~courtesy of The Scranton Journal
Greene County crowned two champions at the Class 2A state wrestling tournament last weekend. It is the first time in school history that the Rams brought home two gold medals from state.
McKinley Robbins and Kale Petersen closed out their outstanding high school careers on the mat with state titles.
Robbins won the 138-pound title with a 15-5 major decision over Tate O’Shea, senior, from Keokuk.
As the top ranked wrestler, Robbins received a bye in the opening round. His first match was a 46-second fall over Kaden Hanson, senior from Clarion-Goldfield-Dows. His next match was a 7-4 victory over Austin Evans, junior, from Creston. Next he won by fall in 1:04 over Tate Slagle, sophomore, from Algona.
Petersen won the 132-pound class with a 7-3 decision over Anders Kittelson from Osage. He was also top ranked so got a bye in the first round.
Petersen opened with a 15-5 major decision over Kade Bauer, junior, from Sioux Center. His next match was an 8-0 major decision over Max Currier, senior from Clear Lake. Then Petersen picked up a 13-4 major decision over Nick Koch, senior, from North Fayette Valley.
Both are Division I recruits with Petersen, now a three-time champion (2021 for Class 1A West Fork in Sheffield and twice for Greene County) committed to the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Robbins is an Oregon State recruit who has rewritten the Ram record books.
Robbins was a state champion as a freshman and placed second twice as a sophomore and junior. He holds the all-time win record at Greene County with an outstanding 164-6 mark. He also holds the single season win record of 48.
“What a fun state tournament! With the changed format this year we weren’t sure what to expect, but we tried to prepare our minds and bodies for every situation,” said Ram coach Zach Beekman. “We took it one match at a time and just kept doing what we needed to do to give our guys the best chance at success.
“As a coaching staff we couldn’t be more happy for our two seniors, Kale Petersen and McKinley Robbins, to cap off the season and their high school careers at the top of the podium,” added Beekman.
Greene County also had two other wrestlers competing at state with Brent Dennhardt bringing home eighth place at 145 pounds with a 43-11 record.
Dennhardt, a senior, won by fall in 5:27 over Caden Velinga, senior from West Marshall. He lost a 7-2 decision to Michael Macias, senior from Davenport, Assumption. Dennhardt rebounded with a 13-2 major decision over Nathan Lopez, senior from Charles City. He then defeated Justin Keller, senior from Albia with a 7-1 score.
Dennhardt dropped a close 3-1 match to Jasper Jackson, junior from Mount Vernon. He concluded his career with a loss by fall in 4:32 to Caleb Olson, junior from Union, LaPorte City.
Junior Gavin Scheuermann (160 pounds) came out strong with a fall in 2:57 over Cole Storm, junior from Columbus/MNU. He dropped a hard-found 11-9 decision in sudden victory to Carter Straw, senior from Independence. His state tournament experience ended with a fall in 3:27 to Jack Wajda, senior from Spirit Lake Park. His record this season was 23-7.
In the team standings, Greene County placed eighth with 73 points. Osage dominated the Class 2A competition, winning the state title with 175.5 points. Notre Dame of Burlington was a distant second at 106.5
“Any time you take four guys down to the state tournament and three return home with medals, it was a successful trip,” concluded coach Beekman.
