The #4 spot on our countdown of the top 10 moments and stories from PCM High School in the past year takes us to the wrestling mats as freshman Tucker Wheeler qualified for the 2023 State Tournament.

At the State Qualifying Meet at Ballard High School on Saturday, February 11th, Wheeler picked up two wins via fall to reach the first-place match. The freshman fell to Knoxville’s Luke Spaur in a 7-5 decision in that match, but due to a win over Bode Thompson of Albia in the semifinals, qualified for State in a no contest second-place match.

Wheeler entered State February 15th-18th as the 14 seed in the Class 2A 138 lbs. division, and opened up his tournament run at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines with 13-11 decision over 19th seeded Aiden Hippen of Clear Lake. After falling via decision to #3 Tate O’Shea of Keokuk in the second round, the freshman bounced back with a win by fall over Brody McKinley from Harlan in the second round of the consolation bracket. In the third round of the consolation bracket, Wheeler defeated Irving Ramirez of MOC-Floyd Valley with a 12-5 decision, before his State journey ended with a 4-3 decision against Mikey Ryan of Mount Vernon.