The Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Cowboys wrestling team made the long trek east on Highway 20 on Saturday morning, to compete in their Class 2A, District 5 tournament at Independence High School in Independence. The Cowboys were joined by the host Mustangs, as well as BCLUW-SH, Decorah, East Marshall-GMG, Hampton-Dumont-CAL, Oelwein and Union Community.
Clarion-Goldfield-Dows would end up sending 4 athletes down to Wednesday’s State Tournament, beginning with Ryan Hartwig at 120 pounds. Hartwig won his semifinal match over Hampton-Dumont-CAL’s Will Varrelmann via fall, before losing a 4-3 decision to Union Community’s Kaydin Jones in the final. Hartwig would win his 2nd-place match over East Marshall/GMG’s Jordan Melling via fall to lock up his state berth. Caleb Seaba would be the next qualifier at 165 pounds, as Seaba pinned Hampton-Dumont-CAL’s Colin Bird in the semifinals, before pinning Independence’s Luke Johnson in the final.
Mason Allen would then follow up by qualifying at 175 pounds, as Allen pinned BCLUW-SH’s Alex Paxson in the first round, before upsetting top-seeded Karter Janssen of Hampton-Dumont-CAL in the semifinals in an 8-7 decision. Allen then pinned Independence’s Braylen Bieber in the finals to qualify. Ashtin Willms would round out the qualifiers at 215 pounds, as Willms pinned Decorah’s Kaiden Youngblood in the semifinals, before pinning Hampton-Dumont-CAL’s Maddon Evans in the finals to capture the district title.
Other placers for CGD included 4th-place finishes from Lucas Ennis at 106, Lucas Cayler at 113 and Abram Wessels at 132. The Cowboys placed 5th with 123 points, Hampton-Dumont-CAL was the team champion with 183.5 points.