Two local teams took the mat Saturday for the 2A district tournament at Solon, competing for bids to the traditional state wrestling tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union Wildcats locked up four spots on the day, finishing fourth of eight teams with 119 points. Mount Vernon won the district championship with 209.5. Ty Scorpil was the 126lb champion, going 2-0 on the day, pinning his way to state including a fall in 1:57 in the championship match over Evan Burg of Solon. Karson Dopler advanced with a second place finish at 175lbs. Dopler went 1-1, dropping the championship match, but advancing without a wrestleback. Jacob Nelson was runner-up at 113lbs. After starting 1-1 he bounced back in a do-or-die wrestleback against CJ Martin of Mount Vernon, with a 6-1 win, to advance to state. At 285lbs, Russel Coil started the day 1-1, and beat Mid-Prairie’s Burke Berry by pin in a winner-take-all wrestleback, to advance to state. After the day, Scorpil, Dopler, Nelson and Coil talked with KCII Sports about qualifying for state.

Coil said, “I knew I just had to get in there and get it done so I could wrestle with these guys next week at state. This week, we’ll get back to work. We aren’t done yet!”

Dopler said, “My last win was definitely close. That reversal at the end to clinch the win was big.”

Nelson added, “It’s tough having to wrestleback, but you have to stay tough.”

Scorpil finished, “The championship match was fun. I had my whole team and family supporting me, so I knew it was going to be good in the end!”

Those that just missed the trip to Des Moines included third place finisher Bowen Thomsen at 132, and fourth place finishers Dakota Aney at 106, Cael Phillips at 144 and Riley Kaalberg at 190lbs.

The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks saw their season draw to a close, placing sixth as a team with 54 points. A trio of Golden Hawks just missed state, placing third. Tucker Miller went 3-1 on the day at 138lbs, but things didn’t fall his way to earn a wrestleback. At 215, Quinn Callahan started 2-1 before dropping a wrestleback, and at 285, Burke Berry suffered the same fate, going 3-1 before ending his season in the wrestleback round.

Nelson, Scorpil, Dopler and Coil will all be on the mat at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines at the State Tournament beginning Wednesday. You can hear live updates at the top of the hour through the weekend on AM and FM KCII and find updated results free online at KCIIradio.com.