East Mills’ Hopkins, Moorman advance to state
Josh Hopkins qualified for his third straight Iowa State Wrestling Tournament and Alec Moorman his first at the Class 1A districts at Underwood Saturday.
Logan-Magnolia won the district crown with 125 team points. The Wolverines placed sixth with 41 points.
Hopkins (51-1), the state’s No. 10 ranked 152-pounder, met Logan-Magnolia’s Brady Charbonneau for a third straight weekend in the finals – with a trip to state on the line.
“The match did not disappoint,” said East Mills coach Claude Lang.
Hopkins fell behind 4-0 in the first period, and found a way to scrap back and tie the score before securing a takedown with 45 seconds left. But Charbonneau escaped to tie the match, and with just 15 seconds left, Hopkins used a deep double leg and finished him off for the 9-7 victory.
Moorman (27-6), scored a major decision over Logan-Magnolia’s Kaleb Reynek, 13-4, in a wrestleback to earn his first state bid as the second qualifier at 132. It was the third straight weekend Moorman had faced Reynek as well.
“He was aware of Reynek’s strength, and the only throw Kaleb was able to get was on the edge of the mat, and out of bounds,” Lang said.
The Wolverines’ Nick Perkins just missed out on a state bid when he was pinned by Southwest Iowa’s Bret Blackburn in a wrestleback at 220.
“He had one big throw, but it was on the edge of the mat, and out of bounds,” Lang said of Hopkins’ match with Blackburn.
Blackburn was joined by teammate Dakota Moss (138) as state qualifier for Southwest Iowa.
Hopkins will face Alburnett’s Bryce Paul (43-4), the No. 2 ranked 152-pounder in the state in Thursday’s opening round at state.
Moorman will face No. 4 ranked Trent Johnson (48-1) from Dike-New Hartford in his opener.
Moss (42-5) will face Tanner Abbas (35-10)of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows in his opener while Bret Blackburn (34-6) will take on Panorama’s Marcus Boldy (36-8).
Wolverines fall in regional duals
The East Mills wrestling team will not be making its first trip to the state dual wrestling tournament.
Riverside edged East Mills 35-34 in the regional opening round. Riverside went on to face Logan-Magnolia in the regional final where they lost by a lopsided score of 72-4.
The Wolverines actually won seven matches on the mat compared to the Eagles’ four but East Mills was forced to forfeit in three weight classes that cost them 18 points.
Luke Stortenbecker (152 pounds), Josh Hopkins (160), Cavin Darnold (182), Nick Perkins (220), Anthony Ossman (285), Ben Christiansen (126) and Alec Moorman (132) all won matches for the Wolverines.
Riverside 35,
East Mills 34
145: Keyton Wichman, R, won by decision over Trenton Pullen, EM, 4-3. 152: Luke Stortenbecker, EM, won by fall over Otis Matejka, R, 1:49. 160: Josh Hopkins, EM, won by fall over Brock Bentley, R, 1:30. 170: Bradley McGinnis, R, won by decision over Jacob Hummel, EM, 12-7. 182: Cavin Darnold, EM, won by fall over Jon Gehrmann, R, :59. 195: Isaiah Boot, R, won by fall over Alex Hall, EM, :43. 220: Nick Perkins, EM, won by fall over Denton Hendricks, R, 1:15. 285: Anthony Ossman, EM, won by decision over Coy Maher, R, 1-0. 106: Ethan Becker, R, won by forfeit. 113: Chris Gayner, R, won by forfeit. 120: Tatem Bluml, R, won by forfeit. 126: Ben Christensen, EM, won by decision over Ethan Rankin, R, 8-4. 132: Alec Moorman, EM, won by major decision over Andy Casson, R, 11-1. 138: Tucker Bluml, R, won by technical fall over Nolan Hansen, EM, 16-0.