Luke Hageman

JOHNSTON — Marshalltown High School junior Luke Hageman advanced to the semifinals of the CIML Conference Tournament on his way to a fourth-place finish, leading the Bobcats in the 18-team invitational here Friday night.

Marshalltown finished 12th in the final team standings, scoring 63 points to trail Mason City by only two. Southeast Polk won with 259 points, followed by Waukee Northwest (211) and Ankeny (174).

Hageman (25-7) won his first match at 145 pounds by pin, and then he defeated Class 3A No. 11 Carter Bennett of Ankeny Centennial in sudden victory, scoring a 7-5 decision to become the only Bobcat to reach the semifinals.

Top-ranked Joel Jesuroga of Southeast Polk stopped Hageman’s climb with a 41-second pin, however, and eighth-ranked Dom Rubino of Waukee Northwest outlasted the MHS junior for a 7-5 decision in the third-place match.

Tenth-ranked Gannon Williams (220) and Tristan King (285), both seniors, each suffered quarterfinal defeat before winning three times on the back side of their respective brackets to place fifth. Williams (25-5) dropped a 5-1 decision to No. 8 Ralston Rumley of Dowling Catholic before winning twice by fall and once by medical forfeit. King (22-3) won each of his final three bouts by pin, closing with a 12-second decking of Mason City’s Carter Gorder in the match for fifth.

MHS freshman Xayvion Anderson (126) improved to 25-9 on the season with a sixth-place finish at 126 pounds. He was knocked off by No. 1 Nathanael Jesuroga of Southeast Polk in the quarterfinals, losing by technical fall, before bouncing back with a 2-1 showing in the consolation bracket. Anderson won twice by decision to advance to the fifth-place match, where he was upended 9-1 by Johnston’s eighth-ranked Noah Madison.

Nick Rebik went 2-3 at 170 on his way to eighth place. Lucas Bantz (106), Damien Rodriguez (113), Edgar Almanza (120) and Johan Gomez (182) each went 1-2 at their respective weights but were unable to reach the podium.

The Bobcats return to the mat Thursday with a home dual against Waukee.