Ram wrestlers Abe Yoder (132), Jordan Challen (138) and Hunter Ruth (195) advanced from the Class 2A District 8 tournament held Saturday in Webster City to the prestigious state wrestling tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines later this week.
Yoder, a senior, beat Carter Barkema of Hampton-Dumont by an 8-4 decision to win the district title. Yoder won by fall in 4:40 over Maverick Freerksen of Forest City in the opening round. The pair of wins put him at 39-5 on the season. This is Yoder’s first district title and his first state tournament appearance. He’ll face Tyson Manzer (34-10) of Roland-Story Thursday afternoon.
Challen, also a senior, will make his third appearance at the state tournament. He won a hard-fought 2-1 match against Pierce Gelhaus of Forest City in the finals at Webster City. Challen won a 16-4 major decision over Spencer Orr of Clear Lake in the opening round. Challen (37-5) will face Trae Pecinovsky (37-11) of Crestwood (Cresco) in the first round Thursday.
Ruth, a sophomore, will make his first appearance at the state tournament as District 8 runner-up. Ruth lost in the final round Saturday, 5-3, to Tyler Case of Pocahontas Area. Ruth had in the first round beaten Ace Walton of Clear Lake 4-2. Walton won his consolation round, and since Ruth had already beaten him, that gave Ruth the Number 2 spot and qualified him for the state tournament without a wrestle back. Ruth (21-14) will face Andrew Hill (20-12) of Carlisle Thursday afternoon.
Yoder and Challen, as district champions, will face runners-up from other districts. Ruth is facing a district champion. The opening round for Class 2A begins at 1:30 pm. Wrestlers who lose their opening round will wrestle again Thursday; winners don’t wrestle again until Friday.
Ram junior Tommy Bradshaw (145) wrestled Saturday. He lost by fall in 1:26 to Austin Lewis of Forest City. Bradshaw did not wrestle in his consolation match and finished in fourth place for the day. He finished the season at 35-5.
