Rams send four to state
Glenwood is sending four wrestlers to this week’s Iowa State Wrestling Tournament
The Rams’ Vinny Mayberry, Matthew Beem, Mitch Mayberry and C.J. Carter each punched their first tickets to state at the 2A qualifying meet in Creston on Saturday.
Winterset, with four district champions, won the district title. The Huskies’ 137 team points out-gained Creston’s 102. The Rams were third with 96 points.
“They wrestled hard,” said Glenwood coach Tucker Weber. “We had a good day.”
The state wrestling tournament kicks off Thursday at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Glenwood will open their first round matches at 6 p.m.
In Creston, the Rams had seven wrestlers advance to the district meet with six coming down to the finals to decide their state fate.
Vinny Mayberry, a 106 pound freshman who entered the day ranked No. 5 in the state, needed just over two minutes of mat time – 2:19 in fact – to pin his way to a district title and his first state tournament bid. He notched a fall in one minute over Clarinda’s Kaden Whipp in the finals.
“He’s tough and he’s getting confidence and believing in himself,” Weber said, adding Mayberry is seeded No. 2 at state. “I think he’s good enough to win a state title. That’s our plan.”
Beem, a 120-pound freshman, recorded a fall of Winterset’s Travis Allen to reach the finals at 120. In the final Beem picked up a 12-5 revenge win over Atlantic’s Ethan Follmann. Follmann had beaten Beem twice in the regular season before ending up on top in districts.
“He’s really wrestling well right now,” Weber said.
Mitch Mayberry, a 182-pound junior, pinned Atlantic’s Payton Fewson in the semifinals and was up 7-0 on Winterset’s Riley Hovan in the finals before surviving a near fall. Mayberry did escape and went on to win the match 12-7.
“He had a little scare up 7-0 and he ended up on his back but ended up finishing it,” he said. “He’s really wrestling well now too and he’s good enough to go get a medal.”
The Rams’ C.J. Carter lost in the 195-pound finals to district champion Jackson Kinsella in a first period fall but came to win his wrestleback against Central Decatur’s Tegan Carson to advance to state.
“He’s wrestled tough all year,” Weber said. “He’s 180 wrestled the whole year at 195 and he doesn’t every complain about that. He almost looks like a 195-pounder, he’s a big, strong kid. He’s wrestled some tough kids this year and wrestled them hard. How he’s progressed from this year to last year is great to see.”
The Rams had a shot at two more state qualifiers when Tate Mayberry and Zander Hayes all battled back from opening round losses to within a win of moving on in wrestlebacks. But Mayberry came up short in a 12-9 decision to battle Creston’s Kaden Bolton and Hayes suffered a first period fall to Central Decatur’s Zander Reed.
Weber likes his team’s first round match ups, which begin Thursday at 6 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena.
“I feel like we have four winnable matches,” he said.
The Rams’ first round match ups features just one rematch: C.J. Carter (31-6) will face New Hampton’s Jacob Reicks (43-1) in the opening round. Reicks edged Carter by a single point in a loss at the Rollin Dyer Tournament earlier this season.
“He gets a chance to avenge that loss,” Weber said.
Vinny Mayberry (39-1) opens state against A-D-M’s Jake Alexander (22-9). At 120 pounds, Beem (18-3), faces off against Bondurant-Farrar’s Rylie Anderson (31-2). Mitch Mayberry will challenge North Fayette Valley’s Kale Rodgers (35-8) in the first round.