A new benchmark has been set for Southeast Valley wrestling as they advanced six wrestlers to District competition next Saturday, February 12th, at Ballard of Huxley. The Jags previous mark was five wrestlers advancing to District competition. The Jag wrestlers will square off against the top two place winners from the Sectional tournament at Winterset. Seniors Harley Bryson(160), Zack Miller(170), Rylie Ferrari(195), and Aaron Graves(285) advanced as well as Junior Caelan Oakes-Sudish(120) and Sophomore Kaden Holder(126). Oakes and Graves advance as Sectional Champs while Bryson, Miller, Ferrari, and Holder advance as Sectional Runner ups. 

   Oakes(39-4) repeated as Sectional champ as he defeated DJ Muir of Humboldt 11-4 in the finals. Oakes meets Sr. Clayton Meyers(35-10) of Saydel in the first round. Graves(24-1) put the clamps on Camdan Vincent of Nevada quickly in the first period, recording a fall in :26 seconds in his finals match. Graves faces Cole Sanger(24-8) of North Polk in the first round. Bryson(31-16) lost a tough fought match to Hesston Johnson of Roland Story 7-5 in the finals. Bryson squares off against Freshman Logan Fairchild(24-2) of Winterset in the first round. Miller(34-13) lost to Eli Thorson of Roland Story 11-3 after a tough semi final win over his Humboldt opponent to face Sr. Cale Engebretson(29-7) of North Polk in the first round. Ferrari lost a tough battle 6-3 in the finals to Henry Christensen of Ballard after pinning his semi final opponent from Roland Story. Ferrari faces Jr. Carter Smuck(37-7) of Winterset in the first round. Holder came in as a fourth seed but secured his spot as a runner up by pinning his Roland Story opponent for his third place match, who Kaden had previously lost to twice this season. In dramatic fashion, Holder pinned his Ballard opponent in his wrestleback for his first trip to Districts. Holder wrestles Frosh. Abe Bushong(37-6) of Winterset in the first round. The top two placewinner from Ballard's District advance to the prestigious Iowa High School State Wrestling Tournament held at Wells Fargo Arena February 17-19. 

   Unfortunately, the Jags say goodbye to Seniors Max Miller, Carson Suchan, Ty Klatt, Mark Hughes, and Reed Andrews. This senior group has left an indelible mark on Southeast Valley Wrestling giving them one of the most successful runs on a four year career in Southeast Valley history. Suchan lost a tough 2-1 decision in the first round to his Gilbert opponent finishing in fifth place. Miller lost a tough battle in his wrestleback finishing in third place. Klatt also lost a tough match in his wrestle back finishing in third place: Hughes lost a heartbreaker 6-4 to ranked Joe Larimore of Gilbert in his wrestleback to finish in third place. In other Jaguar action, Freshman Caleb Will wrestled a nice tournament finishing in third place and sophomore Spencer Suchan finished in 6th place. 

   Overall, the guys stepped up and wrestled as best as they could. We as coaches always want to see a couple more advance or be champs instead of runner ups but we had a tough Sectional with 13 ranked wrestlers and it doesn't get any easier as we wrestle the Winterset sectional. There was only one other sectional that had more ranked wrestlers, that sectional had 14. We're happy we advanced six, but we have a ton of work to do before next weekend getting these guys prepared for Districts. 

Final Team Standings:

1 Humboldt 225.0

2 Ballard 207.0

3 Roland Story 203.0

4 Southeast Valley (Gowrie) 187.0

5 Gilbert 112.0

6 Nevada 68.0