Photos Courtesy of South Tama School District (Todd boy), West Liberty Comet Wrestling

It was a big day for area wrestlers at the Class 2A District meet Saturday at Williamsburg. Six total wrestlers from the KCII listening area earned bids to this week’s state tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Five of those six grapplers bound for state wear Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union colors. The Wildcats were second in the team standings with 155.5 points, behind only the home Raiders 196. The ‘Cats had the only area champion at the event with Dante Zuniga claiming the top spot on the podium following a 3-0 day that included a championship match fall over Jacob Youngbear of South Tama. He spoke after the tournament about qualifying for state and the title. “I had confidence I could beat that kid. I was down a little at first, so I was kind of nervous, but I got out and saw my opening for the cow-catcher and threw it. I pinned him. I was so excited. I was like ‘please ref, please pin him, c’mon ref please!’ Then he pinned him and I was like ‘time for state’. My coaches were so proud of me too.”

Two Wildcats got through districts with runner-up finishes that did not require wrestlebacks. Kai Malone at 220lbs and Russel Coil at 285lbs will both be in Des Moines this week after 2-1 days at Williamsburg Saturday. Two more Wildcats had their seasons come down to one match, and they both delivered in the clutch. At 152lbs Triston Miller put on a show in a do-or-die matchup with Levi VanDonsalaar of Eddyville-Blakesburg, winning by 16-1 tech fall. At 160, it was a shoot out, but Cole Storm earned the state trip with a 13-11 decision over Cayne Hall of Eddyville-Blakesburg.

For the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks, they finished with 53 team points. Senior Terry Bordenave at 195lbs is headed to the state tournament following a 2-1 day. He collected a win by major decision over Bryan Riedel of Williamsburg before dropping his title match, but did not need a wrestleback.

The traditional state wrestling tournament begins Wednesday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Listen for updates on area wrestlers at the top of every hour through the end of the week on AM and FM KCII and listed online at kciiradio.com. You can hear interviews with all six area qualifiers from Saturday’s district meet at Williamsburg during the KCII PM Sports Page Wednesday and Thursday.