Drew Wheater

PARKERSBURG — East Marshall/GMG senior Drew Wheater claimed his first North Iowa Cedar League championship by winning the 190-pound bracket on Saturday at Aplington-Parkersburg High School.

Wheater (34-4) led the Mustangs to eighth place in the final team standings. EM/GMG had 67 points to finish just ahead of Hudson (66.5), while South Hardin-BCLUW was 11th with 58 points.

Jesup claimed the team title with 276.5 points, followed by Denver (202), Union Community (167.5) and Aplington-Parkersburg/Grundy Center (142) in the 13-team tournament.

Wheater won all three of his matches, including two by fall and a 7-5 decision over Denver’s Corbin Hill in the finals.

Jordan Meling emerged with third place from the 132 bracket, improving to 25-14 with a 3-1 day of wrestling. He fell to Union’s Jace Hedeman in the semifinals, but won his other three bouts by pinfall.

Alex Bautista took fifth at 285 for the Mustangs, while James Wenner (150) and Deagan Madison (157) were seventh.

SH-BCLUW’s top finish came from Ryan Busch, who was third at 165. He won three times by pin while falling to Denver’s Braven Beaumont in the finals.

Zaden Eggers went 3-2 on his way to fourth at 150, while Beau Towne was 2-2 in finishing fourth at 157. Garrett Bruner added a seventh-place finish at 120.

Saquic Xirum leads STC at WaMaC tournament

VAN HORNE — The South Tama boys’ wrestling team tied for eighth place in the WaMaC Conference Tournament on Saturday at Benton Community School.

The Trojans finished with 66.5 points and shared eighth place with Grinnell in the 12-team invitational. Williamsburg won the team title with 225.5 points, while Independence and West Delaware tied for second (195.5) and Benton was fourth (191).

South Tama’s top finish came from the front of its lineup as 113-pounder Ramiro Saquic Xirum claimed second place. Xirum moved to 35-9 on the season with a 3-1 day on the mats. He scored a pin, a technical fall and a major decision to reach the finals, where he fell 11-6 to Jaxson Mehlert of Benton.

Marcus Bear (175) came away with third place, improving to 37-8 with a 4-1 day of wrestling that included two pins. His lone loss was an 8-4 decision to Blake Mather of West Delaware in the championship match.

Manuel Cervantes took sixth at 215 for the Trojans, while Clayton Babinat (144), Kinzer Jaennette (165) and Lakyr Peska (285) all finished in seventh.