jeret Chiri improved to 43-3 with an 8-0 win over David Lindstrom of Eagle Grove. It is Chiri’s second straight appearance at the state meet and while that experience may have helped on the mat it did not calm his nerves before the match. He says he was going to be nervous no matter what.
At 189 pounds, Justin Kester of Lake Mills moved to 31-3 after a third period pin of Nashua-Plainfield’s Brad Theilen, who came into the tournament with a record of 41-1. After making it to the tournament in 2005 Kester wants to place high this week