The Norwalk boys wrestling team has qualified seven individuals for this week’s State Wrestling Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
Led by a pair of district champions in senior 113-pounder Tyler Harper and junior 157-pounder Dominic Tigner, the Warriors placed fourth out of eight teams in Saturday’s Class 3A District Tournament at Norwalk. Johnston won the team title with 239.5 points, followed by Ankeny with 182.5, Lewis Central 143.5 and Norwalk 133.
Harper, a state runner-up last season, improved his record to 36-0 with a pair of district wins. He dominated Ankeny’s Isaac Wignall in the finals by a 13-4 major decision. Tigner won his championship match by a 6-4 decision over Ankeny’s Teagen Peiffer.
The Warriors also claimed three district runner-up medals on the day from senior Tate Turner at 138, junior Kadan Borcherding-Johnson (150), and junior Tyler Stanford (165). All three lost in the finals and Stanford won a wrestle-back match for true second place.
Placing third for the Warriors were junior Liam McLaughlin at 144 and freshman Victor Esparza at 175.
Norwalk head coach Jake Brown was impressed by his team’s toughness on Saturday. Brown tells KNIA/KRLS Sports that the district meet is always a day full of ups and downs.
“Getting seven guys [to state] is great. Taking half your team to Wells Fargo is awesome,” he said. “Four of those guys are returning that did it last year, and then you’ve got three new guys with Tyler Stanford, Liam McLaughlin and Victor Esparza, so you’re really excited for those guys. But on these days, [there are] lots of ups and downs so you hurt for a few of those guys that had tough weights and did not make it through and a few guys that made it last year and they’re staying home. But all those guys are coming back next year so I feel good about that.”
All seven Norwalk qualifiers will open state meet competition on Wednesday afternoon at 1:30. Harper, Turner, Borcherding-Johnson and Tigner have now qualified for state at least twice during their respective careers.
BOWLING
The Norwalk bowling teams competed at the Two Rivers Conference Tournament on Friday and Saturday at Newton’s Cardinal Lanes.
The Warrior girls placed seventh out of 10 teams on Friday, totaling 2,079 pins in 15 Baker games for an average of 138.6. Their highest game was a 179. The boys finished eighth out of 10 teams on Saturday, totaling 2,649 pins in the Baker games for an average of 176.6. They posted a high game of 226.
During the individual portion of the tournaments, junior Julia Palen was Norwalk’s highest place-winner, finishing 11th out of 60 girls with a three-game series of 503. Ellery Racz totaled a 439 series and Anna Curran rolled a 436. The Warrior boys were led by Andrew Winfrey’s three-game series of 598 for 18th place out of 60 individuals. Winfrey also had the top single game of 269. Brytan Bassman, who tallied a pair of 227 games, finished with a 577 series and Zalen Holden was next in line with a 550.
Next up for the Warrior bowlers are State Qualifying Tournaments at Oskaloosa’s Statesmen Lanes. The girls will compete on Monday starting at 9:00 a.m. and the boys compete Tuesday at 9:00 a.m.