Four AP/GC boys wrestlers advanced to the IHSAA State Traditional Wrestling Tournament by earning first or second place at Saturday’s 2A District 9 state qualifying meet at New Hampton, as aired on 99 The Wave. Brayden Jara at 113, Carter Liston at 126, Maison Copp at 190 and Jesse Brouwer at 215 will compete at Wells Fargo Arena next week.
Jara, a freshman, had a bye to the semifinal, where he won a 10-6 decision. He lost a 2:32 fall in the championship match, but no wrestleback was necessary.
Liston, a senior, qualified for the third time. The top seed in the bracket, he won a 4:56 fall in the semifinal and a 2:36 fall in the final to win his bracket.
A sophomore, Copp won a 1:16 fall in the quarterfinal and a 5:34 technical fall in the semifinal. However, he was quickly pinned in 1:26 in the championship match to earn a spot in the second place match. In the third period, he secured a 5:14 fall to advance to state for the second straight year.
A senior, Brouwer earned a bye to the semifinal as the top seed. He quickly pinned his opponent in 1:07 to advance to the championship match. In that match, he lost a close 3-2 decision to #5 (2A-215) Jeryn Funke of West Delaware. In the second place match, he pinned his opponent in 3:30 to advance to the state tournament for the second time.
Head Coach Joel Reints says it’s a remarkable accomplishment to advance four to the state tournament, and looks forward to hopefully earning podium spots.
“Just so proud of them,” Reints says. “They went out and took care of business, did what they needed to do and make another trip down to state. The next step is, hopefully we get some place winners down at state. We had one last year, we’d like to see a couple of them place this year if we could. So yeah, I’m super excited for the future, and I think things are heading in the right direction it feels with this program.”
Jesse Brouwer – 215:
Brayden Jara – 113:
Carter Liston – 126:
Maison Copp – 190
Head Coach Joel Reints:
