Panthers fourth in RVC as Kain Luensman wins title

     Monticello sent nine wrestlers to the River Valley Conference Wrestling Tournament Saturday, Jan. 27 at Mid-Prairie High School in Wellman.

     And all nine Panthers placed, as Monticello finished fourth out of the 13 teams in the conference.

     Monticello scored 122 points. West Liberty won the meet by exactly 100 points over Wilton 286.5 to 186.5. Cascade was third with 137.

     “That’s not too bad,” Monticello coach Ryan Luensman said of his team’s finish. “It was kind of an up and down day. We had some highs, but there were some matches I thought we could have won (and didn’t).”

     Kain Luensman won his matches, pinning two opponents to take the conference title at 113 pounds.

     “Kain did a nice job taking care of his matches,” coach Luensman said.

     The Panthers had two other finalists: Chase Luensman finished second, losing to second-ranked Will Esmoil of West Liberty 11-4 in the finals.

     “We’ll learn a lot from that match,” the coach said.

     Gavin Holub also reached the finals before falling.

     “Gavin did a nice job making it to the finals. He had a good tournament overall,” coach Luensman said. “Ethan Tallman and Bo Kramer both had a solid tournament, finishing fourth as freshmen.”

     Lake Stahlberg also had a fourth place finish, while Thomas Broderick was fifth, Tyler Kuper sixth, and Alaina Sunlin seventh in their respective weight classes.

     “Overall, we’re excited to go on to sectionals,” the coach said.

     The Class 2A sectional meet will be Saturday, Feb. 3 at Anamosa, starting at noon. The top two in each weight class will advance to the Feb. 10 district meet in DeWitt.

Jan. 27

River Valley Conf.

Tournament

(at Mid-Prairie)

TEAM SCORES

     1, West Liberty 286.5; 2, Wilton 186.5; 3, Cascade 137; 4, Monticello 122; 5, Camanche 108.5; 6, Northeast 91; 7, Iowa City Regina 77; 8, Mid-Prairie 71; 9, Tipton 69; 10, Bellevue 60; 11, West Branch 58.5; 12, North Cedar 44; 13, Durant 22.

MONTICELLO RESULTS

     106 – Alaina Sunlin (seventh place) received a bye; lost by tech. Fall to Kael Brisker, W, 23-8, 4:28; lost by tech fall to Tyler Siemen, WB, 15-0, 4:18; received a bye; dec. Seth Lenz, ICR, 7-3.

     113 – Kain Luensman (champion) received two byes; pinned Brian Collins, WL, 1:15; pinned Colton Cruse, W, 0:41.

     120 – Ethan Tallman (fourth) received a bye; won by major dec. over Hunter Stoll, W, 12-4; was pinned by Talen Dengler, WL, 0:33; dec. Dallas Miller, MP, 8-1; lost to Brennan Kramer, CAM, 4-0.

     126 – Bo Kramer (fourth) received a bye; pinned Montana Herrold, WL, 2:51; was pinned by John Crowley, T, 1:11; won by injury default over Chase Miller, NC; lost by major dec. to Eli Steckly, MP, 13-2.

     132 – Chase Luensman (runner-up) received two byes; pinned Connor Conlin, CAS, 3:07; lost to Will Esmoil, WL, 11-4.

     152 – Thomas Broderick (fifth) received a bye; dec. Cameron Rogurio, D, 14-11; was pinned by Trey Brisker, W, 1:42; was pinned by Blake Claussen, N, 2:38; won by major dec. over Cameron Ragurrio, D, 18-9.

     182 – Gavin Holub (runner-up) received a bye; pinned Nick Paul, T, 1:07; pinned Tyler Thurson, NC, 2:54; lost to Jackson Gingerich, WL, 5-1.

     220 – Lake Stahlberg (fourth) received two byes; lost to Kobe Simon, WL, 7-4; pinned Drake Bloem, WB, 1:45; was pinned by Chase Gallagher, NC, 0:52.

     285 – Tyler Kuper (sixth) received a bye; was pinned by Jacob Barnhart, WB, 1:11; dec. Jesse Lieser, T, 4-1; was pinned by Mason Bird, D, 0:55; lost to Grant Williams, N, 3-2.