Trio of Waukon boys wrestling team members compete among Class 2A elite at this year’s State Tournament
First-round win at first State Tournament ... Waukon boys wrestling 113-pound junior Jayden Mara tries to set up Columbus Junction junior Jacob Nelson for a turn in their opening-round match at the Class 2A State Wrestling Tournament held at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines Wednesday-Saturday, February 14-17. Mara claimed a 4-0 win in that first-round match before falling in his next two matches, including to the eventual 113-pound champion, to have his first-ever State Tournament experience ended. Photo by the Iowa Newspaper Association Photo Pool.
For the second consecutive season, the Waukon boys wrestling team qualified three young men for every wrestlers’ ultimate destination, continuing the recent growth of the program from more than a dozen years of no more than just a single State Tournament qualifier. This year’s three qualifiers for the season grand finale held at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines Wednesday-Saturday, February 14-17 remained in pursuit of the program’s first State Tournament placewinning in half a dozen seasons, coming within a match of achieving that next growth accomplishment as all three Tribe matmen had their first-ever State Tournament qualification brought to a close shy of a podium placewinning within the top eight wrestlers of their respective weight brackets of 24 competitors, with two of those wrestling Indians being able to bring back their season grand finale experience to the Waukon wrestling room next season.
Senior 106-pounder Kale Berinobis and the junior pair of Jayden Mara at 113 pounds and 157-pounder Holten Palmer each took to the mat in Des Moines among the best Class 2A wrestlers the state of Iowa has to offer this season. The trio ended up wrestling a total of eight matches during the season grand finale and recording a pair of match victories along the way, with half of their match losses at the tournament coming to eventual top-eight placewinners in their respective weight class brackets, including two State Champions.
The Indian efforts at the season grand finale garnered eight team points to put them in a tie for 65th-place with Cherokee out of 84 Class 2A teams competing in the tournament. The Class 2A State Tournament team championship was won by Osage with 128.5 team points.
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