A pair of Sigourney wrestlers were crowned champions at last weekend’s Ottumwa Invitational. The Sigourney-Keota wrestling team (12-0) competed against grapplers from Burlington, Des Moines East, Des Moines Lincoln, Fairfield, Iowa City High, Newton, and Ottumwa. Noah Reeves (170) and Noah Boender (220) stood atop the podium when the tournament concluded.

Reeves pinned his way to first place. After a first round bye, he secured first-period pinfall victories in over Iowa City’s Brandon Lalla (1:35) and Ottumwa’s Tucker Shepard (1:03). The semifinal grapple saw Reeves bring Burlington’s Brody Johnson to his back 48 seconds into the second period. The championship match lasted the full six minutes before Reeves bested Newton’s Tanner Petro by fall.

Boender had a bye in the first two rounds. He made quick work of his quarterfinal grapple versus Ottumwa’s Trenton Sheets, bringing him to his back 1:22 into the first period. Boender advanced to the championship match after a pinfall victory against Newton’s Alex Miller 1:00 into the second period of their semifinal bout. The title match featured a pair of undefeated wrestlers, and six minutes wasn’t enough to decide the outcome between Boender and Iowa City High’s Jordan Buckland. Boender, The Predicament’s Class 1A No. 5 wrestler, won the match by an ultimate tiebreaker. Buckland was rated as Class 3A’s No. 3 wrestler by The Predicament. The win was the 23rd straight for Boender.

The Sigourney-Keota wrestling team continues South Iowa Cedar League competition tonight in a triangular versus Belle Plaine (2-10) and HLV (3-8). First matches will commence at 6 p.m. at Belle Plaine High School.