Larsen, Slaybaugh Win WCAC Wrestling Titles

Two ACGC wrestlers at opposite ends of their high school careers claimed championships at the WCAC tournament held in Pleasantville yesterday. Senior Gunnar Larsen and freshman Tegan Slaybaugh won gold in their respective weight classes--Larsen at 132 lb and Slaybaugh at 106 lb.

Both wrestlers won two matches on the way to their titles. Larsen pinned Reuben Smith of I-35 in his semifinal match in 3:57, and scored an 11-2 major decision over Tristan Drake of VanMeter/Earlham in the title match.

Slaybaugh's two matches were similar in that he also won by a fall and a major decision. He won his semifinal match by pinning Briar Johnston of I-35 in 1:04, and his title match with a 10-0 win over Kolton Munson of Ogden.

A total of six Chargers competed at the meet. Other ACGC place winners were Dawson Muller at 145 who finished fourth, Cayden Jensen at 152 who was sixth, and Bryce Rochholtz who claimed fifth place. Notably missing were three seniors--undefeated 138 pounder Seth Danker and 152 pounder Cale Rowley and Cristian Nolte who wrestles at 170. All three are nursing nagging injuries.

"We had some really good performances yesterday," coach Danker said after the meet. "Teagan and Gunnar were champions, Dawson Muller finished fourth and Bruce Rochholz

was fifth. Bryce probably wrestled his best tournament to date.

" If we had the other three guys in the lineup they would each have scored twenty points each which would have put us right up there battling for third or fourth in the team standings."

Without the three seniors the Chargers finished eighth with 77 points. Interstate 35 won the team title with 209 points.

Charger results:

106 lb: Semifinals - Tegan Slaybaugh (AC/GC) over Briar Johnston (Interstate 35) (Fall 1:04)

1st Place Match - Tegan Slaybaugh (AC/GC) over Kolton Munson (Ogden) (MD 10-0) 132 lb: Semifinals - Gunnar Larsen (AC/GC) over Tristan Drake (Van Meter/Earlham) (Fall 3:57) 1st Place Match - Gunnar Larsen (AC/GC) over Reuben Smith (Interstate 35) (MD 11-2) 145 lb: Quarterfinals - Dawson Muller (AC/GC) over Ben Gordon (Van Meter/Earlham) (Fall 1:44)

Semifinals - Avery McCloud (Ogden) over Dawson Muller (AC/GC) (Fall 4:37) Cons. Semis -

Dawson Muller (AC/GC) over Oliver Potter (Woodward-Granger) (Fall 1:55) 3rd Place Match -

Isaiah Smith (Interstate 35) over Dawson Muller (AC/GC) (MD 12-1) 152 lb: Quarterfinals - Eli Green (Interstate 35) over Cayden Jensen (AC/GC) (Dec 5-3) Cons. Round 1 - Cayden Jensen (AC/GC) over Ross Stephens (Pleasantville) (Fall 5:28) Cons. Semis - Ryan Fees (Panorama) over Cayden Jensen (AC/GC) (Dec 5-3) 5th Place Match - Kaedon Lindsay (West Central Valley) over Cayden Jensen (AC/GC) (Fall 1:37) 160 lb: Quarterfinals - Jacob Hiemstra (Pleasantville) over Devon Jackson (AC/GC) (Fall 0:25) Cons. Round 1 - Jackson Potter (Woodward-Granger) over Devon Jackson (AC/GC) (Fall 0:52) 195 lb: Quarterfinals - Bryce Rochholz (AC/GC) over Tyler Willem (Van Meter/Earlham) (Fall 2:20) Semifinals - Alex Swanson (Pleasantville) over Bryce Rochholz (AC/GC) (Dec 14-11) Cons. Semis - Evan Foreman (Interstate 35) over Bryce Rochholz (AC/GC) (Fall 3:27) 5th Place Match - Bryce Rochholz (AC/GC) over Tyler Willem (Van Meter/Earlham) (Fall 1:25)

Team Totals: Interstate 35 209, Woodward-Granger 189.5, Van Meter/Earlham 166, Ogden 142, Panorama 110.5, Pleasantville 96, West Central Valley 92, ACGC 77